Breaking into the Magazine Market

(topmagazines.wordpress.com)

The magazine market is a great place to make some real money as you wait for your books to be published or royalties to come in.  Here are some tips on how to get started:

Typically, if a writer is trying to break into a magazine it takes a few tries to figure out the "hook" and style for each particular publication, and the hook and style will change with each magazine.  What a writer will usually do, is experiment a bit as they try to figure out the market.  They will send a "feeler" biece to a magazine to see if they get any interest.  Usually if the mag is intrigued by the subject they will respond.  Even a negative response is good.  If a magazine or newspaper isn't interested at all, they will not reply.

Typically, it takes a few tries to get it right.  But once you do, you then "know" that market and will be successful most often afterward.  Also, once you get it right, it behooves you to send more articles, so the publishers can become familiar with you, and you can build a relationshiop with them.  This is how I've become successful in the particular niche that I have written for previously.

Also, be aware that you have to repeat this whole process for each new mag, so it takes time and some experimenting and failing with each new market, until you figure it out.  Sometimes writers do get lucky and figure it out on the first try, but this is rare.  Usually a writer breaks in by writing for the small columns in the back of the mag, and once the publishers are familiar with the writer, they start accepting bigger pieces.

I hope these tips are useful as you try to break into the really exciting world of writing for magazines!