Can you break into National Publications?
As a freelance writer you probably have many goals. For many, one of the most common goals is to break into a national publication. These are the popular magazines that have a large circulation, and are always found at the doctor’s office. For example, I am a huge sports fan and doing a piece for Sports Illustrated would be a thrill. Not only are national publications a great way to get your name in front of a lot of people, but you can make quite a bit of money at the same time.
The question is: how are you going to turn this dream into a reality? Although my work has yet to be accepted by national publications, I have gotten close a couple of times. As of late querying these magazines has taken a backseat to my other work, but I plan on picking this back up in the near future. When it comes down to it, you have no chance of working with national publications unless you show them that you are interested. Obviously, the best way to do this is through a well written query letter.
Personally, I believe strongly in the power of Writer’s Market. For a small fee you can become a member of the online version which grants you access to information on hundreds of publications. A couple weeks back I queried a sports publication and was promptly rewarded with a 1,500 word feature article at a rate of $.15/word. This is not a huge project, but $225 is much more than I spent to become a member of Writer’s Market. Additionally, it is my hopes that this one article will turn into a monthly gig.
There is no easy way to break into national publications. You have to send out plenty of queries, and hope that an editor thinks enough of your idea to give you a chance. When this finally happens, you will have reached a goal that many freelance writers strive for.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hi Chris, yes the large national publications are hard to break and I was told that up front by my writing lecturer a while ago… I have tried too, and always got a reply saying they already have a pool of freelance writers they regularly use and won’t need anyone new for a while.
As for query letters, I’ve only recently just improved the way I write my queries and have had a few successes with smaller publications. I don’t know if this will help anyone who is reading this, but this site had been great help to me:
http://www.poewar.com/how-to-write-a-query-letter/
March 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Amy - Thanks for the link; definitely a great help!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:33 am
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April 21st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
For me the easiest sales came through the Confession mags. A story that took me about 2 to 5 hours to write would yield about $175-225. Of course, you must remember that there’s no byline, they buy all rights, and pay on publication, but it’s still good money for the ease of the work. To avoid getting stuck waiting for “pay on publication”, I suggest stating in your contract letter that they must publish and pay within a stated amount of time (I usually stated one year) or the story reverts back to you. I must say, though, that I always had them publish quickly (I think the longest wait was nine months) and pay was just as fast.