Chapter two contents
Sometimes, beginning writers have a difficult time deciding where their writing interests lie. Writing a variety of things and experimenting with different styles can help you discover what you're comfortable with writing.
Poewar.com, http://www.poewar.com/, provides concise description of writing positions. Before you start exploring the this well organized blog, a classic example with an exceptional, precisely indexed, collection of excellent articles and links of interest to writers, click About John Hewitt and read about this remarkable man. At the bottom, hover your mouse over the icons to note his networking techniques, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Click Home to return to PoeWar and the main categories at the top of this terrific resource. Study and learn from articles at Poewar Main, Poewar Jobs, and Jobs Archive.
Magazine issue closing dates
•Jan/Feb 2010 issue closes November 10 (copy due by November 30 2009)
•March/April 2010 issue closes January 1 (copy due by January 30, 2010)
•May/June 2010 issue closes March 1 (copy due by March 30, 2010)
•July/August 2010 issue closes May 1 (copy due by May 30, 2010)
•Sept/Oct 2010 issue closes July 1 (copy due by July 30, 2010)
•Nov/Dec 2010 closes September 1 (copy due by September 30, 2010)
Getting magazines to study
Final manuscripts for assigned stories have to be in by the due date. Knowing these dates will help you select the best time to send your query.
Target a certain issue (month published) and query several weeks before the closing date for that month's issue -- but not right on the closing date for the previous issue -- things get pretty hectic in the office on closing dates.
You must get magazines and study them.
While studying, make notes in your idea journal, and keep this important fact in mind: The magazine closing date is an important date. Advertising is locked in, and stories are decided on and assigned in staff meetings by this closing date.
Getting magazines to study
You can also read some stories from back issues of magazines online. However, this does not let you study the entire magazine so you can't analyze the market properly.
The main reasons for going online and searching for magazines are
Then, start at PubList, http://www.publist.com/ where you can learn valuable tips for searching. (The site may still undergoing reconstruction. Be sure to register, as it helps them to better meet the needs of site-users.)
When you sign in, fill in name, etc., and check Publisher in list. When you're signed in, type your subject in the search box. You'll get a list of publications. Along with publication details, you'll find addresses for requesting sample copies, too. Online magazines can be located by copying the magazine title into http://www.dogpile.com/ or http://www.msn.com/. Pay attention to the URL at the bottom of each listing returned because the Link listing title may be misleading.
When searching, be specific. For example, dolls returned seven magazines, but doll returned twenty two publications! Let your imagination help you find what interests you.
Also, be sure to read and adhere to Infotrieve's copyrights, http://www.publist.com/copyright.html.
You'll find news and columns, as well as magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and much more at The American Journalism Review, http://ajr.org/. Drop down lists from top tabs make locating information easy.
An excellent source to find trade magazines is FreeTradeMagazines, http://www.freetrademagazines.com/. These magazines are offered to trade professionals that are currently active in their industry. You can use the magazines for education but you must fill the forms out for each subscription. When subscribing, be professional and tell the publisher why you're subscribing.
ipl2 is the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII). Begin here: http://www.ipl.org//.
Search "magazines" to get here, http://www.ipl.org/div/news/. Browse the many categories within categories. Follow the same steps to locate newspaper links.
Ark Royal is another resource to find magazine titles, http://www.100-free-magazines.com/
Guidelines for many magazines are at: http://www.writersdigest.com/. Type hot markets in the search to get The Writer's Digest Top 100. Each magazine listed posts their writers guidelines.
Pine Cone.on.ca. Magazine, Ontario's magazine for history, heritage, nostalgia, nature, environment, travel and the arts, is located in the heart of the Madawaska Valley, on the York River. Guidelines, http://www.pinecone.on.ca/MAGAZINE/writers.html.
Be sure to study guides carefully. Many magazines want stories only about a specific area or country. PineCone.on.ca is a good example: "We accept only Canadian content by Canadian authors." Their guidelines are very specific as to what they do and do not want, and queries are mandatory.
*** Explore, explore, explore. Find and read as many magazines as you can, online or in libraries, doctor's offices, anywhere, until you get a clear understanding of the definitive differences of each magazine. If all other resources fail, buy magazines at your supermarket or nearest bookstore.***
Starting Point (TM), http://www.stpt.com/, is a tremendous source with links to magazines to read (Click Directory.) It's one of the best databases to search any topic and the magazines catering to it. It's very good place to start when you're studying magazine content -- both ezines and print magazines are listed. Read the magazine reviews to get inside the magazine's readers minds.
Also, type magazines guidelines into Starting Point's search box, http://www.stpt.com/, and then keep scrolling to the bottom of each subsequent page. Click the last number there to get SEVENTY FIVE pages of links to magazine guidelines.
You can also contact magazines' advertising departments and ask them to send you their media kit (and your editor will never have to know.) Study the media kit to learn even more about the behind the scenes operation of magazines.
Databases of magazines
Guidelines for many magazines are linked at these websites
Where to read magazines online
WritersWrite.com, http://www.writerswrite.com/paying/, provides three main tabs. Click Alphabetical Lists to be able to search by name alphabetically. WritersWrite.com includes each magazine's website URL in their listing, making it easy to surf to a magazine.
Many magazines have indexes, where you can read published stories to get an idea of what the editor wants, see how a magazine focus changes over several years, and what topics have been published.
Lots of magazines offer free trials. It's fine to order magazines, but don't feel obligated to subscribe. Unless you are truly interested and want the subscription, *immediately write cancel on the statement when it arrives and drop it back into the mail the same day, or very soon afterwards.
Magamall.com, http://www.magamall.com/ also has search options. I have to totally agree with the publishers claim that magamall.com is
Options allow you to quickly find publisher information, including the e-mail address, which makes your job much easier. On the few occasions when a magazine's web site link failed, I copied the magazine title into http://www.dogpile.com/ or http://www.msn.com/ and selected from the resulting list. Always include the word magazine in your search. Ie: [title] magazine.
Locating archives
While you're reading magazines online, also click the link to the magazine's archives. You'll be able to read published stories that are often categorized by month or year. Sometimes you'll find an alphabetized listing of archived articles.
Archives are very useful for discovering what type of story the magazine leans towards. Also, be sure to search back to see if the same topic is covered periodically. When you discover that, it's an opportunity for you to target the magazine with an article on previously covered topics ~~ at a later date!
Disney's Family.com, http://www.family.com/, is a terrific location to search for places to go and things to do that you can write about. Use the search engine at the top, typing magazine. Explore, explore, explore! Let your imagination wander. Jot down ideas!
Magatopia, http://www.magatopia.com/,a good site to find links to 1000 online magazines to study.
Mamma.com is a top Meta Search Engine, http://www.mamma.com/. Visit this excellent site, learn about it, and use it to search for magazines and other topics to benefit your writing career. Ie: query letters, writers guidelines, agents, publishers, grammar, etc.
Moria Allen's Website for writers, Writing-World.com is good, http://www.writing-world.com/. It also offers many links to various other markets and writers' sites. Explore.
Photographs and writing
Apogee Photo...The Internet's Photography Magazine, http://www.apogeephoto.com/, is a free online magazine designed to inform and entertain photographers of all ages and levels. At Apogee Photo… learn all about marketing photos. Be sure to read Kimberly Baldwin Radford's article, Write Way to Sell Photos, which includes seventeen links (the last time I visited) to help with every facet of the writing process: http://www.apogeephoto.com/apr2001/Sell_Photos.shtml.
Joan Airey's article in Writer'sWeekly.com archives, Increase Your Freelance Income Through Stock Photography, http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/summary.html. (Use your find function keys, ctrl f, to quickly locate it.)
Other interesting information about photographs and photography worth your time to study can be found at City Gallery, http://www.city-gallery.com/
Model releases
At Maine.gov, you'll find examples of Model releases: http://www.maine.gov/portal/photo_contest/modelrelease.php.
Sell your writing overseas
To learn the aspects of international marketing for writers, International writer and marketer Mike Sedge reveals the secrets of success in overseas writers' markets in his course.
Serious writers often enroll in online courses (most are fee based, but some good ones are free.) But you can learn a lot on your own about international marketing through research and independent study.
Remember to read carefully at any website. Some have content only available to paid subscribers. Keep searching and you'll find the good freebie listings.
EXERCISE 1. Get magazines and study them.
Advice FromThe Pros: http://writerinsidertips.blogspot.com/
1-9, Treasure Hunting For Markets: http://tinyurl.com/23dqt4b
1-10, Write What You Know? Ha!, by Bob Freiday: http://tinyurl.com/2gxetrx
End
Next: Chapter 3: The e-World and e-Zine Publishing, http://tinyurl.com/2c6g33q
Return to top, Chapter 2 - Careers and Marketing, http://tinyurl.com/286848e
- Databases of Magazines
- Getting Magazines to Study
- How and Where to Search The Internet For Magazines
- Locating Archives
- Magazine Closing Dates
- Model Releases
- Photographs and writing
- Sell Your Writing Overseas
- Where to Read Magazines Online
Sometimes, beginning writers have a difficult time deciding where their writing interests lie. Writing a variety of things and experimenting with different styles can help you discover what you're comfortable with writing.
Poewar.com, http://www.poewar.com/, provides concise description of writing positions. Before you start exploring the this well organized blog, a classic example with an exceptional, precisely indexed, collection of excellent articles and links of interest to writers, click About John Hewitt and read about this remarkable man. At the bottom, hover your mouse over the icons to note his networking techniques, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Click Home to return to PoeWar and the main categories at the top of this terrific resource. Study and learn from articles at Poewar Main, Poewar Jobs, and Jobs Archive.
Magazine issue closing dates
•Jan/Feb 2010 issue closes November 10 (copy due by November 30 2009)
•March/April 2010 issue closes January 1 (copy due by January 30, 2010)
•May/June 2010 issue closes March 1 (copy due by March 30, 2010)
•July/August 2010 issue closes May 1 (copy due by May 30, 2010)
•Sept/Oct 2010 issue closes July 1 (copy due by July 30, 2010)
•Nov/Dec 2010 closes September 1 (copy due by September 30, 2010)
Getting magazines to study
Final manuscripts for assigned stories have to be in by the due date. Knowing these dates will help you select the best time to send your query.
Target a certain issue (month published) and query several weeks before the closing date for that month's issue -- but not right on the closing date for the previous issue -- things get pretty hectic in the office on closing dates.
You must get magazines and study them.
While studying, make notes in your idea journal, and keep this important fact in mind: The magazine closing date is an important date. Advertising is locked in, and stories are decided on and assigned in staff meetings by this closing date.
Getting magazines to study
- Libraries have back issues
- Ask friends to save magazines for you
- Ask doctors and dentists offices to save back issues for you
You can also read some stories from back issues of magazines online. However, this does not let you study the entire magazine so you can't analyze the market properly.
The main reasons for going online and searching for magazines are
- You can do it using your computer
- You find and read an amazing number and variety of magazine features online
- There are searchable lists for hundreds of names and address of publications
Then, start at PubList, http://www.publist.com/ where you can learn valuable tips for searching. (The site may still undergoing reconstruction. Be sure to register, as it helps them to better meet the needs of site-users.)
When you sign in, fill in name, etc., and check Publisher in list. When you're signed in, type your subject in the search box. You'll get a list of publications. Along with publication details, you'll find addresses for requesting sample copies, too. Online magazines can be located by copying the magazine title into http://www.dogpile.com/ or http://www.msn.com/. Pay attention to the URL at the bottom of each listing returned because the Link listing title may be misleading.
When searching, be specific. For example, dolls returned seven magazines, but doll returned twenty two publications! Let your imagination help you find what interests you.
Also, be sure to read and adhere to Infotrieve's copyrights, http://www.publist.com/copyright.html.
You'll find news and columns, as well as magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and much more at The American Journalism Review, http://ajr.org/. Drop down lists from top tabs make locating information easy.
An excellent source to find trade magazines is FreeTradeMagazines, http://www.freetrademagazines.com/. These magazines are offered to trade professionals that are currently active in their industry. You can use the magazines for education but you must fill the forms out for each subscription. When subscribing, be professional and tell the publisher why you're subscribing.
ipl2 is the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII). Begin here: http://www.ipl.org//.
Search "magazines" to get here, http://www.ipl.org/div/news/. Browse the many categories within categories. Follow the same steps to locate newspaper links.
Ark Royal is another resource to find magazine titles, http://www.100-free-magazines.com/
Guidelines for many magazines are at: http://www.writersdigest.com/. Type hot markets in the search to get The Writer's Digest Top 100. Each magazine listed posts their writers guidelines.
Pine Cone.on.ca. Magazine, Ontario's magazine for history, heritage, nostalgia, nature, environment, travel and the arts, is located in the heart of the Madawaska Valley, on the York River. Guidelines, http://www.pinecone.on.ca/MAGAZINE/writers.html.
Be sure to study guides carefully. Many magazines want stories only about a specific area or country. PineCone.on.ca is a good example: "We accept only Canadian content by Canadian authors." Their guidelines are very specific as to what they do and do not want, and queries are mandatory.
*** Explore, explore, explore. Find and read as many magazines as you can, online or in libraries, doctor's offices, anywhere, until you get a clear understanding of the definitive differences of each magazine. If all other resources fail, buy magazines at your supermarket or nearest bookstore.***
Starting Point (TM), http://www.stpt.com/, is a tremendous source with links to magazines to read (Click Directory.) It's one of the best databases to search any topic and the magazines catering to it. It's very good place to start when you're studying magazine content -- both ezines and print magazines are listed. Read the magazine reviews to get inside the magazine's readers minds.
Also, type magazines guidelines into Starting Point's search box, http://www.stpt.com/, and then keep scrolling to the bottom of each subsequent page. Click the last number there to get SEVENTY FIVE pages of links to magazine guidelines.
You can also contact magazines' advertising departments and ask them to send you their media kit (and your editor will never have to know.) Study the media kit to learn even more about the behind the scenes operation of magazines.
Databases of magazines
Guidelines for many magazines are linked at these websites
- Writers Write, http://www.writerswrite.com/paying/
- Writers Weekly, markets, http://www.writersweekly.com/markets/
- Snafu.de, http://home.snafu.de/gadfly/a-c.htm
- Writing For Dollars, http://www.writingfordollars.com/. Fill in the form provided on the home page, or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the RSS logo and subscribe. To learn more about RSS (the acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication), click the Learn more about feeds link provided by the editor.
Where to read magazines online
WritersWrite.com, http://www.writerswrite.com/paying/, provides three main tabs. Click Alphabetical Lists to be able to search by name alphabetically. WritersWrite.com includes each magazine's website URL in their listing, making it easy to surf to a magazine.
Many magazines have indexes, where you can read published stories to get an idea of what the editor wants, see how a magazine focus changes over several years, and what topics have been published.
Lots of magazines offer free trials. It's fine to order magazines, but don't feel obligated to subscribe. Unless you are truly interested and want the subscription, *immediately write cancel on the statement when it arrives and drop it back into the mail the same day, or very soon afterwards.
Magamall.com, http://www.magamall.com/ also has search options. I have to totally agree with the publishers claim that magamall.com is
"the most comprehensive consumer magazine resource on the net!"It's certainly true that when you want to locate information on a particular magazine's publisher contact, subscription information, back issues, etc. magamall.com, http://www.magamall.com/ is the place to look.
Options allow you to quickly find publisher information, including the e-mail address, which makes your job much easier. On the few occasions when a magazine's web site link failed, I copied the magazine title into http://www.dogpile.com/ or http://www.msn.com/ and selected from the resulting list. Always include the word magazine in your search. Ie: [title] magazine.
Locating archives
While you're reading magazines online, also click the link to the magazine's archives. You'll be able to read published stories that are often categorized by month or year. Sometimes you'll find an alphabetized listing of archived articles.
Archives are very useful for discovering what type of story the magazine leans towards. Also, be sure to search back to see if the same topic is covered periodically. When you discover that, it's an opportunity for you to target the magazine with an article on previously covered topics ~~ at a later date!
Disney's Family.com, http://www.family.com/, is a terrific location to search for places to go and things to do that you can write about. Use the search engine at the top, typing magazine. Explore, explore, explore! Let your imagination wander. Jot down ideas!
Magatopia, http://www.magatopia.com/,a good site to find links to 1000 online magazines to study.
Mamma.com is a top Meta Search Engine, http://www.mamma.com/. Visit this excellent site, learn about it, and use it to search for magazines and other topics to benefit your writing career. Ie: query letters, writers guidelines, agents, publishers, grammar, etc.
Moria Allen's Website for writers, Writing-World.com is good, http://www.writing-world.com/. It also offers many links to various other markets and writers' sites. Explore.
Photographs and writing
Apogee Photo...The Internet's Photography Magazine, http://www.apogeephoto.com/, is a free online magazine designed to inform and entertain photographers of all ages and levels. At Apogee Photo… learn all about marketing photos. Be sure to read Kimberly Baldwin Radford's article, Write Way to Sell Photos, which includes seventeen links (the last time I visited) to help with every facet of the writing process: http://www.apogeephoto.com/apr2001/Sell_Photos.shtml.
Joan Airey's article in Writer'sWeekly.com archives, Increase Your Freelance Income Through Stock Photography, http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/summary.html. (Use your find function keys, ctrl f, to quickly locate it.)
Other interesting information about photographs and photography worth your time to study can be found at City Gallery, http://www.city-gallery.com/
Model releases
At Maine.gov, you'll find examples of Model releases: http://www.maine.gov/portal/photo_contest/modelrelease.php.
Sell your writing overseas
To learn the aspects of international marketing for writers, International writer and marketer Mike Sedge reveals the secrets of success in overseas writers' markets in his course.
Serious writers often enroll in online courses (most are fee based, but some good ones are free.) But you can learn a lot on your own about international marketing through research and independent study.
Remember to read carefully at any website. Some have content only available to paid subscribers. Keep searching and you'll find the good freebie listings.
EXERCISE 1. Get magazines and study them.
Advice FromThe Pros: http://writerinsidertips.blogspot.com/
1-9, Treasure Hunting For Markets: http://tinyurl.com/23dqt4b
1-10, Write What You Know? Ha!, by Bob Freiday: http://tinyurl.com/2gxetrx
End
Next: Chapter 3: The e-World and e-Zine Publishing, http://tinyurl.com/2c6g33q
Return to top, Chapter 2 - Careers and Marketing, http://tinyurl.com/286848e
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