A longtime friend (and we’re talking long time—I think we ran around in diapers together) recently asked me a question I’m guessing a lot of other intrepid writers grapple with.She and her honey started their own independent climbing guide publishing company, but now she’d like to take her specialized knowledge and write for some of her favorite magazines. Only she’s not sure where to begin. “Julie, do I need an agent?” she asked recently.
And I’m incredibly glad to be able to say nope. That’s the beauty of writing in the magazine world. You don’t have to hire some expensive agent to do your bidding for you. Armed with the right words, the right ideas, and the right contact at the right magazine, you can land freelance writing gigs faster than you can scale K2. (Of course, things don’t always move that quickly. But you never know!)
If you’re looking to get your first article or two (or 250) published in a magazine, here’s a look at how I get started. I’ll expand on plenty of these points in future blog posts too, but it never hurts to hit the ground running with a quick overview.
Brainstorm. Like all creative endeavors, the best place to start when it comes to generating article ideas is with some brainstorming. Maybe you start by making a master list of all the topics you know about and would like to write about—no censorship, just write whatever comes to mind. Or, like me, you might generate a list of ideas as you move through life. Sometimes, an idea comes to me in the shower or while I’m brushing my teeth. Other times, I’ll come across a nugget of an idea in the newspaper or on a blog or even when I’m driving down the road. I have post-it notes and receipts and notebooks scattered all over the place with the results of my brainstorming because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that when an idea strikes you sure as hell better write it down or it may be lost forever.
Refine your ideas. Once you’ve exhausted your brainstorming time (or you have a big enough list you’re ready to forge ahead), it’s time to refine. Look closely at each of those ideas. You don’t have to throw anything out for good, but you do need to narrow down your ideas so you don’t spend the rest of your life sending out queries that go nowhere. Which ideas are you drawn to the most? Which are most timely or seem to have the most potential? Which ones are better saved for another day? You might use your instincts to narrow down the list, or you may have to do some research. (Sometimes, it helps to skip to the next step first and then come back to this one.)
After you narrow down your list, start to flesh out your ideas a bit more. What sources could you talk to? What resources might you rely on? What’s the fresh angle you’d use if this sort of story has been done before? (Do some searching. Make sure your exact angle hasn’t been done before.) The more thought you put into your ideas upfront, the better.
Find the right market. At some point in the process—once you’ve narrowed down your list of ideas to a manageable chunk or once you’ve found the idea—it’s time to pick the right market. If you’re writing about a specialized topic, such as rock climbing, the ideal market might come to mind immediately. That’s great. If the ideal magazine doesn’t jump out at you, however, don’t despair. It doesn’t mean your idea isn’t stellar. It just means you need to spend some time searching.
You might start by heading the library or the bookstore. Check out the magazines. See any possibilities? Spend some time searching online too—you’ll come across publications you may not have thought of. Maybe you’ll even decide an online magazine is a better fit for this story. That works too.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list of possible publications, it’s time to get serious about researching the magazine. Look at their most recent issue. Look at past issues from the library. Search their archives online. Familiarize yourself as much as possible with the publication—not just the overall editorial content, but also the typical length of the articles, the tone, the number of sources used. The more information you gather on your fact-finding mission, the better.
Get the guidelines. If your query never makes it to the right person at the magazine, all hope of landing a story assignment is lost. That’s why finding the right contact—and tracking down writer’s guidelines—is so important. You might start by studying the magazine masthead. If you want to write a feature, is there a specific features editor you could send your query to? Is there a general articles editor?
If the masthead doesn’t yield enough clues, it’s time to search online. Most publications have their own websites, and many even include a section with information on writer’s guidelines. (Writer’s guidelines typically include information on how editors like to receive queries, who you should send them to, the sections of the magazine that are open to freelancers, and sometimes even the rate they pay.)
If you’re not finding the information you need on the magazine’s site, search for the guidelines you need on sites such as Mediabistro and Writer’s Market. You may have to pay a fee for these sites though, but you can also track down guidelines from free sources such as Writers Write
Craft your pitch. Once you know who you’re sending your idea to and how they like to receive it (by email? snail mail?) it’s time to convince them you have an article idea they can’t refuse. Remember that you’re not only selling your story idea, you’re selling yourself and your mad writing skills too. Why should this editor hire you over every other writer who’s sent a query? Be specific. Show your personality and your wordsmithing skills. Explain clearly what your idea is and why you’re the person to write the story. Be conversational yet polite. Don’t waste too much of the editor’s time rambling, but give him or her enough detail so they can see you’ve put thought into the idea.
(Whole books have been written just on the topic of query letters, by the way, so we’ll dive into this topic often in the future. Remember, too, that you probably need to assemble some clips of work you’ve done and a resume to send along too. More on that later …)
Edit, edit, edit. Whatever you do, don’t send your query the day you write it. I know you want to get your idea in the editor’s hands immediately. I know you want to write the article now. But trust me, as someone who has sent out queries on the fly only to discover glaring errors later on, it’s in your best interest to let that baby sit for a day or longer. Then, come back to it with fresh eyes. You might even have a friend read it for you.
Cut out the crap. Proofread. Look for the littlest error. If you’re trying to establish yourself as a writer, you don’t want a typo or grammatical error or punctuation snafu to stop the editor dead in her tracks. And trust me. Editors are busy. They don’t have time to read all the queries and letters they get from writers. So if there’s anything that’s going to get your idea tossed in the trashcan straightaway, it’s minor errors.
Edit again. Seriously.
Send it! Once you the query is ready and edited, you’ve assembled your clips and resume, and you’ve bitten off all your nails (oh, is that just me?), it’s time to send that great idea off to the editor. Address the envelope and stick it in the mail (make sure there’s a stamp on it!) or hit “send” on your email if the editor prefers an online pitch (make sure the attachments are there!). Now sit back and relax.
I know you’re going to want to call the editor an hour after you send that email to make sure he received it. You’re going to agonize every day over whether it went to the right person. You’re going to want to fly to whatever city the publication is in and snoop around the offices just to make sure your letter is actually there. Don’t. Start working on other queries. Garden. Do something, anything, other than thinking that query to death. It’s not going to do any good. Editors are busy. It may be days, weeks, or even months—yes, months!—before the appropriate editor even has time to look at your query. And it may be longer than that before they can do anything about it—editorial calendars are scheduled way in advance, other duties take precedence over presenting new ideas.
So sit tight. You’ve done the work. Now it’s time for the waiting game.
Learn More:
How to Write a Successful Query
How to Write a Query Letter
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