For Article Writers
Why
and How to Study a Magazine
Is it really necessary to study a magazine before you try to write for it? The answer is, it is
vital. In fact, it's so important, that I consider it almost a crime to write the article before you
know the magazine backwards and forwards. Magazines have their own way of looking at the world -- it's
called focus. Some magazines write about what's new, others include only articles they think will appeal
to their target audience, still others use a particular style or slant all the time.
If you try to submit an article
before you understand this and practice it, you will usually get it rejected. I've had so many students that are great
writers, but don't practice this, so they will probably never sell. They simply write the article and
send it out. Most of the time it comes back rejected.
Now, here are some tips that will help you understand how magazines work.
1. Read the Magazine.
Pick up the magazine and look at it from cover to cover. Read the editorials, scan the columns,
read what the editor has to say about the magazine. Look at the table of contents, read the ads.
Finally, take out an article or articles you would like to have written and read them. Ask yourself
if you could write the article as well as the author did? If not why not?
It used to be that the editor or publisher would
send you a copy of the magazine and their Guidelines for Writers, just for the asking. Today, that is not
universally true. And unfortunately -- or fortunately, there are hundreds of magazines that you cannot
buy on the stands. Usually, you will find these magazines on the web and can often read the main articles
there. Most important, go over the table of contents carefully so you will know what categories a particular
magazine takes.
2.
Who is the reader? It is important that you determine who the reader is, what they want to read
about, and how they want the material presented. That means you must know their approximate age of the
audience, how much money they make, whether there are white-collar or blue-collar, what church they go to, what magazines
they read, the kind of car they drive, their job. The number of children. They have,
and whatever else you can determine.
Also, read the ads. Advertisers often slant to the readers of the magazine.
These ads will tell you more about the reader than anything else in the magazine. I generally go
through the ads carefully, and then sum up in writing with a reader's profile.
3. Look at the Cover. The cover picture and the articles listed on the magazine's cover reveal a great deal about
the magazine’s focus. That is, "the way the magazine looks at the world." Cosmopolitan
Magazine always features a sexy picture and the articles often stress some aspect of sex, finding a man or something
similar. Good Housekeeping is almost the opposite. The cover articles might include, "The
Weekend Diet," " Dr. Tested Home Remedies, "The Perfect Haircut," "Fast
Family Dinners: All Healthy ," "Tax Tricks." and more. This is a family-oriented women's
magazine that tries to run articles slanted toward the mother in the family. If you're aiming for this
magazine you would first look for articles that you might be able to write with a little research. The
only problem with this is that if you suggest something they've already done or are about to do, you'll be rejected.
You can solve this by looking at a number of back issues on the Internet. One note of caution: the
big circulation national magazines are hard to hit -- start with regionals or smaller magazines
4. Check the Magazine’s Style.
The style used by the magazine will depend on the editor’s focus or the readership. Articles
can use first, second and third person, or all three. All magazines use beginnings which make the reader
want to read the article. Magazines also use anecdotes, quotes from authorities, and statistics to prove
the points in their articles. Go through several articles and look specifically for these items.
5. Read Some of the Other Features. This could include columns, departments, and above all, the complete table of contents for the
current issue. Sometimes both the columns and the departments give you ideas of what to write for that
magazine. If they have a health column, and also run articles on health, they will probably buy freelance
pieces on health. The same for any other columns in the magazine.
6. Read the Letter
From the Editor. This is usually at the
front of the magazine under Editor’s Note, Publishers Letter or even Publishers Note. Often the editor/publisher
will talk about a main article in the current magazine. Does the editor also have any favorites from the
issue? Do they mention what they may want to cover in the next issue or over the next year? If you have
some information that might fit what they are talking about, you might want to try a query.
7. Check out the Magazine's Website. This can save you a lot of time. When my article writing career
was going full blast, I had to find a magazine before I could write for it. I had hundreds of sample copies
in my office. Today you can get much of the same information by visiting the magazine’s website.
There are at least some articles from the current issue there. Sometimes all of them.
Print the ones that stand out. Use the table of contents to see what was published in that issue.
The advice used to be read 10 issues of the magazine. Often you can do that on the Internet or at
least read the table of contents from 10 issues on the Internet. This gives you a place to start.
Keep Trying.
I usually have a few magazines that I want to be published in. For a number of years it was Family
Circle. I had written gardening articles for other magazines, but it never got any interest
from Family Circle. Then I wrote a gardening book called The Postage Stamp Garden Book
that became a Book-of-the-Month Club book and sold thousands of copies. Shortly after that, my agent got
a call from family Circle asking if I would do an article for them. The result, two sales for several
thousand dollars apiece.
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