MARKETING YOUR ARTICLES

You can market your articles in several ways.

NEWSSTANDS Browse the newsstands or magazine racks twice a week. By looking for new magazine, a writer often can find new markets before many other writers even know they exist. However, you'll take certain risks when you write for new magazines. Often slow to pay, new magazines may bankrupt while they still owe writers money. But if you become a regular contributor to a new magazine and that magazine continues to grow, you may one day have a regular column in a well-established magazine.

Newsstands give writers other vital information. They enable you to...

· Analyze what new trends are selling.
· Discover if the articles you want to write will follow this trend.
· Learn if writers have over-written or under-written the subjects you want to cover.

OTHER WRITERS

Often my best-selling markets come from other writers. I have friends in the writing business who have steered me toward new markets that have added thousands of dollars to my writing income. I've always found that the more writers I try to help and turn on to new markets, the more these same writers watch out for me. Because of the large number of magazines you can write for and an abundance of subjects to research, the smart writer will help as many other journalists as he can.

WRITER'S DIGEST MAGAZINE

Often new magazines or magazines in need of material will advertise in Writer's Digest or perhaps your niche's professional magazine for writers. When you see an advertisement like this, you may assume that the magazine will receive more responses than the editors can handle. But you may find the opposite true. Send a few queries to learn if the magazine is interested. n

WRITER'S MARKET

I call this book the Bible of the freelance magazine writer. It lists magazines, the editors, the addresses of the magazines, the types of stories the magazines want to buy, the amounts they pay and often their current needs. The writer in search of new markets or story ideas should read and study Writer's Market like a textbook.

First, read Writer's Market from cover to cover, or use the CD. Keep a notebook and pencil beside your desk as you read. Make a list of possible story ideas suitable for various magazines. By the time you have completed 50 to 60 pages, you'll have found new markets you've never known existed and story ideas you can plug into them. Develop these story ideas into saleable queries. Then send the queries to the magazines you've discovered. I recommend that a serious part-time writer have at least 30 queries or manuscripts in the mail at all times.

Today you also can subscribe directly to Writer's Market online by going to www.writersmarket.com for a fee of about $30/year. This electronic edition gives you the websites of numerous magazines, which enables you to see what they want and what their writers' guidelines are.

WRITERS' SEMINARS

Writers' seminars serve several purposes. They...

· Show the writer how to more effectively sell what he/she produces.
· Stimulate, educate and provide for an interchange of ideas - not only between students and instructors but also among students. By learning how other writers sell as well as the types of markets they're selling to, you can expand the number of markets where you feel competent and increase your marketing potential. Because of the huge number of magazines you can sell to never think of other writers as competition. Instead, think of them as laborers for a common goal of writing, selling and receiving pay for words. By helping others and sharing markets, you only expand your own ability to make money.

THE INTERNET

Job listings and opportunities can easily be found on internet web sites. Some of the most popular and demanding web sites include job ads posted on a regular basis. The following job ads have been posted through www.writerswrite.com:

careers@activeed.com ActiveEducation is looking for experienced technical training writers to author training manuals on Microsoft Front Page, Access, and Excel.

apply@about-inc.com or www.about.com About Guide (Online Journalist), About, Inc.

beaguide.about.com is looking for journalists to service features on 800 subjects with diverse topics. Being a guide is a part-time job perfect for working from home on your equipment and your own time.

www.resume.com is looking for a freelance resume writer to prepare resumes and cover letters from questionnaires on a freelance basis.

www.freelanceworkexchange.com provides freelancers with direct links to the top-producing online markets for projects. It needs writers to create content on all aspects of freelancing, from lifestyle issues to finding work.

Other freelance job listings can be found regularly on the following sites advertised through writerswrite.com :

mrsos@flashcom.net : Marc Robinson, Top Down Productions
hr@customcommunications.com
dkonigsberg@redsky.com : Red Sky Interactive/ New York
Emiller@sctoom.com : Marcom Choices, Northern California's newest magazine
YoungBiz.com : YoungBiz magazine