Got a Story? We Want to Hear It.

Write for us on the KCMO News platform. Kansas City (State of Missouri) never really slows down. There is always something going on, like a new shop opening up, a city council decision nobody noticed yet, a game that had the whole town yelling at their TVs, or arguing about it the next day at work. Somebody has to write about all this stuff. Turns out that somebody could be you.

KCMO News is looking for writers who are concerned about accuracy. Twenty years of journalism experience is not necessary. You don’t even need to have one article published. We just care about the main thing: whether you can produce something that readers will genuinely want to read. Is it possible to make a story feel authentic rather than lifeless?

Send it over if you have a piece on your laptop or an idea floating around. Hearing 10 unsuccessful ideas is preferable to missing the one that could have been fantastic. We simply see it that way.

Topics We Request You to Write About

We cover a lot. Here’s where your story could fit:

News — what’s happening right now, here or anywhere
Business — new companies, local economy news, market changes
Automotive — car reviews, EV news, maintenance tips, whatever’s on wheels
Politics — local government, elections, policies that actually touch people’s lives
Sports — Chiefs, Royals, Sporting KC, high school games, all of it
Finance — saving money, investing, the economy, real advice people can use
Law — court news, legal explainers, help understanding your rights
Tech — new gadgets, apps, how technology is quietly changing daily life
Science—new research, discoveries, environment news explained simply
Lifestyle — home, relationships, style, everyday living
Health — fitness, mental health, wellness, medical news in plain terms
Education — schools, learning, what students and parents need to know
Entertainment — movies, music, celebrities, pop culture
Events in KCMO — festivals, concerts, things to do this weekend
Travel — where to go, how to get there, what’s worth your time once you arrive

Got an idea that doesn’t fit neatly into any of these? Send it anyway. Some of our favorite pieces started as ideas we didn’t yet have a home for.

The Rules, Plain and Simple

We keep this pretty simple, but we do have standards. Here’s what matters to us and why.

Write Something New

Not something you posted on your blog last year. Not something copied from another site or reworded from one. Brand new work, written just for us, from start to finish. We check for these issues every time, so don’t risk it — it’s not worth your time or ours.

Get Your Facts Right

If you are making a claim, back it up with something real. If you are writing about a local business, a new law, or an event happening in town, double-check before you send it in. Mistakes are quickly noticed by readers, and if they don’t trust a piece, they stop reading. It is the fastest way to get a “no” from us, so do we notice?

It Sounds Authentic

Instead of reading from a screenplay that someone provided you, write as though you were explaining something to a buddy over coffee. Incorporate some individuality. Let a little humor in if it fits naturally. We can tell right away when something sounds stiff, robotic, or like it came out of a machine trying hard to sound human. Readers can tell too.

Keep It Between 1000 And 3,000 Words

There is no hard-and-fast regulation like this. Some stories genuinely need more space to make their point. Some work better short and punchy. Use your best judgment on the story you’re telling.

Go Easy On Self-Promotion

A short bio with one link to your site or your work is totally fine — we actually want people to know who wrote what. But if your whole article is really just a sneaky ad wearing a disguise, we’re going to skip it.

What We Won’t Publish

A few topics are simply off-limits. No exceptions here:

CBD or cannabis content
Cryptocurrency or NFTs
Adult or explicit content

If your pitch touches any of these, please don’t send it. It doesn’t matter how well it’s written — we’re not publishing it. This one’s firm.

Beyond that, we won’t run anything hateful, discriminatory, or built around spreading false information. That should go without saying, but we’re saying it anyway.

How to Send Us Your Work

Ready to submit something? Here’s exactly what we need, nothing more:

A short bio—two or three sentences works fine—plus a photo if you have one you like using
Your article as a Google Doc or Word file, so we can leave notes on it if we need to
Any images that you have a license to use, or we will use images from licensed stock.
Just one or two sentences will start the conversation if you’re pitching a concept before writing the entire thing.

We will respond to you within a few business hours or days if you send it over. We make a lot of effort to avoid leaving folks hanging. Before it goes live, we’ll collaborate with you to make any necessary adjustments, and we’ll be honest about why. Instead of keeping silent and leaving you wondering what went wrong, we’ll be honest with you if it’s not quite the right fit.

Why Write for Us?

Good question. Here is the honest answer. We have a real audience here in Kansas City — people who actually read what we publish, share it with friends, and talk about it. Write for us, and real people see your work. It’s not getting buried on page ten of some search result, never to be found again by anyone.

It’s also a great way to build up your writing portfolio, meet other writers who take this seriously, and cover topics you actually care about instead of whatever a content mill hands you for a few cents a word. You get to write about things that matter to you, for readers who actually live here.

Kansas City has plenty of stories worth telling well. If you think you are the person to tell one, we would genuinely love to hear from you.

Got an idea? Reach out to our editorial team, and let’s see where it fits.