Freelance Writing for Magazines in 2010 (Editorial)

This week, our theme is freelance writing for magazines in 2010.

Firstly, the bad news. As you know, magazines and newspapers are in trouble. A combination of rising costs, the global financial crisis, and falling advertising revenues have combined to make print publication a brave endeavor. With luck, most publications will pull out of the crisis, by changing to web publication, and by publishing on devices like the iPad and other slate computers. Unfortunately, many publications will not survive.

Now the good news. Wherever and however they publish, all publications need writers. This means that writing for magazines is as viable an opportunity for writers as it has ever been, if not more so. My gut feeling is that while many current publications will vanish, a slew of new, leaner and hungrier publications will take their place… so if you want to write for magazines, you can do it with confidence.

How to write for magazines

Here’s how to write for magazines in a nutshell:

* Build the relationship
* Take the gigs staff writers hate
* Maintain the relationship

Let’s look at those three steps in a little more detail.

Build the relationship: who are you, and why are you bothering them?

If you want to write for magazines, start small. You can write for trade magazines, if you have knowledge about a particular industry, or for local magazines. At this early stage, don’t worry about making money. You need “clips”, that is, magazine writing credits.

Once you have some clips, you can approach mass market magazines — the large magazines you see on newsstands, and on the web. Please don’t approach them until you have clips from minor publications, it’s pointless.

When you do approach large magazines, understand that everyone who works at a magazine is incredibly busy. They have no time, and no interest in you. This may seem harsh, but think about your own job. Do you have the time to respond to dozens of inquiries every day? You don’t, because if you did, you wouldn’t have time to do your job. Mass market magazine editors don’t have time to respond to you either… until they feel that you can write for them.

Big tip: build your relationship with a magazine, step by step

To write for major magazines, you need to audition. You “audition” by sending them queries (ideas, in proposal form).

(It should go without saying that you must know a magazine thoroughly before you query them. More on this later.)

Keep sending a magazine carefully crafted, just-for-them queries until you get a response. Usually you’ll get zero response to a query. This is fine. They’re not completely ignoring you. Someone glances over your queries, and as you keep sending them, your queries will get passed around the office.

Before you know it, you’ll pick up the phone one day, and you’ll hear: “This is ________. I’m the editor of __________ magazine. We’re wondering if you could do a story for us, about…”

I promise you, if you audition by sending one or two queries a month to any magazine for which you want to write (online or offline), sooner or later you’ll get the call.

After all, you’ve built the relationship. The editors know your writing style, what you can do, and how your mind works (the only way they CAN know, is by seeing your queries.)

From then on, it’s up to you. Be polite, be professional, and meet your deadlines.

Take the gigs staff writers hate: their disgust, your opportunity

At every magazine, there are gigs staff writers hate. They’re always looking for freelancers to take these gigs.

If you’re wise, you’ll take everything you’re offered at a magazine. Remember, if you do your best on the “hated” stuff, sooner or later you’ll become a regular contributor, writing several stories a year for that magazine.

Once you’re writing for a magazine, it can take anywhere from a year or two to get great stories, because you need to prove you can come up with story ideas the staff writers can’t write. Just keep building that relationship, by sending ideas.

Maintain the relationship: you’ve become a valued contributor

When you’ve written for a magazine once, you can write for them again. Just keep sending ideas, in the form of queries. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease, so to speak. They now know you’re competent, keen and persistent — that goes a long way.:-)

That’s all there is to writing for magazines. Yes, it’s a royal pain sending all those queries. Here are some tips which will help:

* Read the magazine, cover to cover, including all the ads. Read every issue. If you don’t want to read every issue, choose another magazine, or forget about writing for magazines. You’ve got to read any magazine you write for (or want to write for) so that you get a sense of the style, the readership, and what readers respond to. You need to know the magazine at least as well as the staff writers do;

* Always be on the lookout for story ideas. Keep a file of ideas for each magazine;

* Nurture contacts who can help you. For example, if you want to write about health, make friends with doctors. If you have better contacts on a story than a staff writer does, you get to write the story.

Do you have questions, or comments?

Please ask any questions you have about writing for magazines in the Comments to this blog post. You can also share your experiences.

One point: if you want to trash a publication, you may not name them, nor specifically identify them in any way, on this blog. If you want to name names, use your own blog.

That said, I know that many writers have bad experiences with publications. Editors don’t get back to you in a timely manner, if ever. Publications often don’t pay on time… if ever. So you can certainly share your bad experiences, and if you have a challenge, I may be able to suggest a solution. Remember however, no trashing or bad-mouthing.

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