AARP Freelance Market Guide

Fees: This digital platform pays freelancers $1 per word for articles between 800 and 1,400 words.

Submit to: Rachel Nania, a senior writer and an editor, rnania@aarp.org, for stories about brain health, conditions and treatments, and medications. For stories about healthy living, such as diet, exercise and prevention, contact Betsy Agnvall, health and healthy living editor, bagnvall@aarp.org.  Contact Nancy Kerr, a senior writer and an editor, nkerr@aarp.org, for stories about caregiving. 

Website: www.aarp.org

Owner: AARP, a membership organization that develops public policy recommendations on issues important to people in the 50 community.

Readership demographics: This digital platform’s health verticals publish “innovative and engaging content that can help Americans 50 and older make informed decisions on how to live the healthiest life possible,” according to guidelines that editors distribute to writers.

Frequency of publication: One to two new health articles are posted each day on the website.

What they look for in a pitch: The pitch itself need not be long, perhaps a paragraph or two. “I want to get a sense of what the story will entail and possibly the type of sources that will be interviewed, although the exact sources don’t need to be in the pitch,” Agnvall said. “If you can include a headline that grabs me that I would consider using, that’s always a good idea… and even maybe a little deck. Then I start to picture the story right away.” The pitch should also include how readers can use the proposed article’s information. “What are some action items that they can act on to better improve their health or what are some questions they can take to their doctor to ask about any medication, things like that,” said Nania. It is also important to include how the story applies to the age 50 plus community, they said.

Nania said she is specifically interested in stories about supplements, such as their side effects, interactions with prescription drugs and other things readers might not know about them. Stories about prescription drugs and polypharmacy and adverse reactions are another area of interest to readers. “Some things that do really well are themed stories: hidden dangers, 10 signs of melanoma that are easy to miss, anything on how to lower risks for certain diseases or conditions, and also basic what you need to know about X, Y and Z,” Nania said.

Agnvall listed superfoods, diet and exercise as key areas of interest to readers. And she is always on the lookout for stories about hearing and vision.

Both editors said they are looking to increase their coverage of health disparities.

Don’t pitch stories about a single journal article. They have got those covered and rarely report on single studies. Instead, freelancers could use a new journal article as a hook to pitch a topic more broadly.

Do they welcome pre-pitches? No, they don’t. Just send the pitch, they say. It doesn’t have to be more than a paragraph or two.

Most common mistakes editors see with pitches: “A lot of writers, especially when they first start writing for us, talk about older, seniors and the elderly,” said Agnvall. “But even older people don’t think of themselves as older. So just be careful. Writers should not stigmatize age.” Another common mistake is not checking to see if AARP published the same or similar story within the past two years. Agnvall cautions writers to search both the AARP website and do a Google search with the subject and AARP because the AARP.org search engine “isn’t always terrific.”

Lead time for pitches: Editors typically get back to freelancers within a week. Once they approve a story, they can get out the contract within a day or two. Writers typically have about two weeks to finish a story, more if they need it and the story is evergreen.

Best place to break into the publication: For Agnvall, stories about hearing and vision are most welcome. Nania says she is looking for service journalism pieces that give readers information about health issues that they can act on.