I want to write a column or articles for magazines, how do i make contact ?

Question

I am a recently retired elem teacher with tons of experience with many issues dealing with kids 0-18. I would like to write some type of question answer or article or ??/ for magazines. Whom do I contact to get started. thanks, serious answers only please

Answer 1

Well the first thing is to write and keep on writing don't worry about how many articals pile up. You can read other peoples artticals in magazines that your interested in writing about to see how they have delt with a topic that you want to write about. Just keep your writing stile independent of others. Also by reading you will get a good idea of what magazines are looking for. I will tell you as a writer myself that persistance is most important. Don't be discurraged by refusels as most writers get a lot of that myself included. However I finally got published three time lately. So there is always hope that now my novels will get published. After you have writen something you think would be good for womens day, better homes & garden etc. Send it in to the publisher with a short note stating that you are interested in writing for them. Also give a little(very little) back ground of your self. All this should be only one page. Send you story double spaced with pages numbered and the title of the artical at the top of each page. Also under the first page title put story by _ _ _ using your name or the name you wish to write under. After you finished writing your artical put a C in a circle (that stands for copy right) and sign it. This way no one can use it unless you give them permission. Remember if you want your artical back to send return postage. Don't give up and just keep sending you story's out to what ever magazine you think would be interested in them...Best Of Luck...

Answer 2

You'll like this because it is so easy. The person you need to get with is the Editor. The Editor's name appears in every magazine every magazine also includes its address. So you can easily write him a letter. Better still, most Editors write Editorials, and these days they very, very often include their e-mail address specifically so you can contact them.

If the Editor doesn't list his e-mail address, but you can find e-mail addresses for different correspondants at that magazine, you might look to see how their addresses are constructed and it is probably safe to assume that the Editor's address is constructed the same way. ie. [e-mail] or [e-mail] or [e-mail] etc.

When you contact the editor you'll want to simply ask him or her what the process is for being considered for contributing columns. You don't need to send samples or anything until they tell you the process.

One more suggestion: If you find the e-mail addresses of other people who work for the magazine you may be able to ask them kind of informally before you actually contact the editor. If you can't find their addresses, one place you might look is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that can be really good for finding contacts at different companies. Link is below. Another good source, although you may need to find someone who has a (very expensive) membership is ZoomInfo.

Answer 3

You might want to get a copy of the "Writer's Yearbook" from a bookseller (or get last year's from the library or Amazon.com), it lists magazines & other publications that accept unsolicited articles, the type of stuff they are looking for, and often a contact name. This last piece of information is possibly the most valuable; A letter sent to an actual person is much more likely to be read than one sent to the "Sports Editor" or whoever.

Start by targeting a local publication you are familiar with (you are more likely to understand their readership), and once you have published with them, that makes you a "product" with some actual history, making it much easier to move into other markets.

Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=blended%26field-keywords=writers%20yearbook%26results-process=default%26dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_ov_tops-1_blended_11245646_1&results-process=default?tag2=over-std-20


P.S. You might do well to remember that the vast majority of readers are in the middle peak of the normal distribution of any measure, so your two choices for success are either to appeal to that market (ie avoid overtly labeling yourself with signals like the name "Vote For Jesus", or do so knowing that you are marketing to the fringes. While most Americans identify themselves as "Christian", they also tend to identify people who wear "I love Jesus" t-shirts as crackpots!

Answer 4

Simple, just contact the managing editor......... Sorry but in that you didnt know a simple point of magazine company structure, I wold strongly suggest you build a few more skills otehr than just penmanship and wit.! As the mag rag business is extremely competitive........... good luck~