Writing for Magazines

Whether you want to keep up with the onslaught of new magazines because you want to freelance to them or check out potential competitors because you want to start one of your own, have I the resources for you! First stop is to visit Mr. Magazine.com - The Official Site of Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni, Ph.D.. Husni is the experts' expert in what's happening with the mag world. To stay abreast of the news, don't miss his blog, apparently with the same name as his website.

Another resource for finding out about new mags is Magazine Yellow Pages. They even project launches as far as the third quarter of this year. It's also a subscription service with many features.

If you've been thinking about starting a magazine yourself, Husni provides a step-by-step free list of FAQs to help you get started, in addition to his book, Launch Your Own Magazine: A Guide For Succeeding In Today's Marketplace. Once you've determined your new enterprise's launch date, don't forget to let the Magazine Yellow Pages know by phone: 1-877-205-8061 or e-mail info@magazineyellowpages.com.

Trade Magazine Writing

Earlier this month, I wrote about resources for free magazines from trade publications. In the comment chain, I invited veteran freelancer/editor Lori Widmer (at the left), who blogs at Words On The Page to prepare an article for us on writing for trade magazines. She's come through admirably with one she calls "Trading Places". I've added it to the list of free articles on the Writing Help page.

Highlights from Lori's piece include:

• how the audience differs from consumer mags
• the how-to focus for trades
  
• finding steady jobs in the business
  

The trade magazine is a great opportunity if you’re willing to do a little bit of basic research at the beginning, find an idea that matches that magazine’s style, ask questions with curiosity and no fear of looking foolish, and delivering a good product that shows your enthusiasm and your interest in learning more.

Free Trade for Writing

If you're getting started as a magazine freelancer or looking to supplement your income while waiting for the fiction to pay off, consider writing for the trades. Trade magazines offer decent pay and, once you become established, regular writing gigs. The editors like to keep a stable of dependable writers both to commission and ones who can find good stories to query about.

As always, however, you need to know the market before trying to break into it. With magazine writing, that means reading, no, studying several issues before querying. How to get your hands on the trade rags? Here's good news: free subscriptions are available through at least two websites:

Free Trade Magazine Source

TradePub

Both offer search services and you can sign up for email alerts when new publications are added. TradePub even offers RSS feeds by category -- a truly handy feature for those who intend to specialize in this type of business writing.

Celebrate Granta Magazine of New Writing

Another innocuous-appearing brown mailer lay in my back yard. "What book have I agreed to review now?" I wondered. Out slid what looks like a trade paperback and a thick one at that. But wait, Granta is a magazine, bearing an ISSN, interesting advertising and all. But wait again! There's that new book fragrance ... what kind of ink do they use in the UK? Sniff, sniff ... mmm ...

The book, er, magazine is a special 100th anniversary issue. Special it is, from the David Hockney front cover to all 152 pages crammed with new pieces by the likes of:

Julian Barnes
Salman Rushdie
Isabel Allende
Martin Amis
Ian McEwan
Harold Pinter
Zadie Smith

I'm going to be dipping into this box of literary chocolates for a long time. Granta subscriptions are available through Amazon.

New Pages of Good Reading

Here is what NEWPAGES.COM has to say about itself:

Good Reading Starts Here! News, information and guides to independent bookstores, independent publishers, literary magazines, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative newsweeklies and more.

Especially rich is their guide to "the best" literary magazines in print right now. The full listing page for each individual magazine offers a wealth of information about the publication, including a link to its website (if available).

I'd like to see a search engine for this database, but you can get listings alphabetically on the complete list page. The alpha listing on the guide page mentioned is only to sponsors.

Magazine Writers' Salaries

Yelena Shuster, writing for Ed2010, recently revealed that the salaries for most magazine writers is $31,000-$39,000 a year--not bad for entry-level jobs of people who don't have a degree in journalism, either. The average age of the 300 respondents to a survey was 23. Tara Cox, Managing Editor for Everyday with Rachael Ray offered suggestions for salary negotiations when beginners take the next step (up):

1) Ask if there's overtime pay.
2) Know which company's benefits are flexible.
3) Get agreements in writing.
4) Make the most of the perks like free food.

I can say "Amen!" to number three, having had a couple of jobs where the workplace reality didn't match the job description, when more tasks piled on and benefits were slashed. How you force an employer to put it in writing, however, is another form of negotiation that might tag you as a potential trouble-maker.

Get Journalism Jobs

One of my favorite resources for jobs in journalism has been Ed2010.com. The site does not limit itself to newspaper-type journalism, however. See Ed2010 | Next stop: Your magazine dream job for tips on dealing with all types of editors and job hunting. Writer's Digest editor Maria Schneider discovered the site and praised it in a blog post, saying:

Ed is a collective of young magazine editors (and wannabe magazine editors) who have created this website to help young journalists get jobs, mentors, and support, both emotional and financial....One of my favorite things on their site, though is their 60-minute mentor program, in which they attempt to match you (the just-starting-out journalist, job seeker) up with a working magazine editor for a 60-minute conversation.

I think the most useful section is the detailed job listings, called Whisper Jobs for a good reason. Most real and good employment opportunities aren't advertised. You hear about them by word-of-mouth and get them often by recommendation.

Magazine Awards

Each year the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) gives out awards for the best productions of the previous year. They're called the "Ellies". As usual, many categories had many winners. For magazines, they are separated by size of circulation, although I don't see what that has to do with editorial excellence.

According mediabistro.com:

New York magazine, which was nominated for seven awards and took home five, including general excellence for magazines with circulations of 250,000 to 500,000, and interactive feature, a new category, for nymag.com ... The other general-excellence winners were National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Wired and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Have you ever even seen a copy of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists? *shrugs* Anyway, you can find the entire list of winners in all categories and sizes with links to the magazines and particular winning features in many cases.

Magazine Mastheads

Looking for magazines in which to place your work? Maybe Mastheads can help:

Mastheads.org is a collaborative directory of 360+ magazine mastheads built for professional writers, editors, illustrators, photographers, designers, advertisers, creative agencies, and media firms.

Complete, unabridged staff lists in every department (editorial, art/photo, advertising, marketing, & business) with phone, fax, mailing address, and e-mail formats.

I especially appreciate the pitch reminder you'll find a little lower on the main page. It notes that editors are now preparing fall issues and looking for pieces on seasonal themes:

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
Grandparent's Day (1st Sunday after Labor Day)
Native American Day (4th Fri. in Sept.)
Columbus Day (2nd Monday in October)
National Bosses Day (Oct. 16th)
Halloween (Oct. 31st)
Election Day (1st Tues. after the 1st Monday in Nov.)
Veteran's Day (Nov. 11th)
Thanksgiving (4th Thurs. in Nov.),
Chanukah/Hannakah (Dec. 5th-12)
Christmas (Dec. 25th)
New Year's Eve/Day

There's your set of writing prompts/pitch plans for the week!