featurewriter
Greetings!
Jenna was kind enough to invite me to kick off this forum for freelancers who work with trade and association press ... or freelancers who might be interested in this lucrative niche market ... or for people who might have heard of trade press at one time or another ... or for those who can identify a trade magazine two out of three times on sight alone (or not!).
Trade press is a great way to get published, make a decent living with relatively little stress (compared to some other freelance arenas), and get your name in front of company decision-makers who may need your services for other projects.
During the years I edited a major industry publication, I received an average of less than one query per month, and even then it was rarely from freelancers. Usually the inquiries were from advertisers who wanted some free promotion. Like any other magazine, not only did we need features on specialized topics of interest to our niche market, but general interest material as it applied to our market as well.
Here's a little story to show how wide open this field is. In search of contributors, we posted our publication in Writers Market and waited for the phone to ring. But even the writing industry's "Bible" didn't hold a prayer for us -- no one ever called! The association that the magazine supported had over 2,000 companies as members ... a tremendous back-end potential for any writer who cared to offer his or her services, with a well-paid audition in front of the entire industry each time an article was published. And no takers!
It wasn't the pay; our magazine, like countless others in the trade press arena, paid as well as or better than many consumer publications. It wasn't the industry or the subject material. It was, simply, that freelancers in general had no idea of the tremendous potential in trade press.
Never in my life was an opportunity more glaringly obvious. So, I switched sides of the editor's desk. Today I'm a full-time freelance writer, specializing in filling that gap and making a good living while enjoying more free time than ever before.
Okay, Jenna asked me to write a greeting and here I am composing a symphony! What I really want to say is that trade press is an awesome way to soar as a freelancer. It's relatively simple to break into, the pay is great, and the supply of assignments is practically endless. You'll get tons of exposure in front of people who need good writers to help image their businesses. And because there's so little competition, once an editor likes your work, you can expect a steady stream of assignments.
Interested? Let's start the conversation!
Jenna was kind enough to invite me to kick off this forum for freelancers who work with trade and association press ... or freelancers who might be interested in this lucrative niche market ... or for people who might have heard of trade press at one time or another ... or for those who can identify a trade magazine two out of three times on sight alone (or not!).
Trade press is a great way to get published, make a decent living with relatively little stress (compared to some other freelance arenas), and get your name in front of company decision-makers who may need your services for other projects.
During the years I edited a major industry publication, I received an average of less than one query per month, and even then it was rarely from freelancers. Usually the inquiries were from advertisers who wanted some free promotion. Like any other magazine, not only did we need features on specialized topics of interest to our niche market, but general interest material as it applied to our market as well.
Here's a little story to show how wide open this field is. In search of contributors, we posted our publication in Writers Market and waited for the phone to ring. But even the writing industry's "Bible" didn't hold a prayer for us -- no one ever called! The association that the magazine supported had over 2,000 companies as members ... a tremendous back-end potential for any writer who cared to offer his or her services, with a well-paid audition in front of the entire industry each time an article was published. And no takers!
It wasn't the pay; our magazine, like countless others in the trade press arena, paid as well as or better than many consumer publications. It wasn't the industry or the subject material. It was, simply, that freelancers in general had no idea of the tremendous potential in trade press.
Never in my life was an opportunity more glaringly obvious. So, I switched sides of the editor's desk. Today I'm a full-time freelance writer, specializing in filling that gap and making a good living while enjoying more free time than ever before.
Okay, Jenna asked me to write a greeting and here I am composing a symphony! What I really want to say is that trade press is an awesome way to soar as a freelancer. It's relatively simple to break into, the pay is great, and the supply of assignments is practically endless. You'll get tons of exposure in front of people who need good writers to help image their businesses. And because there's so little competition, once an editor likes your work, you can expect a steady stream of assignments.
Interested? Let's start the conversation!
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