Tomorrow morning when you wake up I would encourage you to logon to SPJ.org when the redesigned site debuts. I’m sure there will be some kinks to sort out, but I think you’ll agree that the look and navigation are greatly improved.

There’s a link to the freelance section right from the homepage. There’s also a link to this blog, which will be helpful for visibility. I’d like to keep adding helpful resources, so send your suggestions to me.

One new piece I’ve put up is a PDF from National Writer’s Union listing publications that pay $1/word. NWU has worked hard to increase the rate of pay for freelance writers. It’s a continuous uphill battle, but I think this is a good list of good-paying pubs. There are 182 on the list, but I’m sure there are others.

Here are a few on the list:
American Baby
American Way
Astronomy
Atlantic Monthly
Automobile Magazine
Better Homes & Gadens
Biography
BioMedNet Magazine
Business Week
Car and Driver
Child
Cigar Aficionado
CIO
CNET.com
Conde Nast Traveler
Cooking Light
Cosmo
Delta Sky
Electronic Business
Family Fun
Fast Company
Fitness
Food & Wine
GQ
Harper’s
Inc.
Integrated Design
Jane
Latina
Medicine at Michigan
Modern Maturity
Mother Jones
National Geographic
New Woman
Out
Parade
PC/Week/World
Playboy
Preservation
Readers Digest
Robb report
Rolling Stone
Science
Self
Smithsonian
Sporting News
Texas Monthly
Town & Country
Vanity Fair
Wall Street Journal
Wired
Working Woman

Happy Pitching!

From today’s Editor & Publisher, Christian Science Monitor has changed its policy on using freelancers in Iraq.

(World Editor David) Scott said her kidnapping had prompted the paper to institute a new policy against using freelancers in Baghdad, except in embedding situations. “It is a matter of the security issue,” he said, noting that one Monitor staffer is currently assigned to the Iraq city, a situation not likely to change “unless they got really busy.”

Carroll’s story about her ordeal is written and going through the editing stage. She has turned down all requests for interviews and appearances. CS Monitor has not set a publication date for her story.

This report in today’s New York Times presents a possible new freelance market for all you health and wellness freelancers out there.

USA Weekend Smart Health, which will be published midweek as opposed to weekend, is being published by Gannett.

The spinoff, titled USA Weekend HealthSmart, was distributed by 76 of the 600 newspapers that carry USA Weekend, including The Chicago Sun-Times, The Detroit Free Press, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Newsday. The 76 newspapers have an estimated circulation of 7.5 million; the total USA Weekend circulation is 22.7 million.

The 32-page issue of USA Weekend HealthSmart carries a cover date of June 19-22 and is billed as “a special midweek edition of your favorite weekend magazine.” It includes articles on topics like allergies, asthma, A.D.H.D. (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), cholesterol and migraines.

Advance, which owns my hometown paper The Plain Dealer, does a monthly publication I write for called Smart Health. Articles are typically short with one or two sources, but the pay is on the higher end for Northeast Ohio.

There’s word that Gannett is considering another spinoff for food.