How To Get Your Articles Published On Line Or In Print

There are two ways to get your article published.

The first way is to write the article and then find a publication which focuses on the same topic about which you wrote. Send the article to them and wait for them to accept or reject it. Chances are if they reject it they will not return it. Some may even take your idea for the article and assign one of their own writers to create a column or story. What ever happens, this is not a very efficient way to find a publication that will publish your article.

The second approach is more efficient. I have been a freelance writer for 30 years, primarily for health and business and a minor in golf writing. I receive the same question from college graduates, retired teachers, stay at home moms, and dentists: I have written an article. How do I get it published?

My answer is always: Before you write an article, find a publication which is interested in publishing your idea. Each publication is different having its own market, its own voice, and its own topics. If you write something first, it may not fit the market for the publication. If you are lucky, you may find a publication interested in your idea but it will probably ask you to rewrite the story.

Once you have an idea for an article, write queries to publications first. Then you can focus your story to the preferences of that particular publication. For example, your article may be geared to men under age 30 or women over 65. Even the vocabulary in these two articles on the same theme will be very different.

A query or query letter is a one page proposal in business letter format whether you write it on line or print and slow mail. Most publications prefer email but if you are new to this business I would write both ways. You are likely to reach your target person by email but she could lose or delete your email. If you send a query by slow mail it will probably be seen by someone other than your target person and may or may not get tossed in the waste. In either case you are merely hedging your effort.

In the query you offer to write about a specific topic for a specific magazine. You address a specific editor. It does not have to be the head editor. In fact, finding an editor of a department where your article will fit is even better. For instance, if you are sending a query about gardening tips to a magazine for women, look for an editor in the home department, or environment department, or gardening department if they have one. If you send the query to the editor in chief, she is just going to hand it off to one of the department heads anyway.

In your letter, the lead paragraph could double as the first paragraph for your published article. Then write a description of the focus, or angle, or hook as I prefer to call it. Tell the editor about the content, the format and proposed sources. After all, you need to sound like you are the expert. Then you can include a couple of lines about your self and why you are the person to write the article. Be sure to include your contact information both online and offline. The query needs to be interesting, have perfect spelling, punctuation and grammar, so that if the editor does like your idea she will select you as the author.

Finally, search for the website of the publication you want to publish your article. They usually include guidelines for what to include in your query and how to send it.

by: Ruthan Brodsky

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