Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Writer's Market Books

Back when I first decided I wanted to be a writer all I thought about were writing books. Since then I've learned a lot about the writing world. I still think about writing books but I have also discovered that there are a lot of opportunities for new writers. One of them being magazines.
There are many magazines looking for freelancers to do articles for them. It doesn't matter if you're 12 or 20, it is very likely a magazine out there is interested in what you have to say.

 One of the best ways to find these magazines is to buy a writer's market book. If you do a search for them you'll find ones with lists and lists of topics for you to write on. I'd say it's a fundamental tool for any freelance writer. You could also do a Google Search for magazines but a writer's market book will give you more choices and over-all information than you'd be able to get in a full day of internet surfing.

You might be thinking "I don't know what to write about." Well, I thought the same thing a couple years ago but I learned something since then that has given me confidence: write about what you know.

When someone approached me about writing for her homeschooling magazine my first thought was: "But my Mom's the one who homeschooled!" Then my friend reminded me "You might not have been the one doing the homeschooling but you are on the other end, the one who was homeschooled." And since then writing for the magazine from a graduated homeschooler's perspective has given me all kinds of ideas for articles!

If you're alive than you've had life experiences, write about those. If you've had trouble with something chances are that someone else has too and would like to know how you dealt with it.

It's important to do research on the magazine before you query them with your article/short story/poem so you know what age group and what topics they publish, if they like what you show them they might even ask you for more!


3 comments:

  1. Thank you soooo much for posting this! I was actually wanting to start sending things to magazines. I'm gonna look up those books and that's great ideas for writing. Something that I do sometimes is take a character or two from my book and write a short story revolving around them! :)

    ~Natalie Noel

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    1. That's awesome! It makes me happy when I can help people with what I've learned. What's your book about?

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  2. Here's a basic overview of it :)

    Jessica is a fourteen-year-old girl growing up in modern day Melbana, California. She thinks that she has found out who she is meant to be in life, until something new is thrown at her and she has to rethink what matters most to her. First she finds out that her family has been keeping a big secret from her. Something that she should’ve been told years ago. Soon after that another challenge is thrown at her, that was even bigger than the last. Jessica, needing a step back into her old care-free life, goes on a walk with her friend Katie Benson. But what they stumble upon was never meant for them to see. Soon Jessica finds her life twisted around even more as she is taken into a new place that could change her point of view of everything. Jessica learns that some secrets aren’t meant to be known, but when they are uncovered, sometimes all you can do is trust God. In some situations for your very life. . As she experiences love, heartbreak, joy, and pain, one thought keeps on rolling through her head. “Who am I, and do I belong here?”

    My characters each have a backstory though, so if I find the write one's it's an easy story there. I've only done it once actually, but the story is getting published, so maybe that's a sign to do more!? haha

    I read what your books are about. They sound good! Especially the Just a Game One. Are you doing Nanowrimo this year?

    ~Natalie Noel

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