Leaps Freelance Market Guide

Fees: Leaps publishes articles of 750 to 1,500 words about discoveries in science and technology. This nonprofit digital venture pays freelancers $1 a word and slightly more to some of its veteran, award-winning writers.

Submit to: Deputy Editor Lina Zeldovich, lina.zeldovich@leaps.org.

Website: https://leaps.org

Owner: Upworthy Science, a not-for-profit initiative that publishes award-winning journalism and popularizes scientific progress on social media. 

Readership demographics: Readers from ages 18 through their 60s, evenly split among the decades.

Frequency of publication: Publishes about two stories a week.

What they look for in a pitch: Leaps is looking for stories from health reporters about the latest health innovations, including groundbreaking research that has progressed to phase III human trials, Editor-in-Chief Matt Fuchs said. 

“These would be about developments with real potential to make a difference in people’s lives when it comes to the biggest health problems, like cancer, heart disease and kidney disease,” said Fuchs. “There is a wide range of solutions being researched that we like to cover, such as gene editing and artificial intelligence, and also different approaches to health from a policy perspective.” 

Stories should be grounded in science and evidence. Leaps also welcomes story pitches about the bioethical concerns with these innovative approaches to health problems. For example, one story looked at women in their 70s using new technologies to have children. The reporter talked with researchers behind the technologies and also bioethicists about the ethical implications of using technology to enable parenting later in life.

“We like detailed pitches, about 300 words, so please explain in depth why the story you’re pitching will cover issues that are groundbreaking, why it’s timely and why it’s important for an average person to know about this development,” according to its writers’ guidelines. “Please explain, at least briefly, the scientific underpinnings of the breakthrough, and include links to studies you’re referencing as well as names of experts and other sources you have spoken to or plan to interview.”

Freelancers should describe how the story would be humanized in some way, either with a patient or researcher or someone at the heart of the story. “The story should include people who are either sick or starting to hopefully benefit from some of these technologies and getting their experiences to inform the article,” Fuchs said.

Freelancers new to Leaps should include a few sentences about themselves and links to some clips.

Does Leaps accept pre-pitches? Fuchs is open to receiving pre-pitches of a few sentences asking if he would be interested in a more detailed pitch about a particular story. But be sure to be as specific as possible about the story idea in those few sentences, he said.

Most common mistakes the editor sees with pitches: The most common mistake is pitching a story that is not really about innovation.

Lead time for pitching: The editors try to respond to newsy pitches within one week and to features within two weeks. Leaps typically expects freelancers to submit their article two to four weeks after a pitch is accepted.

Best place for a freelancer to break into publication: There is no best place or topic area for freelancers new to Leaps.