A Writer’s Quest

Getting non-fiction published in magazines is not too difficult, if you approach it correctly.

Key things to do are:

• Read the magazine you are going to submit to, looking at their style and approach to topics
• Check their website or send a polite email to get the submission guidelines and follow them strictly
• Make sure your article is well written, spell checked appropriately (US spelling if a US magazine, English spelling for UK or Australian magazines)
• Provide it in an easy electronic format, like Microsoft Word, that everyone can read. Test this
• Check any submission guidelines

Editors are always looking for content. If you make it easy for them to use yours, you stand the best chance of getting published. This is especially true in the specialist, technical press, where budgets are usually small and there may not be a large editorial staff. Cut your teeth on the smaller magazines first.

Having edited several magazines I am always amazed at how difficult some people make it to use their material. Some is so badly written that it would be easier for the editor to write the article themselves than to fix. Some come on disks you can’t read or in some bizarre format that your computer won’t work with. Some send articles way too long or too short for the section it is aimed at. And so it goes. By far the worse is receiving articles where it is clear the person has not even read the magazine you are editing and made any effort to mirror its style or approach to topics. There is also no point in sending a winter article when winter is already at hand, so appropriate timing is everything.

Editors are usually chasing content. Well written and appropriate content stands the best chance. Many editors like having a stock of articles on hand to fill space as required. Note their deadlines and make sure you send seasonal articles well in advance of when that issue would come out. Different magazines work on different deadlines and it is common for there to be different deadlines for differing parts of the magazines, feature articles often the longest and small filler pieces the shortest. If you illustrate your own articles, as I have always done, this means you need to use last year’s photographs to illustrate this year’s articles.

Be sure you know what you are getting into before you submit. Check what rights they require and make sure you have met them. If a magazine wants first world publication and you have already had something published somewhere, don’t send it. If they want exclusive, forever usage rights on your photographs with no additional payment for ech and every use, look elsewhere. It is not uncommon for magazines to want indefinite rights to publish your articles with any illustrations in any format. Most want to cover themselves in case they later publish on the Internet or in a collection book, etc. They should pay extra for each additional publication, but some don’t.

Editors are stressed, under multiple, usually conflicting pressures and time limited. If you make it easy for them to use your article you have the best chance of getting published. Don’t give them a reason to reject you.