Editorial Calendars:

If you would like to write for a certain magazine or websites and are struggling for find something 'suitable' to pitch them, get hold of their editorial calendar. Also known as the 'Advertisers Pack' or 'Media Kit', this is a goldmine of information for the freelance writer. You may think that as a writer you have no use for rate cards or ad copy deadlines, but hold on! Look beyond the prices and the page sizes,

Editorial calendars and advertisers guidelines often have information on proposed themes for the year and deadlines for submissions. That gives you fertile soil to generate any ideas within their themes. If you're lucky, you may also find a detailed listing of special issues along with what they're hoping to feature.

Media Packs also give you information on the publication's reader profile, what they want the magazine to represent and the circulation figures. This is vital information for a freelancer and saves you a lot of money in sample copies.

Field & Stream

February          Don't Get Lost

March              New Science  of fishing
April                Your Biggest Fish Ever

May                  Total Outdoorsman Issue

June                Catch Fish All Summer

July                  Shotguns Issue

August             Big Buck Boot Camp

September      The All Gear Issue

October           America's Public Land

November       The Perfect Rut Plan

December/Jan            Winter Hunts

Check Field and Stream online at  http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/fsmk07/ec.html

Now start looking these over and see if you have any information that that fits these categories.  Some you will, some you won't, I have nothing to say about the new science of fishing.  But I have a lot to say about to getting lost, the total outdoorsman issue in America's public land.  I would probably go back and look at the issue the year before this one and see how they slanted their articles.  I certainly couldn't write about shotguns, but I'm not cut out of an article idea either.  Again, it's a matter of seeing what you have in your own repertoire and what will fit these categories.

The same is true of women's magazines and others like Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and so forth.  Family Circle, for instance, covers five different readership areas, Home, Family, Health, Style, and Food.  Check out their Editorial Calendar at    http://www.navigate-media.com/fc_main.htm#EC here are their categories.

In December, for instance, they are doing holiday style for the Home section, Hawaiian Islands Roundup for the Family section, Is stress ruining your health? For the Health section, Get glam makeup for Style, and Holiday cookies and entertaining guide for Food.                    

In short before you start trying to write for a magazine, check out what they say they're going to do for a year.  This helps put you on the right track before you write one word.  Remember also, that a number of articles are staff written,  especially in the Style & Food sections