Magazine Writing with a Little Turkey
by Jamie Edson Opielski
Happy November everyone! Another one of my favorite months has landed upon us. What's better than your family crowding into a house, overeating and falling asleep in front of the TV while watching football with a plate of pumpkin pie on your belly? Ok- well, maybe Christmas!
I am certainly looking forward to Thanksgiving. I just got a new turkey roasting pan and I can't wait to try it out.
So have your decorated your home and office with gobblers and scarecrows, Pilgrims and Indians? This year I ended up getting some window clings with 'patchwork' scarecrows and pumpkins to put on the windows. Unlike my cut-outs, these you can view from both sides of the window instead of a picture on one side and nothing on the other. But of course, I'm sure you know that already :
On to biz- Are there any magazine writers out there? It is time to start sending in your May articles. As you may or may not know, most magazines require that you send in your article queries six months in advance. You need to stay up to date on what topics are needed during that month.
For May, you may consider topics on
- Summer
- Your kids and summer activities
-
- Camps- which ones are safe and which are not
- Outside gardening tips/care
- Summer vacations
- Skin Care and products to use
- Summer Allergies
- and the list goes on-
If you are not a magazine writer, and have considered it, here are a few tips to follow:
First read the magazines and see what kind of materials and topics they cover.
It will help you determine if your type of writing will fit in. In other words do not send in an article query on table etiquette if it is a quilting magazine.
Find out what is required BEFORE sending in your query.
It is important to know what they expect, if you send in a query and it is not in the format they require or the information they ask for is not in your query, they will not even finish reviewing and will most likely not consider your work again.
Make no mistakes.
Read and re-read your query/article for mistakes. Edit, revise and edit again. A sloppy article will be in the trash in seconds.
Know your Rights, and make sure you are comfortable with letting go of your baby.
Some magazines require that you give up all of your rights to your article, many do not. Read carefully and learn what the rights are.
There are many things to know when it comes to writing for magazines, to get started write some articles and submit them to article directories and newsletters. This will help you build a clip file. A clip file is a file of your published works.
Until then, happy writing and have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!
ŠJamie Edson Opielski
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