Quick question - What exactly does a magazine editor want when he asks for a 800-1,000 word profile of a person for an article?
What Andreya said plus ask the editor what the focus of the profile should be. I write articles about artists for an artist and gallery readership, so the profiled person's creative process is often a focus.
HTH,
HTH,
He wouldn't tell me. So I wrote the article on the musician and he wrote back that it read like nothing more than a gushing PR piece and not what they were looking for." When I asked again for the particulars and that I would rewrite it, I never received an answer. 
Simran, have you read their publication or website?
It is really important to read & research first.
Also, you can see what kind of magazines they might want to emulate - some profiles or interviews of musicians are quite in-depth.
Maybe you were too positive and would need less adjectives like 'wonderful' and superb, and more 'real stuff' and facts or more balanced opinions?
It is really important to read & research first.
Also, you can see what kind of magazines they might want to emulate - some profiles or interviews of musicians are quite in-depth.
Maybe you were too positive and would need less adjectives like 'wonderful' and superb, and more 'real stuff' and facts or more balanced opinions?
Yes, actually I did Andreya and thought I followed the same pattern. I kept away from the fluffy adjectives, minus one when I described his new hit #1 song as a beautiful love song. Other than that I told the story of his start in the music industry up until where he is today 5 years later.
I did put in a couple of fan quotes. Originally I offered an exclusive interview but he refused that and asked for the profile.
Hm, that is strange then. Did other profiles have some more negative/in-depth stuff or such, & no fan quotes?
Maybe the editor just doesn't like beautiful love songs? (Or he had someone else in mind for the job?) This does sound a bit weird to me..
This may sound obvious, have you checked your 'spam' folder? some of my messages have at times gone there.. (or on Yahoo sometimes got mixed up with old mail..)
Perhaps they also assigned the article to a few people & chose someone else..? (or intend to use all those articles for free? so check on the website, just in case..)
Of course these ar just guesses, people who wrote for the same publication could maybe tell you more.. (You probably googled it already to see if anything like this popped up?)
Maybe the editor just doesn't like beautiful love songs? (Or he had someone else in mind for the job?) This does sound a bit weird to me..
This may sound obvious, have you checked your 'spam' folder? some of my messages have at times gone there.. (or on Yahoo sometimes got mixed up with old mail..)
Perhaps they also assigned the article to a few people & chose someone else..? (or intend to use all those articles for free? so check on the website, just in case..)
Of course these ar just guesses, people who wrote for the same publication could maybe tell you more.. (You probably googled it already to see if anything like this popped up?)
Sorry to hear about your profile. I'm thinking that if an editor can't give a new writer some direction, they can't expect to get the results they want. We're not freakin' mind readers! And when I mean "new" I'm meaning new to the magazine, I have no idea how experienced you are...
Did you write this on spec?
Did you write this on spec?
Re-read your piece and see if you sound like you are trying to "sell" the article. Sometimes profiling a musician can be historical (about the person's career), sometimes it can be about their process (how they write music/select it) and it can also be a bio-type piece, about them as a person. The best guideline is to look at another copy of the mag.
Two of the most important things are tone and voice. You must match those to the mag you are writing for. It isn't as easy as one might think!
Don't get discouraged. Keep learning. Eventually you will be helping other writers learn the ropes.
Two of the most important things are tone and voice. You must match those to the mag you are writing for. It isn't as easy as one might think!
Don't get discouraged. Keep learning. Eventually you will be helping other writers learn the ropes.
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Perhaps the editor is looking for some tragedy behind the sunshine. Usually, soulful beautiful love songs begin from pain rather than just as an ode to the perfect romance. Completely blind to the circumstances, is there perhaps someway you make the artist's rise to where he/she is today a bit more dramatic? Not the the point of embellishment, but try to isolate some adversity.
Just a guess because I read a lot of profiles of musicians and there does seem to be a common outline to the musician's story. Perhaps find a way to better fit this person's actual story into that mold while remaining true to the piece.
I actually was able to interview Matchbox 20 as a kid, about 2 weeks before "Push" became a huge hit. The editor I was writing for was upset at the piece because it seemed like it was for a kid's magazine (I was about 15 at the time and hiding my age from the editor, but the band answered my questions in a very "Nickelodeon" way). So, I made it more gritty with some of their worse gigs, stories told humorously but I slanted them less so to please the editor's sense of drama.
Hope it works out.
Just a guess because I read a lot of profiles of musicians and there does seem to be a common outline to the musician's story. Perhaps find a way to better fit this person's actual story into that mold while remaining true to the piece.
I actually was able to interview Matchbox 20 as a kid, about 2 weeks before "Push" became a huge hit. The editor I was writing for was upset at the piece because it seemed like it was for a kid's magazine (I was about 15 at the time and hiding my age from the editor, but the band answered my questions in a very "Nickelodeon" way). So, I made it more gritty with some of their worse gigs, stories told humorously but I slanted them less so to please the editor's sense of drama.
Hope it works out.
Perhaps the editor is looking for more "grit" in your profile. That could be what he means by relating it to PR. This is very strange that he won't give you more concrete directions.
One of Kelly James Enger's books on freelancing speaks about one writer's 'formula' for profiles - he always included some 'not pleasant' stuff too (or some 'good' stuff for 'negative characters') - might be worth a look, especially if you can get it in your library!