Introduction
If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know that I earn money from my writing on a regular basis. In this section, we’ll discuss niches that will earn decent money for writers.
Each of the niches discussed are areas where I have earned money in the past, or still earn money.
While writing this part of the series, I decided it was way too long to post as one complete article. So I’m posting each niche as a separate post over several days.
Today’s article covers magazine writing.
Magazine Writing
I found magazine writing the easiest to break into. This won’t necessarily be the case for everyone, and will be dependant on a lot of factors.
For instance, are you an expert in a specific area? Do you have access to certain information that most writers don’t?
These are just a couple of questions to consider.
When I began writing for magazines I pitched myself as a travel writer. I approached the editor of a magazine in the US about writing travel articles about Australia.
But rather than leave it as a broad subject, I dug down into travel writing, saying I would write about places of interest in Australia that couldn’t be found in travel brochures.
That meant locals would know about these places, but the majority of people wouldn’t. Since I spent a lot of my childhood travelling around Australia in a caravan (I think they’re called RV’s or recreational vehicles in the US), I knew about a lot of places that have never featured in travel brochures.
You guessed it, I got the job.
It was a great job too – I got to travel to places I hadn’t been to for years, and was able to negotiate free entry in exchange for an article promoting the attraction.
In most cases I had no issues. Some places never even bothered to respond.
Because I know you aren’t really interested in what I did, I’ll get into the nitty-gritty of magazine writing.
Things I love about magazine writing:
You get to learn things you never imagined learning, or even writing about. Research is a great tool for all writers.
Pick the right magazine and you won’t have any trouble being published in other magazines.
It’s an interesting vocation, and you will normally get a byline. (Byline: your name listed as the writer.)
Free copies of the magazine – in most instances.
Once you’re ‘in’ with a magazine, you could potentially be in for years, or even forever.
Things I dislike about Magazine Writing:
Tight deadlines. (I’ve been given assignments 36 hours before a deadline.)
Can be months upon months before publication, and therefore, clips.
Long wait for payment in most cases. And quite often you have to fight for your money. Payment schedule should be listed in your contract.
Editors will often change their mind about what they want, and rewrites will result. If it’s not mentioned in your contract, you can end up doing 3-6 rewrites, or even more.
Some magazines want ‘all rights’ which means you can’t resell the article down the track. Many of them go so far to state you can’t use the same research for other articles on this subject. If this is the case, you need to ask for a decent amount of money as you’re signing away everything.
In the case of travel writing, it got to a point I couldn’t go anywhere without sussing out the potential of the place for an article.
Payment:
Can be anything from one cent per word up to $2 per word. (And occasionally more.) $1 per word is considered a high paying market.
Most magazines don’t pay for at least three months after publication, but does vary with each magazine.
Recommended Resources:
“Write Where the Money Is” is written by a veteran writer with over 30 years experience. When I began to read this book, I planned to read no more than ten pages in one sitting. At page 70, I had to force myself to stop.
Writing for Profit: Break into Magazines – This is one of my top-selling ebooks, and was written with new magazine writers in mind.
“The Wealthy Writer” has proven to be extremely popular with many writers. It offers a variety of options for earning money as a writer.
“Quick Cash Writing ” is great for those people who want to write short articles and earn top dollar.
“Travel Writing Secrets” is for those writers who want to travel the world and get paid to do so.
For more suggestions visit “http://freelance.writer2writer.com/resources.htm”
A few weeks ago I was asked to review a new book: The One Minute Coach: Change Your Life One Minute at a Time.
