Lesson from the Other Side of the Editor’s Desk: They Want What?
Posted: April 10, 2012 Filed under: article ideas, freelance articles, freelance writing FAQ, queries | Tags: article queries, editorial calendars, freelancing for magazines, pleasing magazine editors Leave a comment »You spend 20 hours researching a great idea, e.g., why kids join gangs, and it’s rejected. Three months (or six months or a year) later, the editor calls: Will you write an article on how to plan the perfect wedding?
Despite the way writing publications constantly encourage us to query with our great ideas, most magazines are planned in-house. Editors and staff decide what stories they want to have written, then find writers to do it. They have annual special sections and departments to fill, and they always have to think about their advertisers. The wedding story fits into their bridal section and will help sell ads to every business that deals with weddings. The gangs article may be fantastic, but it doesn’t fit anywhere, and it doesn’t sell anything. There are publications that handle serious issues, but most of them are newspapers or journals with private funding, not the slick magazines sold at Safeway.
Why did they call you to write about weddings? Your query showed them you were a competent writer. They decided you were worth a try. Pat yourelf on the back and start calling wedding consultants. Once they know you, they’ll be open to your ideas and might even find a way to work that gangs story into a future issue.
One way to get inside the process is to look at magazines’ editor calendars. These rough out the themes and featured topics for upcoming issues. They are routinely given to advertisers to encourage them to buy ads. Do a search for “editorial calendars” or, more specifically, your target magazine’s calendar and see where you can match your talents to their desires. For example, I just looked up the Horizon airline magazine’s calendar. It’s listed under its parent publication at http://alaskaairlinesmagazine.com/horizonedition/editorial. I see that they’re featuring Southern Oregon, the 2012 summer Olympics in England, and gourmet ice cream in July and doing a special section on Idaho in October. Hmmm.
If you really want to write for a specific magazine, study it so well that you know exactly what the editor is looking for and when, then offer to provide it. A good query may get your foot in the door, but the right query will have them inviting you in and offering you a chair.
Your query: Take another look
Posted: August 29, 2011 Filed under: article ideas, queries | Tags: freelancing for newspapers, Oregon Coast Today, queries Leave a comment »I’ve got a new gig, writing for a local weekly paper called Oregon Coast Today. The editor knew my work, and when a need arose, she called me. All I did was keep myself visible, most recently at a free writing workshop she taught for our local branch of Willamette Writers. I honestly hate networking, but contacts will get you farther than anything else in the writing business. I know, we’d like to believe talent is the key, but it’s contacts.
We have agreed that I will write a minimum of two features a month for a pleasing amount of money. So, I already have the gig. However, I still need to pitch my ideas. Here’s where we come to today’s lesson. What the editor wants is extremely specific. The stories must be local, happening right here in Lincoln County or south Tillamook County. They must promote something that is happening in the foreseeable future or something that people can do anytime. Readers must be able to take that story and do something.
There’s no coverage of things that have already happened. There are no free publicity stories about local businesses or local artists. Articles must come with photos, either mine or pictures that I am sure I can obtain from someone else. The writing must fit the breezy, let’s-have-fun tone. Overall, my queries must be very specific.
I pitched a story on an upcoming Art Walk happening over Labor Day weekend. Because I’m personally involved, I had contacts, access to pictures, and a lot of details. She bought it. I also pitched a story on an upcoming set of events around Sept. 11 on the theme of peace. I didn’t have much information, mentioned what I knew and said there would be “other cool stuff.” I would call the person in charge if she was interested. She said: Try again with more information. In addition, I pitched a “glass pumpkin patch” being displayed at a local gallery. It’s a business. I failed to mention the raising-money-for-Food-Share angle. She said: No.
I remind you that I already have the gig. We have enough stories already lined up to keep me busy. If you’re querying a publication that doesn’t already know you, you need to work even harder to make sure your query matches that publication’s mission and is as specific as possible. You need to know exactly what that story is going to contain before you ask an editor to let you write it. It works better that way for both of you because the editor knows what she’s getting, and you know you can provide it.
So, before you send that query, take another look. If there’s anything vague about it, make it specific. If it doesn’t quite fit the publication’s mission, try again.
That’s what I’m doing today.
>Stuffed with Thanksgiving
Posted: November 25, 2008 Filed under: article ideas, Thanksgiving alternatives Leave a comment »>The newspapers, magazines and TV are overloaded with Thanksgiving articles, recipes and ads this week. Everything seems to be written with the assumption that we’re all going to be chowing down on turkey in big family gatherings. That simply isn’t true for everyone. In fact, I can name several friends who, like us, are planning on a quiet day at home. Not only are they far from family, but they’ve been working so hard they look forward to doing nothing. Other people are sick, disabled or can’t afford to do the big holiday thing.
What’s the connection with freelancing? Editors welcome new angles on the old articles. Let’s all look for stories about non-traditional Thanksgivings. Ditto for Christmas. What are the alternatives to the standard celebration? What options are available for those who’d like to turkey down but can’t do it without help? What about those folks who just don’t eat turkey? How do we explain this holiday to newly arrived immigrants? On the more mercenary side, one could do a roundup of restaurants offering Thanksgiving dinner. Or grocery stores selling complete dinners ready to heat and eat.
How about a religious connection? What are churches doing about turkey day? Although I don’t plan a big dinner, I do plan to go to church on Thursday and thank God for my blessings. I expect sparse attendance at that service. Between football and feasting, most folks will be too busy.
It doesn’t take long to brainstorm lots of article ideas. It’s too late to get anything published in print this year, but you might get something in for Christmas. Meanwhile, look for the publication possibilities online and save your list of ideas for queries next September.
>When the Ideas Dry Up
Posted: July 14, 2008 Filed under: article ideas, networking, regular gigs Leave a comment »>Some days, finding article ideas is like trying to put together dinner when you’ve run out of groceries. You might be able to make peanut butter and pickle sandwiches on stale hamburger buns, but you won’t find many takers. It happens to all of us; the larder is bare, and every idea that floats through your mind seems stupid. You could blow off work for the day. Sometimes relaxing the mind leads to new inspiration the next day. But what if the rent is due and you can’t afford to take time off?
That’s when it pays to have a regular newspaper gig, a publication for which you write every issue. If you’re lucky, the editor supplies you with ideas. All you have to do is set up the interviews, do the research and write the story. If you’re really lucky, the editor has already done some of the legwork and listed sources for you to contact, along with a loose outline of what she wants. Nirvana, and a check in the mail soon.
How do you get a regular newspaper gig? Decide whom you want to write for, study the newspaper until you know what gets published, then send an irresistible query. Write a good story, turn it in error-free and on time in the requested format. Then do it again until the editor says, hey, this is a good writer and starts calling you with assignments. It happens. I’ve done it, both as the writer and as the editor.
That’s one way. There are others.
Networking works. A former member of my writing group became editor of a community newspaper. Soon she was calling with assignments to write for their home and garden section. I never submitted a query. She kept me supplied with ideas. All I had to do was say yes. Likewise, I signed up for the job bank at a local writers’ organization, and an editor called me with an assignment. Soon I was getting assignments from him, too.
Finally, don’t overlook the classified section of papers that you read. Sometimes, you’ll find an ad for freelance writers. In two cases, I followed up on such ads and wound up writing monthly articles. For one of the papers, the editor and contacts I developed doing my stories supplied most of the ideas. With the other, alas, all of the ideas were mine, and I had a hard time coming up with subjects that fit the limited parameters of my assignment, but I always found something in time to meet my deadline.
How did I get the idea for this blog item? I didn’t have an idea. I sat out in the sun with the dogs, my most trusted advisors, and they told to write about that.
Happy writing to one and all.
>She’s not a dog; she’s an idea machine
Posted: March 11, 2008 Filed under: article ideas, dogs Leave a comment »>We just adopted a new dog last week, Halle Berry Lick. Obviously black and gorgeous. She cannot replace our beloved Sadie, who died in November, but she has added a new element to our lives. What does that have to do with freelancing for newspapers? Well, since she arrived, I keep thinking of dog-related story ideas. This pooch is young and rambunctious–and big. The Safe Havens shelter from which we got her would make a good story on its own, but there are plenty of other topics: What steps do you need to take to welcome a new dog into the family? How do you keep a big water-loving dog out of the spa and is it okay if she drinks the water? Do you have to take her to school to train her? What chew toys are safest and most durable? How do you keep her from assuming that everything else–your shoes, your headphones, the coasters–are also chew toys? What if she won’t eat what you feed her? Why is crate training so popular now, and how do you do it? Etc.
Whatever’s happening in your own life will provide article ideas, like low-growing fruit that’s easy to grab off the tree. Take an idea and spin it every way you can think of for every possible market.
Now I need to get Halle a treat for giving me something to write about in my blog this morning. See how it works?
>Never walk past a newspaper without looking
Posted: November 29, 2007 Filed under: article ideas, automotive news, Christian Journal, free newspapers, freelance articles 4 Comments »>Our Thanksgiving trip to California provided the opportunity to check out some new newspapers. Any one of them might turn out to be a great market–or not. When you walk past a rack of free papers, always grab one. If they’re not free, consider spending the 50 cents or dollar to buy a copy. This is your chance to see the actual paper, not the condensed version on the Internet. As always while market-hunting,
check the bylines and look for taglines at the ends of the stories. Also glance at the staff box somewhere in the first few pages. And don’t overlook the offbeat papers.
For example, while waiting for our daughter to come down from her office at a Hayward, CA auto auction place, I found a rack full of the Automotive News–or something like that. I have minimal interest in cars, but somebody else I know might be interested, so I looked. Every article is staff written or done by an advertiser grabbing some free publicity. Forget that.
However, we stopped for lunch on the way home at a restaurant called Heaven on Earth. It’s at Quines Creek, south of Roseburg on I-5. If you’re ever in the mood for a huge and tasty meal accompanied by Christian background music, stop in. Their baked goods are amazing, and they gave us free apple crisp just for being there. Anyway, they had a rack of free papers called The Christian Journal, www.LiftingTheCross.com. And you know what? It’s almost all freelance. Unlike most papers, which make you grovel for guidelines, this one had the information right under the staff box. They are looking for “uplifting” pieces 300 to 600 words, and they pay actual money. The stories aren’t bad. Christian pubs might not be your thing, but it’s an example of what you can find if you check out every newspaper that comes your way.
Even if they don’t use freelance, you can learn about the area and maybe get some ideas for articles for other papers. If, for example, they published a post-Thanksgiving feature on how to make Christmas shopping easier, you could do the same thing for your local paper.
So grab those free papers and start reading.
>Midnight madness
Posted: May 3, 2007 Filed under: article ideas Leave a comment »>There I was in the dark about 12:30 a.m. The dog was snoring, and the husband had just fallen asleep, but my brain was going 100 mph. I grabbed the bedside notepad and started scribbling, thought I was done, put it down and tried to sleep. But no, there was more. I filled the page, winced at the noise made turning to a fresh page, and filled up that page, too. I was on page three when my husband suddenly got up to use the bathroom. Aha! I grabbed the little flashlight I keep near the bed (don’t want to wake the dog with a bright light), checked what I had written, then wrote some more as quickly as I could, putting the notebook down and turning the flashlight off just as the husband slid back into bed. It must be hard living with a crazy writer. But how do you turn it off? That article might be THE ONE.
If you’re a real writer, expect to get inspiration at inappropriate times. Anybody else ever get an idea at church? While getting your teeth cleaned? In the middle of sex?
Sue
