3 Things to Consider When Writing for Small Publications
Many people don’t just want to write for pleasure. They want to write for publication. This writing can take many forms. It can be writing for a newspaper, a magazine, or for book publishing. This article will discuss writing for the smaller publications.
- If you are writing a short piece for a newspaper or magazine, you have to know your audience. Don’t try to sell a piece about the history of the Super Bowl to a decorating magazine. They will return it to you with a nice form letter letting you know it doesn’t “meet our current needs.” Chances are they were sitting there after reading the story, shaking their heads, if not laughing out loud.
2. Another thing you need to consider are the parameters set by the publishers. They will have set limits on length and whether or not you can submit it by mail or via an online submitter or via email. Even with email, you need to know whether they want it submitted in the body of the email or as an attachment. You need to follow their rules. They get a large number of submissions and will only read the ones that meet their criteria.
Pick up a copy of the publication you want to write for and see what they are already publishing. A parent magazine may have an area where they publish personal testimony stories. They may even have small print that tells you how to submit, a limit on length, and the amount they pay for a published article. Look at the style of writing. If the magazine has articles with conversational writing, then it’s likely that is what they’ll publish in future editions. If it is a journal, chances are the writing is more formal. It would be to your benefit to write in the same style.
3. A third thing you have to consider is the publisher’s timeline. Magazines are typically looking for timely article months in advance. They may be reading articles for their Christmas edition in July.
If you want to be published, you have to meet the needs and expectations of the publisher. Find out what length they want for an article, how they want it submitted, and when. Beyond that, you have to know the readers of the publication and write for them.
Happy writing!
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