She Wants a Photo, Too?

Recently a newspaper editor emailed to say she'd like to consider publishing my nutrition article for $40. Good news! However, I couldn't help getting hung up on that word, "considering".

Next came the request: "Do you happen to have any photos of the suggested treats?"

I'd read enough nutrition articles in the past few months to know they're usually accompanied by photos. However, I didn't have a photo, a professional camera, or her guarantee that my article would be published either way.

Then I got an email from a second editor, requesting the same thing. It seemed the only thing that stood in the way of getting my two newspaper submissions published, and payment, was a photo. How could I say no?

So I cooked up a batch of pancakes, borrowed a relative's 6-megapixel camera and emailed the pics. It wasn't until a recent meeting with my writing mentor Linda that I learned what I should have done.

Linda usually told (regional publication) editors that she didn't have accompanying photos, and said most of the time it hadn't made a difference. If she happened to have photos that would work, she would let them know, and then ask if they offered additional compensation. Sometimes the extra pay only amounted to $10, but it was the point: extra work should mean extra pay.

Oh, well. Click and learn!

The Best 'Market Research' Advice I've Ever Gotten

According to my writing mentor (who's been published in Family Circle, Woman's Day, Reader's Digest, Baby Talk, etc..), a magazine masthead is the freelancer's Holy Grail. All that writers need is a magazine and its masthead to learn who to submit to, where, what sections -if any- are open to freelancers, and how to write an article that will leave editors salivating.

And so the other day I sunk into a leather library chair, pounds of Family Circles on my lap. Opened the latest issue, and flipped through the first few pages, to its masthead. Linda says to use it like this:

Check Out Who's on Staff

Get an idea for what types of writers the magazine already has handy -and where the gaps are- by seeing who's working for the magazine. One look at Family Circle's masthead shows it has its own full health advisory board! Md's, psychologists, nutritionists, you name it. Definitely gives some indication of the types of articles they don't need. But let's say you're a medical professional/writer/superperson, and you don't see your field of medicine represented on the masthead. Maybe there's an opening for your article.

Figure Out Which Articles were Written Inhouse, and by Freelancers

My mentor's next suggestion was to see who wrote each article in the magazine, and find out if they're on the masthead. If they are, then that department/article type is written inhouse. One of Family Circle's first sections is called "My Hometown," and sounds promising for freelancers. But the writer, Jennifer Beck, is listed on the masthead as inhouse staff. In fact, most of the articles were written inhouse by someone, be it an Editor, Editorial Assistant or someone on the health board.

A closer look at the articles that weren't written inhouse all had the same things in common, and those similarities suggest specific guidelines on what to write and how to write it, in order to get into FC. Which brings us to the next task.

What Do the Freelance Articles Have in Common?

Once you've picked out all of the freelance articles, note their topics, format and style. This tells you how to structure and propose your article. For example, maybe a magazine has four pieces written by freelancers. Three of them are personal essays. They're all slanted to the editorial calendar theme. And all three essays include two personal photos, a few lines of dialogue and a "tips" sidebar. Improve your chances of acceptance by proposing a personal essay with these things in mind.

Fantastic First Liners

The below are from a friend's list of "25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you." Talk about some great first lines and story ideas! The best part? We've all got quarks like this to write about and ravage for all they're worth.

1. I forced my husband to drink tea in the morning by putting the coffee maker in the shed where he couldn't find it.

2. I am freaked out by meat. If I have even one bite over my meat limit, I feel like never eating it again. I don't touch raw meat more than twice a year.

3. I live below my means, getting some sort of perverted joy out of major bargains and repurposing materials that would go to waste. I do this somewhat because it makes life easier: work less, vacation more, not worry about keeping up with the Joneses... or maybe it's just from growing up poor. But most people in LA just think I'm a little off my rocker.

4. I wear a scarf almost every day of the year and have a section of my closet devoted to them.

5. I had a cat in college that was black and white, spotted like a cow, and had seven toes on each front paw. Her name was Molly Moo. Short for Molybdenim Moo. I don't know. Stupid.

6. One time when I was 13, I built a mechanism in my room that allowed me to turn my light on and off from my bed entirely out of yarn, magnets and nails.

7. I don't really like even numbers.

8. My favorite toy as a child was my tape recorder. I went through tape after tape with my best friend, making up funny radio programs, stories, commercials, urgent news and weather forecasts.

9. I dress especially fancy sometimes for a girl that doesn't paint her nails.

10. I am dreaming of buying that new hanger at IKEA that looks like a bunch of circles knitted together.

11. Sometimes I'll wear elbow length opera gloves when driving to protect the skin on my hands and arms. I don't even take them off when I go into the grocery store or to pick Luke up from school. Extra fancy.

12. I am super punctual. I can gauge my arrival time down to a few minutes, even if I'm hours away. I am almost never late.

Thanks, Diana, for letting me share some of these.

In the Mood

My husband has it down. He lights a candle or two, gives a relaxing massage, and turns up the heat from the standard bone-chilling, money-saving 60 degrees, and there you go: in the mood.

We writers could learn a lot from him. Take my recent attempt at putting a writing plan into action. I rung in 2009 with a new planner in which I'd scheduled the first two weeks by the hour, and with 13 New Year's resolutions, the likes of which included writing a novel and increasing my work outs to seven days per week.

All I had to do was follow the schedule to be superfit and complete phase one of Mission: Novel Publication. Simple enough.

Simple, but not easy. That planner with its blaring list of to-do's, and hour after hour of scheduled time, was so serious and regimented. Definitely not candles. So not a massage. Not putting me in the mood to work out or write.

And it showed: I hit a record workout low and didn't exercise ONCE during those two weeks. And that novel? I didn't even get as far as page one.

I got frustrated. I got angry. I took mental jabs at myself. Just get up and go to the gym. Don't be so lazy. All you have to write is one page per day, it's not that hard.

Now, if my husband approached me with insults and drill sargent commands, the last place he'd be was at the top of my priority list. So why had I thought it would work? I closed the planner. Relaxed. And thought about what it was I wanted to do.

The answer? Work on a story-in-progress I'd been thinking about, and do a workout dance tape at home. Funny what giving yourself a little space to relax will do.

WritersWeekly.com Posts Current Market Needs

Unlike many online market listings, those on writersweekly.com are current and approved directly by editors at the time writersweekly lists them. Some of the most recent were posted on Jan. 7th:

Poets & Writers Magazine
CURRENT NEEDS: "The Literary Life, The Practical Writer, News & Trends." Pays $150-$300 per article for 500-3000 words.

SavvyMiss.com
CURRENT NEEDS: "Fun, Sassy, Smart pitches regarding careers, finance, dating, day projects, beauty, fashion, health and sanity." Pays $0.35/word.

Porthole Cruise Magazine
CURRENT NEEDS: "We have covered every destination in the world a thousand times; we're always looking for fresh, exciting angles." Pays approximately $0.50/word for 500-1000 words.

A Quote To Sicken and Inspire

"Since I was unwilling to devote myself to the finer points of photography, I put down my camera and picked up a pen. I had read enough poorly written newspaper columns to believe that I could beat the average. I whipped up a sample essay; one month later my name and photo were on the front page of my town's weekly paper. Just like that, I was a "columnist": $50 per column, two columns a month."

(Written by Kelly Corrigan in Oprah Magazine, January 2009)

This is Going to Sound Really Obvious, But-

Forget writing to magazines for sample issues, standing at Borders and debating over which four magazines to buy with your $20 budget, or stacking years' worth of magazine subscriptions into the closet, on the off chance you'll want to submit to them someday.

This is going to sound really obvious, but I swear I didn't think of it until recently: just get them at the library!

Well, maybe not Taxidermists United or the African Sporting Gazette, but (as I discovered) probably national magazines like Self, Prevention and Natural Solutions. And what better way to do market research than to pull up one of those cushiony, brown reading chairs and look through several current and back issues of relevant magazines?

For the budget-conscious writer, there's only one word that can describe the shelf after shelf of "free sample issues" sitting there pristinely, hardly read and practically begging to be poured over: JACKPOT.

So come Monday, I'll be hard at "work"...sunk into a chair...surrounded by books...and reading my favorite magazines. Talk about a jackpot.

Coming to Terms With My Tagline

It's sat at the top of my blog for the past year, alternately exciting or freaking me out: On a mission to break into the magazine market and establish a freelance writing career by January 2009.

As I wrote that line last February, I was already imagining my January 2009 conclusion post. In it, I would happily (dare I say, obnoxiously?) review how far I'd come in the past year. There would be mention of publication in Family Circle, and heck, maybe even a second glossy. I'd post a record of my earnings, from the 4 cents Ehow paid me in March, to the thousands I'd be making by January.

Er.

Okay, I had high expectations. But not unreachable. And working towards those goals landed me the role of newsletter editor at two organizations, publication in regional magazines and [enter joyous singing choir] Byline Magazine. So 2008 wasn't a total wash.

I am closer to the writing, money-making homebound paradise I imagined a year ago, so I've decided to revise that tagline for the upcoming year and continue slogging ahead.

Here's hoping we all get to write the obnoxious type of post I'm imagining for 2010!