Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, IL
Magazines are wonderful marketing tools for authors. It’s true that magazine publishers have taken a big hit in the past four to five years as a result of the economic downturn. Many magazines have ceased publication, and those that remain have been forced to think creatively to stay in business.
Online newsletters and blogs designed to attract subscribers and advertisers and to promote additional resource materials have been launched. Rising printing costs and shrinking numbers of advertisers have prompted magazines to go digital, although many publishers also hold onto a reduced-page-count print version while they wait to see how this all sifts out.
What does all this mean for writers?
- More format possibilities for submitting articles for publication. You won’t earn much money writing articles unless you can continue to re-purpose them for future publication in other magazines.
- The primary benefit is that, when your article is published, every subscriber, advertiser, and purchaser sees your byline. You build name recognition and increase your list of published articles, all of which will be attractive additions to your next book proposal.
- And writing articles for magazines can open doors for you. Who knows, the name recognition may even prompt a few speaking invitations.
So, how do you best go about submitting an article that will get serious consideration? Here are some tips:
- Target a few publications that best fit your expertise, interests, and audience. Read enough issues of the magazine to become aware of its “personality.” Also, familiarize yourself with the publication’s online blogs, newsletters, and digital versions (digizines).
- Check their websites for a list of upcoming themes and topics. If you don’t find such a list, contact the editorial coordinator to request it. Write articles within those themes.
- Also look on the website for submission guidelines and follow them.
- Because of articles’ short length and the number of submissions most magazines receive, give your article a pithy title that relates clearly to the topic but leaves the reader wanting to know more. The deck (magazine language for sub-title) needs to be a concentrated outline of your story written with ardor or in an animated way.
What’s been your experience in submitting articles to magazines? How hard was/is it to get your articles published? How did you decide what to submit? What benefits did you gain?
Lynn Dean
Excellent post, Mary, and a topic not often discussed.
Considering which magazines to approach, I’d say don’t forget to explore publications that cater to your target niche. I write for one organization that publishes a quarterly magazine, weekly e-zine/newsletter, and features a well-read blog with an archives section. They pay well for articles–even better if I agree to sell the rights. In return, those articles get reprinted and referenced many times to my target community, and every time they do I see results–even an invitation to speak at our state convention.
Target niche publications are a great way to build a platform and a tribe!
Maril Hazlett
Great tips! I especially agree about the benefits of learning to write in different formats, and the need to understand a particular publication’s voice before you pitch a story.
I might add that it helps to look at the magazine’s other bylines, too, and see if a particular writer already specializes in something you want to write about. You don’t want to step on anyone’s toes (especially if it is the editor’s byline. Can you tell this is the voice of experience?)
I’m published mostly in trade magazines, and I’m often recruited for the articles. When I pitch an idea of my own, it is usually on the phone, and then I follow up with email. However, those pitches are all within existing editorial relationships. I have written magazine queries to editors whom I don’t know, but my batting average isn’t so great.
I really, really want to branch out to more general publications – and this list of tips will be very helpful!
Lori
Mary,
I agree with Lynn, this is an excellent post and is a topic that is not often discussed.
I hope you will write something about the benefits of technical writing which is another topic that is rarely discussed and can be quite lucrative or where at least the writer can actually make a living.
Rick Barry
I’m applauding your thoughts on writing for magazines! Many writing colleagues (novelists, that is) seem to look down on writing for magazines. Although I don’t do it as often as I should, I don’t write an article without including a bio line that mentions my novels. Why not get paid to advertise my work? Also, a series of short stories that I once wrote for FOTF magazines landed me an invitation to be a guest speaker at a father/son mountain adventure in the Rockies, which was a blast.
Melissa K Norris
Lynn, Would you mind sharing the name of the magazine you mentioned?
I’ve just recently started submitting articles. I haven’t heard back from one after 8 weeks, so I’m assuming it’s a pass.
Still waiting for three others to get back to me.
But one of them accepted my article!
I’ve learned from articles on the importance of title, like Mary mentioned. Also, it forces me to write tightly, which helps w/ scenes in my novels.
Does anyone know of a good website that lists magazines and their submission guidelines?
Loree Huebner
A great post! I’m having my first article published this June that I’ve co-written with my husband.
We wrote a 4600 word history article, submitted it to a history magazine, and got an acceptance letter within a week from the editor. Of course, that was in March of 2010. They told us that the article would come out in 2011. It’s been a long wait but worth it. We just signed a contract and got paid for it. We’re celebrating this success and are very proud of it.
While we chase after publication of our books, this smaller success makes us feel it’s all worth it. We’re continuing to write more articles along the way.
@Melissa – the 2011 Writer’s Market has a nice section of magazines to send to.
Larry Carney
Magazines are a great way to expand your platform. For example, consider magazines devoted to your particular city or state. For those outlets all you need to do is write about what you already do; places you like to travel to, eat at, and so forth (in other words, have your favorite local bakers’ cake and get paid to eat it too! )
But what if your brand has nothing to do with travel writing or gastronomy? For the sciences, what are the exciting experiments or quirky researchers at the local colleges? If you are a mystery writer, what historical locations have had famous or forgotten happenings which delve into the unknown?
The best thing is, even if you don’t find what you are wanting to write in the magazine, you can always send a query; editors are always looking for new ideas, so why not offer yours?
Cheryl Malandrinos
Melissa, I use my Writer’s Market to find magazines and their guidelines.
Another fabulous post, Mary. This is why I subscribe here; because even though none of you represent children’s books, I always learn so much, and I enjoy the engaging discussions.
The course I took at Long Ridge was geared toward writing magazine articles, so that’s where I started. I aimed too high when I began submitting, though, so I didn’t have any success. Then a fellow writer from LR asked me to write a series of time management and organization articles geared toward writers for her eZine. Once that folded, I was able to sell them to Writer2Writer, another eZine, which I still contribute to on an occasional basis.
Marcy Kennedy
A great benefit in writing for magazines (and newspapers) is that it can serve as a training ground. You learn how to write a first sentence that grabs a reader’s attention, how to sustain that interest throughout the article, and how to write tight.
Melissa, if you’d like to try writing for Canadian publications, I have a list of links for both Christian and consumer magazines up under the resources section of my blog.
Kate Barker
Mary,
This topic is intriguing, and considering the previous comments sounds like an often overlooked medium for writers.
Several friends from our writer’s group write for regional magazines and the local newspapers. An online news magazine in our area also features local contributors.
If it were a priority or a time management issue, would you say researching and writing an article and finding a market for that article is more valuable than spending time on a blog?
I have difficulty creating crisp titles for my blog posts….any tips for learning the art of “pithy?”
Thank you once again for a very insightful column full of helpful hints!
Jill Kemerer
Excellent! Thank you, Mary, for exploring this topic, and a huge thank you to all the commenters!
I’m obsessed with magazines–I subscribe to many, too many!–and have often considered writing articles, but fear holds me back. I appreciate hearing success stories like this. Maybe I’ll even give it a go? 🙂
Thanks again!
Mary Keeley
Thank you all for sharing your suggestions, information, and your personal experiences writing for magazines!
Kate, I understand well the time management factor you mention. You’ll just have to try it out. Look for magazines whose target audience matches yours and find out their future themes. Select a few you think you could most easily write on and submit those.
As for pithy titles, I can recommend a great resource, THE ELEMENTS OF STORY, by Francis Flaherty, There are chapters on titles, sub-titles, leads, and more.
Cheryl Malandrinos
Thanks for sharing this resource, Mary. I struggle with titles too. Just ask my editor. 🙂
Kate Barker
Mary,
Thank you so much for your suggestions for trying out articles for magazines. And I am so happy to have a resource for titles!
I am grateful that you and others on this blog seem to really care about helping those of us in the beginning stages of “the craft.”
Happy Easter! He is risen! And we rejoice!
Caroline
Thanks for these useful pointers, Mary – and all the great suggestions from everyone else!
I do find it’s tough to break into a publication without previous contact. But, when it does happen, it’s such an encouraging success!
I also submit guest posts to larger (than me) blogs. While many guest posting opportunities aren’t paid, several still choose posts selectively. It’s good experience and exposure, too, as well as another way to witness and foster fellowship.
Maril Hazlett
thank you for the elements of story recommendation (how did I miss that book??)
David Todd
My writing for magazines has been a mixed bag. In two of the print mags/newsletters I’ve had articles in, when I pitched a second article, the editors never responded. In one case I e-mailed the publisher; he said he’d take care of it, and I still never heard. For literary mags where I sent my poetry, I’ve mostly heard back, though painfully slowly, and mostly rejections (two acceptances though!)
My best magazine gig has been with an on-line magazine, Buildipedia.com. They pay about $0.33 per word for features, higher for news. They respond promptly to articles I pitch and pay when they say they will. One print mag I had to hound with e-mails for a couple of months before I received my check for $0.15 per word.
Overall, magazine publishing has been a positive experience. I’ve been in 8 print mags, 4 on-line mags, and have a good number of clips. Whether that will ever translate into an agent or editor accepting my book-length works remains to be seen.
David Todd
Duotrope, http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx, has an excellent database of magazines that publish short fiction and poetry. They may have more as well; haven’t been there for a while.
Nikole Hahn
It’s sometimes difficult to discern a magazine’s personality. You read a few issues and think you got it, but it’s a complete mystery after resubmitting and getting rejected again what exactly they are looking for when it seems like you were spot on. It’s a learning curve, I guess.
Rosemary Rowley
For every article directory that publishes your article you’ll get a link to your website (the link you included in your article), and also other websites might ‘pick-up’ your article to publish on their own website – meaning you get even more links. So the more directories you submit to, the more links you’ll get. Of course, you need to write a good quality article so that your article is published by the directories. ^
My favorite web blog
<'http://www.prettygoddess.com/
Serita Fode
Writing articles and submitting them to article directory web sites should be project numero uno for you in an attempt to build valuable back links to your web site. Ithink that most of us would agree that traffic to your site is critical, as it determines the success or failure of your site. After all, what is the use in spending all your timeand resources building a web site to settle for second best when it comes to traffic? Writing 500 to 1000 wordarticles is where the real work in promoting your web site come in to play. .
My favorite webpage
http://www.caramoan.ph/caramoan-tinago-island/