Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles
Geared toward the new freelance writer, this book gives an excellent overview of the process of brainstorming for ideas, querying magazines, writing the story, and following up with sound business practices.
The 25 chapters in this book are divided into six sections:
- Welcome to Writerland: Discusses what it means to be a freelance writer, and how the freelance writing process works. Included in this section is a chapter in which Editors give their commentary on what they are looking for in new writers.
- Learning the Basics: An overview of the process of freelance writing including the key to getting an editors attention – writing a good query letter, along with brainstorming for article ideas, how to handle your first assignment and tips on conducting an interview.
- Who’s Gonna Buy Your Stuff? Newspapers, Glossy Magazines and Trade Magazines – what they’re looking for
- Online: the Newest Frontier: How to leverage online resources and opportunities to increase your writing profile and find new opportunities
- A Short Course on Writing Effective Articles: An excellent overview of article writing, parts of the feature piece, the hook, and the the shorter pieces editors are looking for today
- The Business of Freelancing: Freelancing is a business, and to be successful you need to learn how to run it like a business. This section covers marketing, branding yourself, potential for book deals business practices, taxes and contracts.
While not so useful for the seasoned freelancer, I would highly recommend this book to those interested in becoming a freelance writer or those just getting started in this line of work.
