UPDATE: The Freelancer Fund has been exhausted for 2025! Please follow up after our Feb 2026 fundraiser for continued opportunties.
ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories is now accepting freelance pitches on a rolling basis for our Interviews, Materials, and Translations sections. This initiative is designed to support original work by independent researchers, preservationists, game makers, and public historians with significant expertise in the field of game history.
What is the Freelancer Fund?
The Freelancers Fund is a pool of money raised annually to support paid contributions to ROMchip. Instead of offering a single annual commission, we’re now accepting pitches year-round, and selecting work based on fit and available funds.
We offer payments ranging from $250–$650 per piece, depending on length, complexity, and subject matter. Offers are made after abstract approval. Once the annual fund is exhausted, we will post a notice here.
We offer payments ranging from $250–$650 per piece, depending on length, complexity, and subject matter. Offers are made after abstract approval. Once the annual fund is exhausted, we will post a notice here.
Who Can Pitch?
This opportunity is intended for writers without formal academic appointments. We welcome freelance journalists and editors, part-time or independent game developers with an active writing/research practice, and citizen historians and preservationists. We do not currently accept pitches to the Freelancer Fund from graduate students or academic faculty.
International writers are welcome, but we cannot disburse funds to banks in India, China, or countries on the U.S. sanctions list (as required by our fiscal sponsor).
We also recognize there are many permutations of employment, underemployment, precarious employment, alternative academic employment, etc. If you’re wondering if this opportunity applies to you, please bear in mind that this fund solely exists to support individuals who could not otherwise produce work for free. If you are employed full-time in a position that pays for research/writing time, we encourage you to consider whether this fund is intended for your situation.
International writers are welcome, but we cannot disburse funds to banks in India, China, or countries on the U.S. sanctions list (as required by our fiscal sponsor).
We also recognize there are many permutations of employment, underemployment, precarious employment, alternative academic employment, etc. If you’re wondering if this opportunity applies to you, please bear in mind that this fund solely exists to support individuals who could not otherwise produce work for free. If you are employed full-time in a position that pays for research/writing time, we encourage you to consider whether this fund is intended for your situation.
What Kind of Work are You Looking For?
If you've never read ROMchip or worked with us before, we strongly encourage you to check out the ROMchip Pitch Advice Guide before submitting.
We are currently accepting pitches in three categories:
Interviews
5K–9K word edited transcripts based on original interviews or oral histories. These interviews serve both as historical documentation and contemporary community engagement.
Materials
Essays (3.5K-5K words) or experimental formats (photo essays, game walkthroughs, etc.) focused on new archival discoveries, object preservation, or unique game history artifacts. Materials pieces have a clear, specific artifact or object, and are driven by original archival research.
Translations
Translations of historical materials, significant non-English scholarship, or English-language ROMchip content into other languages. Must be accompanied by relevant permissions when applicable. Open to any language or cross-translation.
We are currently accepting pitches in three categories:
Interviews
5K–9K word edited transcripts based on original interviews or oral histories. These interviews serve both as historical documentation and contemporary community engagement.
Materials
Essays (3.5K-5K words) or experimental formats (photo essays, game walkthroughs, etc.) focused on new archival discoveries, object preservation, or unique game history artifacts. Materials pieces have a clear, specific artifact or object, and are driven by original archival research.
Translations
Translations of historical materials, significant non-English scholarship, or English-language ROMchip content into other languages. Must be accompanied by relevant permissions when applicable. Open to any language or cross-translation.
How to Pitch
Send a pitch to: [email protected]
Include:
If we’re interested, we’ll request an abstract (0.5 – .75 single-spaced page) or a comparable fuller account of your plan. This helps us evaluate submissions with clarity and care.
We will respond to all initial pitches within 1 month at the latest.
Include:
- A 1-paragraph description of your proposal, included the intended section:
- If it's an Interview, tell us who you'll interview, why they are relevant to game history, and the intended focus of your conversation
- If it's a Materials piece, tell us the object you want to write about, a little about it's background, and the conceptual approach or historical argument you're interested in
- If it's a Translation, tell us what you want to translate, its value for game historians, and whether you've already sought permission to translate it.
- A few sentences about why you're qualified to write it
- A short bio
- All pitches must be accompanied by active URLs of published, public-facing writing or research (whether paid journalism, personal blog posts, YouTube research talks, etc). It's important to us to verify that authors have proven experience writing for the public; as such, we can not accept Google docs or attachments in lieu of such work. Pitches without active URLs to prior work may not be responded to.
If we’re interested, we’ll request an abstract (0.5 – .75 single-spaced page) or a comparable fuller account of your plan. This helps us evaluate submissions with clarity and care.
We will respond to all initial pitches within 1 month at the latest.
