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Getting Published
Making unsolicited attempts to get published
in periodicals can be a time-consuming
process
with a low success rate. Here
are some tips
on improving your odds:
- Closely study magazines whose style and content
appeal to you, and for which you believe
that you can write successfully. Try to determine
whether staff writers or freelancers write
most articles. If the latter, you may have
a chance. Most magazines print a short biographical
note if the writer is a freelancer, either
at the end of the article or near the back
of the magazine.
- Look at the masthead (the page near the front
that lists editors and other key employees)
for guidelines on how freelancers should
contact the periodical. Sometimes, these
guidelines are somewhere near the back of
the magazine. The magazine's website (if
there is one) may also have helpful information.
- Never write an article on speculation ("on
spec") with the goal of sending it out
and hoping to be published. You'll probably
not get the courtesy of a reply. Instead,
write a brief (editors are very busy) query
letter that summarizes your idea for an article,
explains why you think it's a great fit for
the periodical and asks whether they are
interested. Also summarize your history of
being published and offer to submit clips
on request.
- Some magazines demand that hopeful writers
make queries by snail mail only and not by
e-mail -- just one method that they use to
weed out those who are not serious.
- Look for the abbreviation SASE (self-addressed
stamped envelope) in the guidelines for magazines
that work via snail mail. No SASE, no reply.
- Consider investing in the Writer's Market,
a comprehensive annual guide
to publications
looking for writers, including
their payment
procedures. This reference
tool is the freelancer's
"Bible," available
both in print
and on-line. There also is
a companion monthly
magazine.
- Once you have sent out a query, be prepared
for a very long wait. Few editors ever reply
to queries that do not interest them. Even
editors who solicit an article are notoriously
tardy about getting back to the author, even
if they later decided not to run it. Be judicious
in following up without becoming an irritant.
- If your query meets with a positive response,
be sure you also have an agreement on a "kill
fee," a fee that you will be paid if
you write the article but they later decide
not to publish it.
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