Greetings from Georgia!

Hi, everyone!

I've been lurking for quite a while now but have finally decided to "unveil" and show myself.

I've been writing since the tender age of six, believe it or not. I hold a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Professional Writing. I've done quite a bit of commercial/non-profit work over the last few years and have decided to try to market myself professionally on the Web, in magazines, and in the book market.

I've thoroughly enjoyed everything that I've read on the site thus far but would really be grateful for any personal insights that any of you seasoned veterans could offer to a newbie re "breaking into print".

Thanks in advance. I look forward to continued enjoyment of this site.

Yours in the writing life,
Writerangel

know your market

I guess the biggest advice I could give if you want to break into magazines or newspapers is to know your market. Learn to read the masthead of magazines to figure out which sections are staff written and which might be open to freelancers - no point beating your head against the wall trying to query for a section that is not open to freelancers. Look at the articles and calculate their word length. Figure out how many experts they generally interview for each story. Then and use this information and their guidelines to target their query.

For newspapers, you can call them up and ask if they are union or non-union. Often union staffs have contracts that severely limit the use of freelancers - again, all you'll get is a headache of discouragement if you keep trying to crack these markets.

Start small with local and regional publications. Always meet the deadline. Always have another idea ready when you hand in your finished story and try to develop a solid relationship with the editor. Some of these regional editors go on to national positions, and you can sometimes tag along.

Re: know your market

Thanks so much, Tish.