Here’s what she had to say:

On How She Started Writing for Trade Publications…

“I started freelancing in 2001, after I realized I didn’t want my career to be in tech support! I had been a Law Enforcement Explorer (a Boy Scouts of America program) in high school and college, and as I contemplated becoming a writer, I realized police work was probably what I was best qualified to write about.

At the time, prior to 9/11, the big topic was school security. So I pitched an article about school resource officers in small towns. It ran in October — the month after 9/11 — and not too long after, I got a bunch of contracts through 2002.”

On Needing Specialized Education or Experience Before Starting…

“Nothing formal. My degree is in Economics, but policy doesn’t figure too much into street-level police work! I had a good understanding of the fundamental issues police officers and departments were facing, so I let that drive my “6 questions” during interviews.”

On How Writers can get Started in Writing for Trades…

“Most trade magazines are struggling along with everyone else in the publishing industry, so I don’t think writers should expect to be immediately successful. However, I do think the time-tested strong, relevant query still counts for a lot. My first query had four positive responses because it was relevant to an important topic of the day, and it formed a basic outline of what I planned to cover.

If writers can/should be doing anything differently, it’s developing relationships with sources and editors via social media. I joined a law enforcement listserv when I started — now there are Ning groups like CopsOnline and Police Pulse. It’s also possible to get to know editors, sources and PR people via tools like LinkedIn and Facebook. (Trade magazines are often advertiser-driven, so the advertisers’ PR people are important to get to know.)”

On Things Prospective Trade Writers Should Know…

“1) It’s about the relationships. With editors, with sources and PR people. These are the people who will support your career, who help build your reputation. Stick especially with those you “bond” with. They bring the best opportunities, whether in the form of other sources or great stories.

2) Relationships take time to build. Starting out, I found it hard at times to work in a vacuum of no feedback. But I kept getting contracts, and not long after that, I found sources who talked to me because they liked what I was writing. I would say it took a good year to start building a strong reputation.

3) Be prepared for life contingencies. When I was pregnant with my first child, I figured I’d jump back into freelancing 6 or 8 weeks after his birth. I’d do interviews during his naps and type one-handed while holding him. Easy, right? Well, I never anticipated he would have severe acid reflux (try working on a computer around that!). I was more like 6 months out of work.

With my second, I took closer to a year off because I had them both at home full time. And neither one of them was ever a great sleeper, so I actually took on more editing during that time. I think that flexibility was key — it kept me sane, improved my writing skills, and kept me earning, even if it wasn’t my ideal work.”

On Christa Miller…

A freelance writer for the past eight and a half years, Christa M. Miller specializes in public safety. She now divides her time between freelancing, and consulting as a content and social media strategist for law enforcement agencies and vendors. You can follow her on Twitter @christammiller.

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.