Writing: Surefire Ways to Get Your Magazine Article Queries Accepted

Surefire Ways to Get Your Magazine Article Queries Accepted

Written by Kathy Burns-Millyard

One of my writing discussion groups recently had a topic thread going about repparttar

success rate of pitching magazine article ideas. It seems that repparttar 128710

standard acceptance rate is about 30% - 40%. In my own experience though, I've had about a 90% acceptance rate and I mentioned that in repparttar 128711

group. This inevitably led to a nuts and bolts discussion, and I thought I'd share these tips with you.

1. Never send a query without first looking at repparttar 128712 magazine's editorial calendar. By looking at repparttar 128713 editorial calendar, you can see immediately what topics repparttar 128714 editor will be most interested in, and when. Not all magazines publish an editorial calendar and some require that you request it via email. If you cannot find one on repparttar 128715 publication's website, and you find nothing that states they do not publish one, then send a short note to repparttar 128716 Editor asking if it is available and if so will they please send it to you.

2. Pay attention to repparttar 128717 publication's lead time. Most editorial calendars or writers' guidelines will tell you what their particular lead time is. Lead time is simply repparttar 128718 amount of advanced time that advertisements or articles must be submitted in order to be ready for publication in a particular issue.

So, if a magazine states their lead time is 3 months and you were looking for ideas to pitch to them in May, you would want to look at what topics they will be covering in September, October or November. You can pitch ideas that are further ahead on repparttar 128719 calendar as well, just remember that repparttar 128720 farther ahead you pitch, repparttar 128721 longer you may have to wait for payment.

3. Read repparttar 128722 publication. Most publications can be read partially or completely online now days, so there is no excuse for skipping this step. By reading several of their most recently published materials, you'll gain two critical advantages: A. You will not send in an idea that was recently covered doing so is an almost guaranteed way to have your query rejected. B. You will get a solid feel for repparttar 128723 publication's style. Crafting your query and article to their particular style is essential to getting published.

As a side effect, reading repparttar 128724 magazine may also help you to generate some great topic ideas for your own queries.

HOW TO HUNT FOR MARKETS--OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Written by Dr. Erika Dreifus

Chances are, you'll be busy over repparttar

next several weeks. Between preparing for, celebrating, and unwinding from repparttar 128708

holidays it may be difficult to maintain your regular writing routine. And if researching potential homes for your work is part of that routine—as it is for many of us who regularly submit stories, essays, poems, articles, and reviews for publication—you may be worried about falling behind.

But it's time to put those worries to rest. In truth, there are many ways to keep up with your market-hunting over repparttar 128709 holidays. Here are just four possibilities:

1) When you visit friends and family, peruse repparttar 128710 magazines they may have on their coffee tables or stacked in their recycling bins. They may subscribe to some that you don't receive. Who knows how many new markets you may discover? (Just be sure to ask for permission before you start rummaging!)

2) Be bold with your gift list. If someone close to you should ask what you might like for repparttar 128711 holidays, go ahead and say it. Go ahead and tell that person: "I'd like you to bring me/send me all repparttar 128712 magazines you've received for repparttar 128713 past six months—and haven't yet thrown out." That person won't need to shop, and you will be able to spend repparttar 128714 rest of repparttar 128715 winter researching markets.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>