I take daily walks to the local news agency. One day, I took a look around at all of the publications and I realized that most of the material was supplied by freelance writers. That’s the good news for us freelancers. The bad news is that due to the vast number of freelance writers, the competition can be tuff. The bar has been raised by the writing industry. With the high number of freelance writers and the large number of article submission requests, the publishers can sit back and wait for that one article that fits their needs.
I will be breaking down four major areas of interest with regards to writing an article for a magazine. The areas of interest are as follows, the basic core knowledge of article writing, know whom you are writing for, writing a marketable article, and selling your article.
Everyone possesses the basic core knowledge of article writing. We have all had those unique experiences in life that are story worthy. How about getting through the grueling holiday dinners with your families? I know we all have had at least one good story about that. How about watching your first child being born? I speak from experience that is truly amazing. However, my wife has a different take on the topic. I guess it has something to do with the pain involved with childbirth. Every time I talk about our son being born, she grabs her stomach, gives me a dirty look, and walks away. I have to give it to the women, if it were up to us guys to have children, there would be a major shortage of newborns in the world. I think you get my point. We all have good topics to write articles about.
Know whom you are writing for. To put it simply, know your publication’s demographic audience, Style, and general tone. Obtain writer’s guidelines and follow them. If need be, contact the editor if you have any questions. Like I stated, the competition is tuff out there, you don’t want to have an article rejected for something as simple as writer’s guidelines. Obtain a mental picture of the target readers of your publication and maintain it throughout your writing. The following three topics are to consider while analyzing your publisher’s magazine.
- The cover
- The table of contents
- The articles
The cover is simple. What do the pictures and text tell you about the magazine’s content and over all tone?
The table of contents outlines what topics are featured in the magazine.
Are the articles of the magazine specifically structured or generally structured? What kind of topic sentences (beginning paragraph) or endings do they have? How many 64-dollar words do they have? What size paragraphs are used (small, short, long, in depth)? The answer to these questions could change how you approach an article. Are multimedia files or other inserts a good part of most of the articles? If so, a digital camera with user friendly software wouldn’t be a bad idea. Are there many different author names listed as article authors, or do a few write most of the articles?
Marketable articles are in high demand. The idea is to grab the reader at the very beginning of your article, keep a firm hold throughout the article, and lastly end with a convincing summary.
In order to grab the reader at the very beginning, you must shock them into not being able to put the article down until they get to the ending. Insert some sort of an unknown fact or surprise about the topic.
The middle portion of the article is filled with fact-based information, examples, and opinions of the topic at hand. The boring writer will refer to this portion of the article as the simple list of facts. The outstanding writer will add opinions and other colorful comments.
The convincing summary is the writer’s last chance to input a long lasting impression of their work. You are to link your first paragraph all the way through to the last paragraph.
A good system of writing marketable articles is to make your own outline template and use it for every article. I researched outlines on-line, took pieces from many sites, and came up with my own outline for a successful article.
Selling your article is a great feeling. The publisher is saying, I like your work, please except our money, and please write me more of your good articles.
The first stage of selling your article is generally, creating a query letter and submitting it via email (sometimes by snail mail but usually email). To write a successful query letter you must do the following:
- Utilize the bullets that I am using here to list your main topics of the article.
- Your qualifications if any. A true editor knows talent when they see it. Sometimes you do not need traditional qualifications.
- Why you? What makes you the spokes person for their magazine? Be creative.
- Mention a hobby of yours is one that is directly related to their publication. Do not write an article. Just list a few items of the topic. Mention that you will use pictures in your articles. Sometimes an editor will choose an article on photography based information.
It is absolutely imperative that you purchase, writer’s Market, published annually by Writer’s Digest Books. It is the most comprehensive guide to North American writer’s markets.
The author is a long time writer and a new published author. His book can be found on lulu.com “how to know if your wife is cheating on you”. His true passion of writing is only second to the love of his son. Hope you enjoy the article. You can reach William Bailey at billbailey15@hotmail.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/article-marketing-articles/writing-for-magazines-1421638.html