Glossies and trade mags are all well and good, but there are other things you can do if you want to get published in the print industry. Here is a list of some of them to help inspire you:

Greeting Cards

Got a knack for delivering a message? You may want to try your luck at greeting cards. Although this won’t line your pockets with the big bucks, it can be a great way to make some extra dough. Birthday cards are always in demand, but there are also markets for holiday cards, anniversary cards and others. Why not try it out? Brainstorm some ideas and jot them down to smooth out and work through. It can be a fun change of pace.

Calendars

Some calendars have text instead of photos–or in addition to them. Again, this may not make your car payment, but it can round out your monthly bottom line.

Newsletters

Some businesses hire professional writers to author a newsletter for one reason or another. Sometimes it is an in-house deal, while other times it is more promotional.

Brochures

Marketing copy is another area you may want to consider. Brochures, press kits and other “collateral” as it is referred to in the industry is always in demand.

Custom Publications

Not quite a trade mag, custom publications are usually those written by a particular organization. Sometimes they are produced by the group itself, but they are just as often outsourced to a custom publisher to handle. Prove yourself here and you could make some nice money.

So how do you get into this stuff? Per usual, Google is your best friend here. Google “writers guidelines, greeting cards” or a similar phrase and dig in. It really is that easy–and that difficult. You’ll find you have to really target your pitch and make sure you position yourself properly to get a response. But if you do–you can really find yourself in a nice spot. These markets are generally not as competitive as the magazine industry, precisely because:

A. People don’t think to try them, and

B. They aren’t as prestigious

I have actually done all of the above in my career and have found some really rewarding jobs in the process. And made some pretty good money too.

A few last words on the topic…

For newsletters and marketing materials, you’ll have to work a little harder than just using Google. Think local. See what companies and marketing/pr pros you have in your area and either call or drop an e-mail. (I’d actually suggest doing both.) Make sure you have a solid pitch ready, and some work to show them should they ask.

Has anyone else out there made some money in one of these arenas? I’d love to hear about it!

How about some good news? Today, instead of telling you ten thousand things you need to make sure that you are doing, or emphasizing how difficult it is to break into writing for print, I’m simply going to encourage you. That’s right. Today is a pep talk!

I was not a good writer when I began. Seriously. I was pretty average, used cliches, and I made a ton of stupid mistakes. Still, here I am, many years later. Writing.

I’m stubborn and I wanted it badly. If you have tenacity and patience–I’m here to tell you–you probably can do this thing. (Oh, and you’ll need a thick skin too!)

Pep talk time. Here are some things to do that will help keep you moving toward a career that includes writing for print publications:

Write down some goals. Say, 10 of them–and make them reasonable. Stick them in an envelope and post it somewhere by your desk. Don’t open it for a year–then see how you’ve done. It’s enlightening! Sometimes your goals have completely changed. Other times you reach them and move far beyond. It’s a fun way to keep track.

Subscribe to mags you like. Yes. I’m telling you to buy magazines–and read them! Don’t deny yourself the fun stuff just to save a few bucks. You need to read to write, and if you are going to shoot for the print world, you need to read magazines. Enjoy!

Keep a list of your accomplishments. Some days you are going to get discouraged. You’ll want to quit. Keeping a list of your successes will help remind you how far you’ve come. Even if it’s a short list, it can help boost your spirits. And remember…the list will continue to grow with time.

Some writers like to keep encouraging notes from editors they have worked with. Others, a list of magazines they have been published in. Whatever makes you feel good!

Join a group for writers. There’s nothing like support to keep you from feeling like you are in this alone. Other writers can make sure you keep things in perspective, serve as a sounding board for ideas, critique your work and help celebrate your accomplishments.

Educate yourself. Read books by other writers in the genre. If you keep learning, you’ll keep growing and getting better. If you keep getting better….well, you get the idea. It’s within your power to move forward. Take advantage of that fact and do something about it.

Develop some good “self-talk”. Don’t allow yourself to say things like, “I’m never going to get published” or, “maybe I’m not good enough”. Instead, keep the conversation positive. Phrases like, “I’m working hard toward this and it will pay off” or, “I’m creative and I just need to learn a bit more about how to harness that” can go a long way toward motivating you as a writer.

Print writing is a tough biz. But today isn’t about that. Today is about all the things you can do to get your spirits up and keep moving forward.

Can anyone else add to the mix? Feel free! Let’s really make this post peppy!

I’ve been wanting to add a market directory here on AFW for a while. Back when this was still SixFigureWriters.com, we put a lot of effort into bringing you paying writers’ markets. And later on I launched a separate site devoted to them at Writers-Guidelines.com. That second site was shut down a while back to prepare for its merge with All Freelance Writing. While it’s taken a little longer than planned to find a solution I was willing to work with, I think we’re finally all set!

This is a directory of paying writers’ markets. The pay level isn’t always included. If it is, I mention it in the summary so you don’t have to click the link just to find out what they pay. Directory listings are for any paying market, and they don’t have to meet the requirements we have for job listings here. That’s because a lot of great open markets don’t list their rates publicly or they negotiate with individual writers. While I’m willing to rule those out for immediate-need gigs advertised where there might not be much time to research that info privately or try to negotiate, that’s not the case for writers’ markets like these. I also want to leave the pay issue a bit more open here so we’re freer to branch this off into a publishing market section as well down the road, where pay rates aren’t always clear-cut (not mentioned, negotiated, royalty-based, etc.).

We’re kicking things off with 50 markets in the directory. I’ll be adding to the list regularly. There is currently no way for you to submit listings. If you’re an editor and you’d like your market included, you can email me at jenn@allfreelancewriting.com. The only requirements are that it must be a paying market (I don’t consider residual or performance-based pay to be a paying market because payment isn’t guaranteed), and you must have a link to public writers’ guidelines. To make sure AFW readers aren’t getting outdated info or inaccurate info simply emailed to us, all listings must be tied to published guidelines on the publication’s website.

Writers — go ahead and play with it. When you first visit the page, you’ll get the master list with all markets. You have the option to search them or browse by category. When you choose a category or submit a search term, the results will appear on the same page. To get back to the master list, just refresh the page.

I’ll likely add more categories as I add more markets. If a market fits into more than one category, I can only put it  into one without messing up the master list. So if something isn’t where you think it should be, see if another category would apply. For example, there’s one on family travel for families with young children. It could have gone in the home & family section or the travel section. I felt travel was more fitting than lumping it in with things like parenting magazines. The regional section is a big one for situations like this — a lot of different niches can be covered with a regional focus, so be sure to check that too.

Let me know if you have suggestions. I’m limited to what I can do with the plugin we’re using, but if I think a suggestion has merit and it can reasonably be done, I’m more than willing to make changes to improve the feature.

Enjoy! :)

I see two primary ways to look at it. On the positive side, you could say it gives us a new distribution channel for our writing–a new way to be seen and read. On the other side, it could cause problems in negotiating rights.

How Big Will e-Readers Get?

Personally, I don’t see this kind of technology ever replacing print magazines and newspapers for several reasons:

• The devices are expensive, and even in its second generation, Amazon hasn’t been able to make the Kindle truly affordable to the masses.
• The functionality is limited–why spend $300+ on a simple e-reader when these days you can buy a netbook in the same range with far more functionality?
• Magazines and newspapers aren’t always sold to people searching for the content. It’s one thing to assume e-readers would be valuable to normal subscribers, but there’s something to be said for those impulse buys (there’s a reason we use catchy headlines on the cover / front page).
• Many buyers will simply prefer print versions. That goes beyond the end readers who just like the feel of paper in their hands, don’t want to stare at screens any more than they already do, or want the ability to cut out clips of recipes, articles, or anything else in their favorite magazines. It also applies to subscribers wanting the paper versions available to their customers (think about magazines in your doctor’s waiting room or at the hair salon).

The Biggest Impact on Writers

Because I highly doubt e-readers will every really replace print publications on the whole, I don’t think the impact on writers will be huge in the foreseeable future.

However, I do think it’s important that writers are conscious of the changing publishing environment as it does impact their ability to negotiate rights. The rights we should probably be keeping an eye on now are first electronic rights. If we were used to selling print rights to certain publications, future contracts might be changing as those publishers need to secure electronic publishing rights as well.

Authors and book agents went through this with the Kindle and how it affected a book’s “in print” status, as I’m sure some journalists and magazine columnists / feature writers did as well. What I’d like to know today is how electronic readers (or even print publications launching online versions with the same content) have already impacted your job as a writer, or how you expect that they might. Maybe you’ll have some other ideas for positives or negatives about the new readers Hearst will be releasing.

The key is ghostwriting.

Yes, I know not everyone is a fan of ghostwriting. I’m not always crazy about it myself, but given that I do a lot of corporate communications / business writing, I’ve gotten used to it. On the plus side, it often pays quite well. On the downside, you don’t get a credited clip.

How Can Ghostwriting Get You Published in Trade Magazines?

When you ghostwrite for trade magazines, the magazine itself won’t be your client. Instead, you’ll write features for corporate clients, small businesses, or industry professionals. They then get the credit, and use their industry credentials to pitch the piece to those magazines.

I have yet to finally pitch a bylined freelance piece to a magazine. But I have finally been published in print more than a few times – always through this method.

Why it Can Pay More

Writing for an end client often pays more and has a better chance of publication. Why?

First of all, the client isn’t paying you for simply a feature. There’s added value here – they’re paying for the potential exposure and the role features credited to them can play in their own image building or image management campaigns. Corporate folks and business owners don’t always have the time to write features themselves, so you’re also offering added value in convenience and time saved. Your value to the end publication doesn’t often compete with your potential value to a third party client. These clients also often have bigger marketing and PR budgets than a trade publication’s budget to hire freelance contributors.

On top of that, those corporate clients aren’t looking to get paid by the magazine like a freelancer is. They’re contributing something for free for the credit, making a potentially identical article much more attractive coming from that client than from you.

This really isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of freelance writers doing. However, it’s very common in the PR world, which is why I started offering the service (when I was working full-time PR). I find the work rather enjoyable, and the pay at times is better than what I’d earn doing similar articles, so why not? If you’re not completely turned off by the idea of occasionally ghostwriting, give it a shot. It could be a good way to get your feet wet in print publishing if you haven’t already, especially if your clients are willing to serve as a reference on that previously-published work if you later decide to pitch stories under your own name.

• WritersMarket.com – This is a paid site, and one of the more popular options. You can search both consumer and trade magazines here.
• MediaBistro – If you join their Avant Guild program, you can access their “how to pitch” articles, which offer detailed pitching advice for quite a few magazines.
• WritersWeekly.com – You can find quite a few magazine markets in this ezine.
• The Writer’s Life – This site offers free listings of paying magazine markets.

Do you have other favorite resources for finding freelance magazine markets or other writers’ markets online?