The denotation of the word magazine dates back to the fifteenth century from the Arabic makhazin, or storehouse, and khazana, “to store up.” It was originally linked to stocking weapons, munition, or tools, but has since passed the salad days of this first meaning to denote periodicals, journals, and other publications. These magazines are storehouses of articles and information, which unlike newspapers, tend to have longer shelf lives and are literally more suited for saving.
While most publications used to also have a wide stock of staff reporters to keep their magazines full, today a different approach is proliferating in the marketplace— freelance reporting. Rather than rely on stock people, magazines are finding that there is less expense, more ideas, and, for many, more statewide and cross continental coverage from freelance writers all over the world.
If you want to get into magazine writing, most likely, there won’t be a publication officially storing you per-say, which is why the aspiring journalist must maintain an ongoing arsenal of stories to stay in the competition with other writers. Remember to keep in mind the clandestine code name, “evergreen”…alright it’s not so secret; trying to find ways to make your initial story pitches less time sensitive, so that they are able to run regardless of a particular date, holiday, or season, will give you an upper edge in the first steps to getting your words in print.
Yesterday April 18, the Scribbler Suite was very excited to co-host a question and answer discussion panel on the basics of freelance writing with Emerson College’s Atlas Magazine. Emerson students came to hear from Chris Faraone, Boston Phoenix reporter and author of 99 Nights With the 99 Percent: Dispatches from the First Three Months of the Occupy Revolution, and Morgan Baker, a nonfiction writing professor at Emerson College and feature writer and essayist with pieces in The New York Times Magazine and The Boston Globe among other publications. Attendees and the two speakers sat in a circle, and after brief introductions the discussion took on free form conversation. We at The Scribbler would like to share some of both speakers best bits of wisdom with you.
One of the first questions that students had was how and where to start out as a freelancer. Everyone knows that to get your name in print in a premier glossy publication you have to have the clips to prove your abilities first. The beauty today is that clips can come in all forms. According to Faraone, even well established blogs like Word Press pages can count. Sample articles should be any piece that you are proud of and may range from blogs to items in small magazines or newspapers. One word of warning…at first you best be prepared not to skirt from writing for free. Faraone said that he has written hundreds of articles without pay. For many it is necessary to establish a freelance style and presence to begin reaching out to higher caliber publications.
Baker also advised students not to try and fudge their writing or reporting experience in the interim of landing their first article assignments, also stressing that with any story you attempt to take on, be sure you have the body of work to back it. Both speakers said that in addition to ample research it is vital to have access to story interview contacts and to be able to name those individuals in a query letter, not just descriptions of types of people or names of work titles.
And what of the quake inducing query? Baker did admit that it is one of, if not the most, difficult aspects of writing an article, joking that she would rather compose another story instead. She offered the comparison of a job interview and explained that the key in a query is to remember that, unlike speaking in person, this sort of interview on paper requires complete attention to detail, from word choice, style, and phrasing, to accuracy in spelling and grammar. There’s no turning back once you press the send key.
A word of advice…keep in mind that Spell Check is not fool proof…seemingly innocuous errors that go unnoticed by your computer’s all knowing eye can ring fowl to publishers. Case in point, here fowl is spelled correctly therefore it is an acceptable word by Word’s standards, but “A gallinaceous bird kept chiefly for its eggs and flesh; a domestic cock or hen,” is a far cry from something offensive to the senses, depending on your opinion of gallinaceous birds we suppose.
To get your foot in the door both speakers said that it is best to focus on forming a strong queries to show that you have the writing abilities and knowledge to produce your piece and add the credentials as they come. In the subject line and body of these email it is crucial to get straight to the point of your story topic, and figure to type between 200 and 500 words detailing your angle, plan of action, and established contacts.
The closer you can get to the magazine section your article belongs in the better. Faraone explained that getting an article straight to its designated editor is half the work of achieving publication, because unlike the majority of story submitters you are making a proactive and informed effort. Three things to keep in mind when making those contacts: First, be sure that you know your magazine well. Baker said that she would suggest reading up to a year worth of material to get a feel for the content, tone, and style of the publication. Second, as you are reviewing possible publication options keep in mind that with so many magazines in the marketplace there are titles focused on virtually anything from people obsessed with sneakers to Barbie dolls. The closer you can get to your article’s niche the better. Third, assuming you know your magazine you should have a good handle on the articles its most recently released, but it’s still a good idea to do a quick Google search of your topic suggestion to be sure it wasn’t already run. In each query you write the goal is to directly appeal to your magazine of choice, and to show that you know the publication.
Finally if you want to write freelance it’s important that you get to know people. Stay in contact with the editors who publish your work and use those contacts to link with other publications. And, keep the articles coming. Both speakers agreed that though it can be difficult starting out as a freelance writer and waiting for responses to queries, once they come in the life of a reporter depends on beginning one story and, in the process, finding another. Each topic you tackle should be able to branch off to another three or four if you want it to. The more you report the more you will develop an eye and ear for news, and a sense of where one article has the potential to go. Each story has an angle, and the beauty of that is each story is a multifaceted figure.
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