Okay for all you magazine veterans out there, this is not for you. But please feel free to comment and leave your wise and experienced tips below!
As a relatively new full-time freelance writer, I surely had my share of rejections. Yet somewhere in the midst of it all, I’ve actually got published in a few magazines (even a favorite one at that).
If you’re still struggling to get your foot in the door, don’t sweat it. I’ve got a few tips that may help you get from published wannabe to magazine writer.
- Start small. Everyone’s heard the story of that one beginning writer that sent in a query to a popular national magazine and got accepted and paid well for it. Kudos to that writer! You might want to try it, but if querying top magazines isn’t working, try aiming lower. Either write a small piece for a top magazine or a bigger piece for a local, lesser-known publication. This will increase your chances of getting published. If you get accepted, you’ll get your foot in the door. The first from clips and the second from demonstrating your writing abilities. I’ve done it and both have helped me to get published.
- Keep going. Some might see one or even two rejections as game over. I see it as a starting point to get better. It might seem like a waste of time to keep trying with a publication that has rejected your query. But if you really want to get published, you need to persevere and keep going. I sent in 3 queries to the same publication before I got published. But since then, the editor has accepted 2 of my articles. In the end, the initial time spent querying was well worth it.
- Be helpful. Sure my main focus is getting published, but the editor doesn’t care about that. They care about filling the magazine with unique, interesting pieces. Focusing on what they need, instead of my own, in the end also helps me. What I’ve done in the past is to ask editors what columns they need filled and what kinds of ideas they are looking for.
- Stay abreast. I am an avid reader and I read everything: newspapers, magazines, blogs, online articles, autobiographies, fiction, etc. I think staying current and keeping abreast about what’s going on in the world helps foster an environment for fresh ideas.
- Be observant. In addition, to reading and observing what’s going around me, I also pay attention to things that are going on in my own life. It’s how I got published in my first national magazine. Chances are if you’re going through something, someone somewhere has also been through it too. That makes an interesting topic, one an editor might love to publish in their magazine.
These are just a starting point for beginning freelance writers. Getting published takes a bunch of different things like luck and timing. But in the end, the only real way to get published is to keep trying.
*Veteran writers please feel free to jump in.
