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Magazine Writing

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by HeinekenMan, Feb 14, 2007.

  1. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but there's a basic problem with your question. This is like going into a restaurant and asking about every aspect of their operation so you can open a competing place across the street. Good contacts? Go ask a successful salesperson for their Rolodex. If you aren't resourceful enough to figure most of this out, you're not going to make it freelancing anyway.
     
  2. Smasher is right: I'm not going to hand out my contacts. But there are some basics. Anyone who gets into freelancing should know it is an incredibly competitive field. The topics some people specialize in amaze me.
     
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Writer's Market was barely adequate 10 years ago. It's completely irrelevant today. The tips are a bunch of stuff you should already know and the contact info is usually outdated.

    I always get a kick out of the Writer's Market top 100 markets issue. Writer's Market is inevitably in the top 20, yet every writer I know, and every non-WM website I visit, is full of tales about how much Writer's Market sucks.
     
  4. HeinekenMan

    HeinekenMan Active Member

    Well, you've provided some great advice. I'm really looking for any dialogue here. I wouldn't expect someone to e-mail me a list of contacts, but I wouldn't refuse them, either.

    Here are some thoughts I have:

    1. Regarding spec writing, I pitched a story to a hobbyists mag. I got an answer that they liked the idea. I asked about pay, and they said it was fairly open-ended and would depend upon the quaility and length of the piece. I did a story with photos. The mag didn't get back to me for weeks. They ignored my e-mails, etc. I never signed any contract, per se. They never ran it, and they never offered a kill fee. In my most recent communication, I said that I might sell it elsewhere if they weren't going to use it. Now, I'm out a little money and a lot of time for the trip I took. So, I guess I learned a lesson. Do I need to push them to provide specific guidelines when they don't supply writer's guidelines that cover all of the bases? I guess I'm a little fearful that they'll back out if they think I'm being a pain in the ass.

    2. As noted, I've done some magazine work here and there. But I want to make it a bigger piece of the pie in the future. That's why I started the thread, and I appreciate the comments. They'll help me along the way.

    3. Thinking big isn't a problem for me. In fact, it might be a the opposite. I want to do some serious work, and I'm impatient at this point. I probably need to temper that a bit and start small.

    4. The tip on being specific is appreciated. I sort of knew that, but it's good to get validation. It will help me focus on that aspect of pitching stuff. In terms of specificity, should I put a word count?

    5. One question I have is how formal pitches need to be. I prefer to query via e-mail and just be fairly conversational about what it is that I'm proposing. It takes less time, and I haven't noticed much of a difference in response when I take the time to write a business-type letter.

    6. I noticed the same with Writer's Market. I've found it easier to e-mail for writer's guidelines and the names of editors. Writer's Market, though, provides a good list of publications. Is there a better place to find a fairly comprehensive list?

    7. Smasher has a good point. I'm fairly resourceful, but it sure takes a ton of time to tackle these things. Getting turned down is a drag when you take so much time to come up with a specific idea and craft a query and send it to the proper person. I've had a pretty good success rate, but most of my stuff has been targeted to those who are most likely to welcome freelance work (the desparate) and those who don't pay well.

    8. Lastly, I have been sending some open-ended e-mails where I introduce myself and generally offer my services in a geographic area. I'm sort of looking to cover a beat or a special event in my neck of the woods. Should I send separate queries for each thing? I mean, I e-mailed a national sports mag today with no real specific proposal. I mentioned a few things, but I didn't want to limit myself to, say, covering the Daytona 500 or a spring training camp. In thinking more about it, I'm beginning to think that it's always better to pitch a specific feature and then have a dialogue about seasonal coverage once I have a foot in the door. Does that sound like a rational conclusion?

    Any response is better than no response.
     
  5. In Exile

    In Exile Member

    Here's some advice I'll throw against the wall...

    I second the notion of tailoring your pitch to the publication - absolutely, in all cases. You have to give them a reason to run it. Local hook, anniversary, similar event taking place simultaneously with publication date, etc. And know the lead time - sometimes it is three months or more for a monthly.

    In regard to writing on spec. I was asked to do so once, for the very first story I ever tried to sell. I did, and if I hadn't I probably would be doing something else, but I never did again. If you already have substantial clips, don't ever.

    Nearly everything I learned about how to get started came from a book that was at least twenty years old called, I kid you not, "How to be a Free Lance Writer." I had no connections, no clips, nothing but an idea. But apart from updates in technology - email vs. the post office - the same basic advice in that book still holds true in regard to putting together queries, targeting publications, etc. One of the great lessons from that book was the advice to learn how to sell the same basic story again and again. At first I couldn't see how that would work, but since then I've learned to re-frame an original idea based on audience, market and form. I've done that a number of times, selling the same basic story, without repeating myself too much, looking at it from a different angle each time, or even taking the same approach of a successful story and reapplying that to a different topic, event or subject. Every time it was a bit of a different take, aimed toward national, regional or local audience, in genre magazines, general interest and books, as columns, features or profiles. I always included word counts in my pitches, then hit them as hard as a deadline. Speaking of which, when given a deadline, I try to beat it if I can have a finished product that doesn't appear rushed. Many editors appreciate this, and remember it. For publications that fact checked, I virtually footnoted for them to make the process easy. It is easy enough to get rejected - don't ever give an editor any additional ammunition to do so.

    It takes time to build up, and time to go full-time. Rejections are part of the process. I've had hundreds and still get them. It was seven years after I sold my first story before I gave up the day job, and even then, I made less than $10,000 that first year, fourteen years ago.

    Also, don't immediately reject small, low-paying gigs. Several of the smallest jobs I've done have, over time, turned out to be huge. I once accepted a work for hire job a friend rejected for a couple of thousand dollars. It led directly to a series of assignments that over a decade have netted me low six figures, and led to significant other work. Editors at small publications sometimes become editors with big ones. I still write some things for free, and some for less than $100.00, just for exposure. That has paid off over and over again, as your work reaches some people it may not otherwise, and in that little italicized section at the bottom, or in the contributor notes, you get to promote yourself and your work. It's advertising for yourself and your work.

    One last thing. Get your own web site. The father of one of my daughter's friends offered to set one up for me, for free, several years ago. He wanted to use it as an example to get other work. I said sure never thinking it would get me work, but over the past five years I've probably made $25,000 or so on assignments I received from people who discovered my on the web. Make sure it includes a list of publishing credits and some sample work

    The biggest difference between people who want to write and don't and the people that do, is that some quit, and others don't. In freelance work, this is even more pronounced.
     
  6. In Exile made some great points, especially about doing the same stories in different ways. That's what I was talking about re: specialties. I have a specialty that I didn't like much at first, but I just wrote a book about it, and it's doing well. I like the website idea.

    Here are a couple of answers:

    1. Don't bother with them anymore. Without a contract, you are absolutely free to sell it to someone else, if you can. The tip-off, which I'm sure you know by now, were the words "fairly open-ended."

    4. In Exile said to suggest a word count, but I think he meant that as a way of saying, "This is what I think the story is worth," just to start the conversation. They'll determine the word count, and you need to stick to it. It probably will not be as long as you want it to be, but you never know. Also, when you get a word count, get a flat dollar figure. Note: If you get a 1,000-word assignment, and you write 1,300, they won't pay you for 1,300.

    5. Follow up an e-mail with a call. Magazine editors get tons of pitches. Don't be afraid to be a pest. Someone else may be better to ask, but I've found assignment editors are hungry for good ideas -- that's how they gain a foothold in their jobs. If you "reward" them with a good idea that turns into a good story, they will hit you up with their ideas. Each editor has a stable. Right now, I'm a horse in five or six different stables, but that took a while to get there.

    7. Everybody gets turned down. I had what I thought was a great idea that was turned down this week. You can't look at this like a batting average -- three of 10 pitches accepted, even though the three are less-than-prominent publications. You have to look at it in terms of the bottom line -- how much gets tucked into your G-string. This isn't a prideful business; you're doing piecework.

    8. Don't waste your time. I don't know how you define "national sports mag," but if it's national, they'll send somebody anywhere for a good story. That's not a good way to get work. You can't expect to land lucrative jobs just because you live in a specific area. Take the Daytona 500 as an example. I'd rather use Jenna Fryer's AP stories than a freelancer's from the area.
     
  7. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Since I was scolding mildly, I'll add something more helpful: Come up with a great idea, then be prepared to convince an editor why Heineken Man is the only person who should write it.

    Once you break through and do something big for someone big, a lot of other doors will be much easier to open.
     
  8. HeinekenMan

    HeinekenMan Active Member

    Thanks. That's great advice. It's something that I wouldn't have considered. Why me? I suppose convincing them that my kids will starve if they don't give me the assignment wouldn't work.
     
  9. In Exile

    In Exile Member

    Ike was right about word counts - pitch size, then be ready to adapt to what they might want. If you are pitching a big story, try to anticipate a smaller version ahead of time, in case they say, "Love the idea, but we don't have 2,500 words." Maybe that large feature then turns into a small profile based on one or two people. And always have a second idea. A number of times I've had idea number one turned down only to be asked "You got any other ideas?" Anticpate this question and have a couple in your back pocket just in case. And never put yourself in the postion of finishing an assignment and then start going after the next one. As soon as I get an assignment I start pitching the next one. Droughts can be a career killer in free lance, forcing you back into the 9-5, which the makes it even more difficult to write.

    I'll also add that in my experience, once you've kicked one door open, there is always another door, and it is often just as hard to kick that one open. You never just arrive and are suddenly set for life. It takes an incredibly short period of time to go from "young kid" to "old news," and if an editor who likes you suddenly loses his job, guess what? The next one may already have his or her stable of writers and suddenly you are no one. Same thing can happen during a recession, when ad pages drop and and so do the number of available assignments.

    You do, however, get to spend more time with your own kid than just about anyone else and work at home with about a ten second commute. If you get up early it's a great life.
     
  10. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    Nobody ever "arrives," but when they want to see your work, a GQ feature on Tom Brady carries a lot more weight than a really good takeout you did for the Des Moines paper.
     
  11. HeinekenMan

    HeinekenMan Active Member

    Regarding the whole wanting to see my work, I'm not clear on how to approach that. Should I wait until I hear back before including a clip? Or is it okay to include one or two with the proposal? And is it better to include a medicore clip that is related to the topic/sport? Or should I just go with my best clips?
     
  12. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    The website www.mediabistro.com has a subscription service that lets you read their "How to Pitch to [insert magazine here]" articles... gives a lot of insight on what the editors are looking for, what the mag's target audience is, what type of pieces (service, profile, etc.) pieces they want.
     
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