My name is Catherine–and the plan is for me to share some information with you about my experience with writing for print. I have been a full-time writer for many years, and have had my writing published in national, regional and trade magazines, as well as newspapers, books and custom publications. I have also written text for calenders and planners.

If it’s one thing I love it’s helping writers avoid making some of the mistakes that I did along the way.

So why should you listen to me? I’ll give you three reasons:

1. I have made piles of money writing for print publications.
2. I have broken into some big mags–examples include American Style, AAA Living, Boys’ Life and American Fitness, to name a few. 
3. I am willing to share some of the secrets about writing for print. You will find that not too many print writers want to give away their resources.

So with that…why don’t we start this journey by taking a closer look at some of the opportunities out there for getting published on paper. Here are some of the possibilities:

• Magazines. Don’t just think about the publications at your local bookstore–there are plenty of magazines out there that are mailed direct to the customer or are written specifically for a particular trade. I write for a publisher that puts together a lifestyle magazine for a very well-known client, and I have penned many a piece for trade magazines out there as well. Hospitals, associations and non-profits are other places to look for magazine writing opportunities. The pay rate range varies a great deal for this type of writing.
• Newspapers. There are all kinds of different ways to approach writing for a newspaper. You can get in touch with your local paper to see if they will pay for freelance work or you can write a travel piece for a big city publication. Pay for newspapers tends to be on the low side, but it is a great place to get some published clips if you can find a good angle.
• Catalogues. This market is not as large as it used to be, but there are still some jobs writing copy in print these days. Many tend to be employee positions, but sometimes you can find a temp spot as a freelancer. Pay varies.
• Greeting Cards. Create text for birthday cards, thank you cards and sympathy cards and make a little money in the process. You won’t get rich off of this one–but it is a fun writing job that doesn’t eat up too much time.
• Calendars and planners. Most of these gigs are on a per-project basis, but they can turn into an ongoing job if you impress the client.
• Books. You don’t have to write an entire book to get published in one. Other opportunities in this arena include travel guidebooks or anthologies. Many will pay in copies or pay writers a nominal fee, but the prestige can be huge. Some will pay a decent stipend, and fewer still will share royalties with the writer.

Although this isn’t an exhaustive list of places that you can get published in print, it can help you focus in on an area that you may find interesting. Whether you have been writing for the web or are just getting started on a writing career, print can be a little bit intimidating. Luckily there are plenty of ways to get going.

If you have yet to go into a Borders and pick up a magazine with your byline in it–perhaps it’s time to add that to your list of accomplishments. I’ll see if I can’t help you do just that.

I’m here to tell you–it feels pretty amazing.

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.

Books

Sure. Most bloggers won’t ever convert their blog content into a published book, but it is a possibility if you feel inclined to pursue it.

You can go several routes here. For example, you might decide to self-publish a book by combining your best blog posts. Another option would be to pitch publishers on a book closely tied to your blog content, but not using your existing posts (or editing them a good bit first).

Columns

You’re already used to writing regular resources within your niche. Why not pitch a column to your area’s newspaper or even a larger website? You may be able to get a paper to purchase print rights to existing content you’ve written, or you may decide to offer completely fresh content (especially with larger publications).

E-books

If you can turn your blog content into a book, you can also turn it into an e-book. E-books are a great way to pull together your best content, edit it to improve the flow, and then market your blog or earn a bit of income. This can be especially useful for assembling beginner-level content (for example, if you run a blog on freelance writing, you might pull content directed at beginning writers, without including posts targeting more experienced writers – a sort of “how to get started” guide).

Reprints

There are plenty of websites, e-zines, and other outlets who would be interested in re-publishing your existing content. You can use it for promotional purposes by offering it for free (with a link to your blog), or you can sell reprint rights.

Have you done any of these things to get more mileage out of your blog posts? How else can you get more from your blog?