The Big Idea
Okay. So youve ample out that you would like to abode for magazines, newspapers, and e-zines. Unfortunately, so acquire about eight gazillion added humans on this planet. Therefore, you acquire to angle out from the crowd. You acquire to sparkle. How do you do this? Simple. It all starts with The Big Idea. The aboriginal abstruse you acquire to apprentice in this funny business is that you dont in actuality acquire to abode the accomplished commodity to get a job. In fact, alone ablaze blooming novices attack to abode the accomplished affair afore affairs it. What you do need, however, is the IDEA for the abundant story. You will use this abundant abstraction to argue editors to pay you absonant amounts of money via a angle letter (called a concern letter. But youll apprentice about that in a minute).
So, breadth will you acquisition this Big Idea? Well, youve heard that astute aphorism abode what you know. Thats a admirable mantra for award your jumping-off point. You dont allegation to stick to what you apperceive for the specific focus of your story, but tap into your already huge vat of ability to acquisition the storys basis. This is how you will become an expert. Experts are in demand. Humans with belief arent. What you acquire to do is bastard your belief into your areas of expertise. Example: lets say your hobbies and interests awning fishing, watching allocution shows, and traveling. Good! You are a abeyant able in those areas. Jot these things down. Now comes the fun part: brainstorming.
The better aberration you can achieve in casting your adventure is accepting too general. Never, anytime advanced a letter to the editor suggesting an commodity about fishing. Not even an commodity about fishing in Florida. This vagueness is not adapted for abbreviate writing. In general, you will be accustomed to abode about amid 800 and 2000 words on your topic. You couldnt possibly acquaint us all about fishing in 2000 words. What you could do, however, is accord us a allegory of twelve adapted lures acclimated to bolt sailfish. Or the pros and cons of abutting a fishing club. Or even how the moon can acquaint you if itll be a adequate fishing day.
So heres your aboriginal assignment. Get out your accurate notebook. (If you dont acquire one, stop account and get one. Adapted now.) On the aboriginal page, abode down a account of any and all capacity that absorption you. Its acquire to be accustomed here. Allegation some account to get you started?
Think through your accomplished day. Dont carelessness anything. What do you do from the moment you deathwatch up until the moment you abatement asleep? You about-face off your anxiety clock. (An commodity about anxiety clocks abolition admired beddy-bye stages! Or alive up to music against alive up to that annoying beeping sound. Or the optimal amount of times to columnist the catnap button.) You besom your teeth. (Article: What all those accustomed ingredientsfluoride, peroxide, baking sodareally do for your teeth.) You yield a shower. Maybe with your cogent other. Lucky you. (Romantic showers for two.)
Moving on. You go to work. This is the a lot of accessible breadth of expertise. Lets say youre a secretary. How ergonomic appointment accessories can save you from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, an achy back, and a annealed neck. How to abstain agreeable at your bang-up if hes a absolute idiot. Five couples (or ex-couples) allotment their acumen about dating in the office. Anticipate about what awning adventure would attract you to pay three dollars for a magazine. You dont acquire to acquire the ability to in actuality abode the commodity yet. You just acquire to apperceive you can get this advice later.
Next, you appear home. What happens? Do you acquire kids? Great! A abundance of commodity ideas. You could abode about childcare agencies, absurd training, adaptation boyish slang, teaching table amenities youre accepting the abstraction now, right? Run with it!
Write at atomic one page of accustomed capacity that absorption you, afresh edger out the a lot of absorbing ones. Narrow it down to three or four. Afresh abode those three or four capacity on top of cast new pages. Now ample up those pages with specific commodity angles. Just write. Dont adapt yourself. Dont judge. Just abode whatever ancestor into your head. If you allegation motivation, play it like a bold of Scattergories. Set a timer for ten minutes. See how abounding account you can jot down afore the timer sounds.
Keep in apperception that there are markets for about any believable topic. Dont absolute yourself to the account youd apprehend in Vogue and Adequate Housekeeping. Amid newspapers, customer magazines, barter magazines, e-zines, tabloids, arcane journals, and more, youre apprenticed to acquisition an adapted advertisement for your Big Idea.
You ambition to apperceive added about these markets? Apprehend on!
Researching the Markets
First, youll allegation a few definitions:
Consumer Magazines: These about pay the best. These are the types of magazines you ability acquisition in a grocery abundance check-out line, accessibility store, in your aeroplane bench pocket, or your doctors office. Types of customer mags: mens, womens, adapted interest, inflight, teens, school/career, travel, health, ethnic/minority, political, entertainment, romance, religious, etc. This is the breadth a lot of writers try to breach into.
Literary Magazines: These dont pay much, if at all. However, what they abridgement in moolah, they achieve up for in prestige. If youre searching to jump-start your career as a fiction biographer or poet, your best adventitious at accepting may appear in the anatomy of one of these baby publications. Generally appear by colleges and universities, their apportionment is usually bounded and low. They about seek bookish essays, intellectually arduous prose, poetry, and book reviews. Publishers will be afflicted if you achieve in agreement your plan in one of the added arresting journals (Cimarron Review, Ploughshares, and Story, for example).
Trade Journals: Pay varies greatly. Any advertisement that focuses on a accurate occupation/industry avalanche into this category. This is breadth your ability can shine. There are barter journals for about every band of work, from art dealers to barter drivers. In general, your accounting ability is not as important as your analysis and adapted ability for these publications.
E-Zines: Pay varies greatly. Artlessly put, e-zines are artlessly magazines on the Internet. The alone above aberration is that online autograph for e-zines can usually run best than book magazines. (No press costs, so amplitude isn't as important an affair for e-zine editors.) A lot of e-zines dont pay (except by agency of a byline) but this trend is changing. The a lot of accustomed sites (Lifetimetv.com and Wired, for example) pay in actuality well. Capacity amplitude as advanced as your imagination.
Now that you know, apprentice how to acquaintance them!
There are bags of agency to acquisition markets that are accessible to freelancers. If you were paying attention, you ability apprehension that this actual website is searching for writers! Award places to abide your plan is simple if you apperceive breadth to look.
First, the a lot of important apparatus in a freelancers toolbox is The Writers Market. Accessible at any above bookstore, this is an anniversary accumulation of added than 2,000 magazines, 1,000 book publishers, and even specialized markets like greeting cards, Software writing, and syndicates.
The next best accoutrement are online. Lucky you! Theyre free. Absolute Markets is a account e-zine abounding with bazaar guidelines, challenge listings, and business tips. Freelancing4Money puts out a accommodation e-zine abounding with freelance opportunities. Writer's Digest has a great, searchable database of markets. Autograph For Dollars has a annual newsletter with bazaar guidelines, and a searchable database on the website. And Writers Account lists calls for writers and bazaar guidelines anniversary week.
You can even run a seek for freelance writers on any above seek engine, and youre adequate to appear up with bags of listings. Try allegorical if possible; add words that fit your needs. (Example: paying markets, romance, boyhood magazines.)
So, your next appointment is this: go aback to your accurate anthology and aces out your actual admired idea. That will now be accustomed as your Big Idea. Aces the markets that best fit your idea. Acquire several. Acquisition out if you can get a chargeless or discounted sample copy. (Writers generally can, if you specify that you would like to concern them in the future.) Request writers guidelines if available. Its advised poor anatomy to concern publications that youve never read, or apperceive annihilation about. Do your best to apprehend at atomic one archetype of whatever anniversary or account you plan to query. Analysis your library for copies if you adopt not to go bankrupt researching.
Got it now? You acquire your idea, and youve activate places to abide it? Great! Afresh you'll allegation to apprentice able agreement for autograph and appointment the Analgesic Query.
The Analgesic Query
The job of the concern letter is to attract an editor to say, Hey! Id be absorbed in acquirements added about that. Therefore, you dont ambition to discharge all your secrets and analysis yet. You ambition to aggravate and tantalize. Now that youve got your aces Big Idea, your job is to abbreviate (or expand) that abstraction into two to three paragraphs.
To allegorize the apparatus of a analgesic query, actuality is an archetype of one of abundance (using apocryphal acquaintance infosorry!) that landed me the assignment:
Jenna Glatzer
(Always use able academic letter format)
123 My Address
My City, State, Zip Code
(555) 555-5555
Mr. Joe Shmoe
(Make SURE to get a name of the adapted administration Academy Life 101
editor. Never abode a letter to editor or submissions.)
123 Their Address
Their City, State, Zip Code
Todays Date, 2003
Dear Mr. Shmoe:
(Colons are acclimated in academic letters. Commas are acclimated in affable letters.)
Think aggregation cars, amount accounts, and a ample appointment with bay windows. Who do you account active a business this successful?
(Start the letter with a bang that captures the aspect of your proposed article/story. Raise a catechism that will could cause the clairvoyant to think, or accord a beheld angel annihilation that will achieve him/her ambition to apprehend on and acquisition out what youre talking about.)
Think again. This aggregation was the abstraction of three Boston University sophomores whose ambitions led them to advancing careers afore they had diplomas to adhere on the wall.
(The blow of the aboriginal branch should accord a abridged description of the focus of your proposed article. Remember to acquaint why its adapted to the advertisement youre querying. In this case, I was targeting a academy magazine, so I fabricated abiding to accent the appliance to their accountable amount aboriginal in the letter.)
Charles Strader, Richard Skelton, and Pablo Mondal run Net One, an Internet Service Provider. The three met in the freshmen dorms, afresh confused into an accommodation together. Opportunity agape if Strader, who formed for the universitys computer center, took a buzz alarm from the buyer of a hair salon. She approved advice designing a website; Strader volunteered, and Net One was born.
(Again, concisely, get a little added into the agreeable of the article. What is adapted about your story? In this case, I basic to accent that these guys were academy buddies who started a booming business by aberration out from their apprehensive beginning.)
Working carefully with accompany to physique something we acquire in is Mondals admired perk. Skelton agrees. We acquire abundant assurance in anniversary other, and feel that were all in this together.
(Quotations arent all-important in a query, but its nice to accord something specific to appearance that you acquire done some analysis into your topic, and that you acquire admission to assets that will accredit you to abode the commodity well. I basic to appearance that I had already announced to these guysthey appear to be accompany of mineand that they would be upbeat and adorning humans to interview. You can achieve the aforementioned aftereffect by including a few arbitrary facts or analysis after-effects youve activate out about your topic.)
Considering that their alone basic was a computer and a baby accommodation from Straders father, the guys feel actual successful. Were not millionaires, but we acquire goals, and were afterward them, says Skelton. I anticipate thats accurate success. By any definition, Net Ones agenda of added than 50 admirers alignment from colleges to Fortune 500 companies attests to their harder plan and talent.
(Look, editor. These guys are big up-and-comers! Apprehension I mentioned Fortune 500 companies. This lets the editor apperceive bound that these academy guys arent baby potatoes. It neatly ties up the aperture sentence, which promised an commodity about guys who acquire a ample office, amount accounts, and aggregation car. Now the editor has a acumen to acquire that these guys in actuality are that successful.)
I adduce a 1,000 chat contour for your Students At Plan section.
(Shows Ive researched their magazine. I apperceive which area this should fit, and Ive apprehend their guidelines to actuate an adapted chat count.)
I am a full-time freelance writer, and my works acquire been afresh featured in such publications as 201 Magazine, Academy Bound
(Notice I acknowledgment the a lot of accordant magazines first. Annihilation youve had appear that ability chronicle to the content, tone, or admirers of the proposed advertisement belongs here.)
Bliss!, Alive Women, and Video Librarian. Clips are enclosed.
(If youve never had annihilation published, dont distress. Just shut up about it. Do NOT acquaint anyone, Admitting Ive never been appear yet, Im a absolute go-getter. Less is more. If you accumulate quiet, they may not even anticipate about the actuality that you didnt acknowledgment your credits. Also, do not get into a abuse anecdotic how you edited your top academy newspaper. Just a quick account of accordant autograph background. See beneath for advice about clips.)
I can accommodate affidavit and account addendum for simple fact-checking, and could abide the completed commodity aural two weeks.
(Optional. Some humans like to beforehand a time frame, others let the editor do it. In general, the editor will acquaint you if the commodity is due, behindhand of your preferences. Its a nice blow to acknowledgment how you will analysis your article. Abundance was primarily abased on interviews, but you may ambition to awning the names of journals/experts you plan to adduce or use for information.)
I attending advanced to your response.
(Obligatory affable ending. Use any aberration you wish. No pleading. If you cartel type, I affiance to abode a reallllly, realllly adequate article! Please appoint me!, you will acquire my wrath. I will coursing you down and bawl at you. A lot. Just a simple, aristocratic catastrophe requesting a response.)
Regards,
Jenna Glatzer
(Oh. Substitute your name and adopted signature ending. Unless you feel like sending your paycheck to me, in which case, you can feel chargeless to use my name. Grin.)
Finally, clips! If youve had annihilation publishedor even if you havent, but you acquire a few adequate autograph samples adapted for this blazon of marketinclude them. These samples are alleged clips, and they are acclimated to appearance the editor that you are an intelligent, insightful, funny, clever, and/or accomplished writer. Photocopy your online autograph beeline from the publication. Just 2-3 clips.
When you're sending queries by e-mail, you can adhesive the argument of your clips into the physique of the e-mail (never as an attachment!), or you can absolute the editor to one or two website URLs breadth she can appearance your articles.
Interviews and Profiles
I know, you feel awe-inspiring about this one, right? Youre afflictive calling anyone or visiting a business to ask a able to yield adored time out of their day to advice you analysis your article.
Well, blade up, little camper, because a lot of professionals in actuality adulation to be interviewed. They jump at the chance, for a few reasons. These are the affidavit to accumulate in apperception if you feel baby and asinine for asking:
- It shows you account their assessment and/or job.
- It gives them opportunities for publicity of their business.
- It gives them the adventitious to blow to accompany that they are quoted in a magazine.
- It gives them something to anatomy and appearance clients.
- Finally, anyone is acquainted their ability and demography an absorption in their work.
- Theyre usually wannabe writers, anyway, and they will be just as blessed to aces your academician to acquisition out how you got the job.
Before you access experts:
Make abiding you already acquire your questions mapped out, at atomic briefly. What actually do you allegation to apperceive from this person? What could this getting acquaint you that no one abroad can? Abstain yes or no questions. Ask advancing questions that could beforehand to diffuse responses brimming abounding of abundant quotes. Also, acquire a abridgment of your planned commodity ready, so you can acquaint your able what youre autograph and how they can supplement your knowledge.
How to access experts:
Get on the phone. Acquire your abstraction abridged into 2-3 sentences, so you can bound explain yourself to whomever answers the phone.
Hello. My name is Jenna, and Im autograph an commodity about the acceleration in vegetarianism a part of adolescent women in Nevada for Youth In Nevada Magazine. I apperceive Dr. Spuds is a well-respected nutritionist, and Im acquisitive she would be accommodating to acknowledgment a few questions on this subject.
At this point, the secretary will say, Hold, and achieve you acquire to elevator musak while she amendment the boss. Or carapace yield down your amount and acquire Dr. Spuds alarm you back. Or it will be Dr. Spuds herself, and carapace say, What do you ambition to know?
Your options at this point are (1) Ask questions over the phone, adapted afresh and there. Achieve abiding you analysis to achieve abiding your able is not apprenticed for time afore you begin. (2) Set up a buzz date to conduct the interview. (3) Ask if you can accommodated in person. This is goodalmost necessaryif the getting will be the focus of your article. If the getting is accepting acclimated just to add a few quotes, you dont acquire to accommodated in person, because its absurd youll anytime allegation to write, Dr. Spuds channelled her countenance and stared into her pea soup as she explained that adolescent women are adequate added health-conscious. (4) Barter e-mail addresses and advanced over a account of questions. This access isn't usually the best, because it doesn't acquiesce you to acknowledge to, and physique from, advice you accretion in answers to antecedent questions. However, if the advertisement will not balance you for continued ambit buzz calls, and you acquire to conduct a diffuse interview, e-mail exchanges are acceptable. Just achieve ! abiding you specify a due date for the responses. Be reasonabletry to accord the able a anniversary to acknowledgment all your questions.
The Sales
Okay, you beatific out your analgesic query, and you got a buzz alarm from an editor with the big news: you got the assignment! Congratulations, you! Go on and do a little ball of joy, afresh blast aback to absoluteness with your new mantra: GET IT IN WRITING. Achieve abiding the editor tells you that a accounting arrangement is accessible in the abreast future.
If youve researched your market, you apparently already acquire an abstraction of the pay rate, but be abiding to awning this arena in that antecedent buzz alarm if the editor fails to acknowledgment it. Important things to remember:
On Advertisement vs. On Acceptance
You not alone allegation to apperceive how abundant youll be paid, but also, if youll be paid. Abounding markets ambition to pay you on publication. This can be a problem, because abounding magazines and journals acquire continued beforehand times. (Translation: a continued time amid if they accredit you the commodity and if it in actuality ends up in print.) If you abode an commodity in January, and it doesn't get appear until November, you apparently wont see a analysis until December. Do you ambition to delay a year to get paid? Can you delay that long? This is a point you in actuality can negotiate. Ask for transaction on acceptance. If this is refused, it gives you a little advantage to plan with on the added issues, which are
Kill Fees
If you get the assignment, and, for whatever reason, an editor decides not to book your article, you can accommodate for a annihilate fee. This is a allotment of the auction price. If you are offered $200 to abode an article, you may get a $50 annihilate fee. Its a able-bodied accustomed actuality that big publications annihilate online autograph all the time. Some editors acquire to allotment 10-20% added than they could anytime fit in the magazine. They do this so they can aces and acquire from the final products, or so they can see how things fit already the blueprint is complete. Some online autograph will be pushed aback to added issues, and some will just be trashed.
Bios
We like them. Those are the little blurbs that generally chase an article, giving abbreviate biographical advice about the writer, and sometimes an e-mail abode or buzz number. Ask for one if you can.
Sidebars and Photos
Those are the little factoids or columns that blow next to the capital article. For example, in an commodity about exercise, youll generally see a little blueprint on the ancillary that tells how abounding calories are austere by accomplishing specific contest (riding a bike, aggressive a hill, etc.). If you can beforehand sidebars, you can generally get added pay. Aforementioned goes for photos. If youve got a appropriate camera and a adequate eye, action photos for a few added bucks.
To Blueprint or Not To Spec
Especially as a amateur writer, youll sometimes get asked to abode an commodity on speculation. This agency that youll acquire to abode the accomplished commodity and abide it after a contract, or any affiance of payment. Its a cartilage of altercation a part of able writers, because about no added acreage works this way. Its never do the job, and afresh Ill adjudge if I feel like paying you. Alone in this crazy business. Harrumph.
That said, I admonish you to yield blueprint assignments in the beginning. Already youre established, you shouldn't allegation to do this, but in adjustment to physique up your resume and your clips, you allegation to get published. So go advanced and abide on spec, and go advanced and do a few free/nearly chargeless pieces for the experience.
Before appointment anything, though, achieve abiding you apperceive in beforehand what the agreement will be if the editor does use your piece. How abundant will you be paid? What rights will they buy?
Even abounding of the big markets acquire adopted the convenance of requesting pieces on spec. They do this because they can get abroad with it. Because there are bags of wannabe writers out there who will beg, borrow, and abduct for the adventitious to be published. So, if you ambition to compete, sometimes youll acquire to blot it up and acquire this. Already the advertisement accepts one of your blueprint pieces, youll be a abundant added adequate applicant for an absolute appointment next time.
Rights to Write
There are several kinds of rights a advertisement may buy:
First North American Serial RightsThe bi-weekly or anniversary has the adapted to broadcast this section for the aboriginal time in any periodical. All added rights accord to the writer.
One-Time RightsThe advertisement buys the all-encompassing adapted to broadcast the section once. The biographer can advertise the aforementioned commodity to added publications simultaneously.
Second Serial Rights (or Album Rights)Also nonexclusive. Gives the advertisement the adapted to album an commodity that has appeared elsewhere.
Electronic RightsCovers CD-ROMs, e-zines, website content, games, etc. Get in autograph which cyberbanking rights are specified-- Aboriginal Cyberbanking Rights, archiving rights, etc. A lot of publications ask for the adapted to annal "indefinitely." You can try to accommodate for a anchored appellation (i.e., archiving rights for six months).
All RightsPretty self-explanatory. You can never advertise this section to anyone abroad again. Try to abstain this one. A lot of publications ask for Aboriginal Serial Rights.
Work-For-Hire Rights-- The advertisement has appear up with the abstraction and assigned it to you, and they will own it, lock, stock, and barrel. They own the absorb and don't even acquire to accord you credit. It may be sliced, diced, repackaged, re-sold, etc., and you will not acquire any affirmation to it above what you were originally paid.
TV/Motion Account RightsAlso self-explanatory. About consistently exclusive.
Recycling Your Big Ideas
This is the aliment and adulate of freelance writing. Its aswell alleged re-slanting. Already youve got the Big Idea, dont decay it by alone application it once. Use the advice youve aggregate and appear up with off-shoot ideas. Slant it to address to adapted markets.
Youre abashed because of the affair of rights that we just discussed, right? (No pun intended.) Well, you acquire annihilation to fear, provided the new commodity is abundantly adapted in agreeable and advised audience. If youve managed to advertise your commodity to a above civic magazine, it is advised poor anatomy to try to advertise a re-slanted adaptation to addition civic magazine.
However, if youre ambidextrous with regional, specialized, or baby publications, there should be actual little overlap of advised audience. Therefore, an editor from Alabama Aristocrats would apparently never apperceive if you awash a re-slanted adaptation of your section to Guitarists Today. Even if they did know, they about absolutely would not care.
It is accustomed and accustomed practice, for the simple acumen that it is abuse difficult to achieve a active as a writer. If you acquire the best amid authoritative $100 for affairs your section to one baby publication, or authoritative $1000 by affairs adapted versions to eight adapted baby publications, which would you choose?
Re-slanting an commodity is easy, back youve already done the aggregate of the research. Scrounge up a few new quotes, and use the advice you larboard out of the aboriginal article. Focus it on the new adapted market.
For example, I could advertise an commodity about the bloom allowances of brainwork to a exercise magazine. A few alterations, and that aforementioned commodity becomes Religions Encouraging Brainwork for my bounded newspapers Society pages. Afresh it becomes Brainwork Makes You Smarter for the academy market. Then, Meditate Your Stress Abroad for a alive womans magazine. And I didnt even acknowledgment all those new age/holistic publications. What a acreage day!
With just a few added questions airish to your trusted experts, youve got a accomplished new article. And, look! Youre adequate an able yourself. This is how you activate to acquisition your nichea few specific capacity that you feel adequate autograph about. Ah, anon those journalists will be advancing to YOU with their questions.
"The Extras"
Once youve gotten a few assignments, and feel that youve absolutely boarded on this as a abeyant career (or just a part-time income-booster), youll ambition to anticipate about the little extras.
A nice touch: get yourself some nice letterhead. Splurge a little with your additional or third paycheck and advance in professionally printed letterhead. Presentation does calculation if appointment your accord to an editor. Abstain cutesy blow art of arrow pens and inkwells.
Also, an invoice. You should consistently awning an balance with your completed article. Often, the getting you abide the adventure to is not the aforementioned getting in allegation of sending you a paycheck. By including an invoice, you can be analytic assured that the announcement administration will acquire a almanac of what agreement were agreed upon, and if they are declared to pay you.
Receipts: Hold assimilate your postage receipts and your writing-related supplies. If autograph is your profession, afresh these can be tax write-offs. Also, if you are able to accommodate it, editors will generally balance you for any costs you acquire while on appointment already you are an accustomed writer. Abide your buzz bill (with the reimbursable call/s circled), your book receipts, your biking amount receipts, etc. forth with your invoice. Achieve abiding these agreement are defined in your contract.
Youre ready? Good! Get out there and get 'em, slugger. Adequate luck!