Official information
Overview
- Publication
- Aeon
- Eligibility
- When open: academics and people with significant professional or practical expertise. They specifically encourage younger and emerging scholars, especially outside the US and the UK.
- Writing
- Longform essay
- Payment
- Freelance fee or honorarium — amount not published
- Currency
- Not publicly stated
- Payment conditions
- Official: if writing is your principal income, a freelance fee; otherwise an honorarium. The relevant fee for your country of residence is told to you before you sign a contract. Kill fee of 50% of the agreed fee if they refuse to publish after you submitted the agreed words and took part in editing.
- When paid
- Not publicly stated
- Word count
- Generally 2,500–5,000 words
- Response time
- They cannot respond to every enquiry
- Status
- Closed
- Deadline
- Official page: currently closed for pitches. No reopen date stated.
- How to submit
- Official pitch form — currently closed
- AI policy
- Not publicly stated
What they want
- When open: a pitch, not a completed draft. Perennial (not news-tied), cosmopolitan, pluralist.
- Expect 3–5 drafts, fact-check and copy-edit. About three months from a good first draft to publication.
What they don't want
- Do not pitch while the official page says closed.
- Completed drafts. Rebuttals. News commentary. Book reviews.
- Drafts wholly or largely written by AI. Do not upload editor emails or contracted drafts to an LLM.
Requirements
- Wait until the official pitch page reopens
- Pitch, not a full draft
Rights
Author retains copyright. Aeon gets first publication, exclusive digital rights for five years and exclusive print for one year, then non-exclusive. Ideas pieces may be CC BY-ND.
How to submit
- Do not use the form while it says closed.
- Watch https://aeon.co/pitch.
Official source
Write for Aeon (official) · Aeon Author terms (official)
Last verified 2026-08-19. Always re-read the official page before you send work.
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