The Easiest Way to Crack Women's Magazines (and 8 Ways to Do It Well)

I started my freelance career two decades ago writing for women's magazines. My first sale was to Cosmopolitan; after that, I wrote for publications including Woman's Day, Family Circle, Self, Shape, Redbook, Fitness, Fit, and Woman's World. 

I had several reasons for doing so. First off, I was familiar with some of the publications already. I'd been reading mags like Cosmo and Shape for years before I pitched them. I knew what topics the magazines covered and what kind of stories that editors were likely to be interested in. 

But even more important, these magazines paid well, and used plenty of freelance material. While some sections of the mags might be produced in-house, the majority of them relied on freelancers for short FOB (front-of-the-book) pieces, departments, and longer features. 

While a lot has changed in 20 years, some things haven't. Women's magazines still work with lots of freelancers, and while some of their contracts request all rights, they pay in the $2/word range. Plus, there's still some cachet to writing for these big publications, and they make impressive clips when you're starting out. 

Best news of all? There's any easy way to crack these markets, even when you're short on clips. That was the message I heard from editors from Family Circle, Woman's Day, and First for Women when I moderated a panel on women's magazines at this year's annual ASJA writer's conference. 

The answer? Pitch "real women" stories. Editors from all three magazines said they're always looking for compelling pieces about real-life women, and these stories are often difficult to find. 

So, what sells? When pitching a "real woman" piece to a woman's magazine, keep these factors in mind: 

• The woman you profile should fit within the magazine's readers' demographics.
• The woman should have a compelling story to share. Consider the challenge she faced, how she overcame it, and the takeaway for the reader. 
• Even if the story is sad, there should be some kind of positive or uplifting aspect to it. (Generally speaking, women's magazine readers aren't looking for depressing reads.) 
• Send a photo of the person along with the pitch. 
• Look for people who haven't been covered in national media (local media is usually fine). 
• If pitching a story about more than one woman--say four women who have successfully started their own at-home businesses--strive for diversity in terms of age, race, geographic location, etc. 
• Tell your friends and family members you're looking for possible story ideas. The bigger the net you cast, the more likely you are to find possible stories. 
• If one market doesn't say "yes," try another. I pitched a story about a woman whose doctors didn't believe she was sick for years--until she was finally diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and successfully treated--to nine women's magazines and finally the ninth one assigned the story! 

I hope you find these tips helpful to pitching, and selling to, women's magazines. Good luck with your pitches! 

**New to the blog? Welcome! If you're serious about making your freelance writing business a money-maker, I suggest my freelance classic, Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition. 

If you're more interested in getting into ghostwriting and content marketing, I suggest Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition. 

If you're brand-new to freelancing, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets walks you through the process of launching your freelance career. 

Finally, if you like your books full of shorter pieces, check out a different format--Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success is divided into five broad sections to help you make more money regardless of what kind of nonfiction writing you do. 

Best Tips From 2014 ASJA Conference

I'm back from the 2014 ASJA Annual Writers' Conference. After five days in Manhattan, I'm exhausted but also energized, with plenty of great ideas, new contacts (and friends!), and new pitches to send.  

I attended about a half-dozen panels, and picked up tips from a number of editors, agents, and fellow freelancers. Some of the tips I gleaned included: 

• Focus on your strengths in your pitch to a content marketing agency. Dan Davenport of Meredith Xcererated Marketing (formerly Meredith Custom Publishing) doesn't like it when writers list nine different things they can do. He prefers that you limit yourself to one or two things you do well. (After meeting him in a client connection appointment, and hearing this advice, I completely rewrote my follow-up letter to him, focusing on what I do the best--service-oriented fitness writing.) 

• "There's never been a better time to be a freelancer," says content marketing writer Jennifer Goforth Gregory.  "It used to be that when corporate bigwigs wanted to promote products they did it with advertising. Now they create more effective content which saves them money--and that advertising money is now in their content marketing budget so it's available to us." She defines content as "anything produced by a company that provides information with the purpose of increasing trust for the customers to have in the brand." 

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  If you're self-publishing a book, have 10 online reviews up before you start sending it out for publicity, suggested Miral Sattar of BiblioCrunch. You get those reviews ahead of time by sending your e-galleys out to readers will who will review it on Amazon. (Great advice and a tip I'm going to use from now on with Improvise Press!)
  
  
• Don't ever say, "I don't think you know how good I really am." This was advice from keynoter Daniel Jones, who talked about his dreams of his writing career (making a living as a writer of short fiction) and the reality (he's the editor of the Times' Modern Love column). I missed the last half of his speech (I had to run to the Apple store at Grand Central Station to replace my iPhone which went for an unplanned swim in the toilet the day before), but my takeaway was to focus on your work, not on bragging about it. He also shared some hilarious emails from writers responding to his rejections, which were a big hit.  

• If you're a new writer, or new to the market, pitch something you have personal experience with, says Lynya Floyd of Family Circle. (Gee, I've been saying this for years!) The question she asks of pitches is "what is the service here?" and says each story has to have national, not regional appeal. 

• Amy Rushlow, of Prevention.com, suggests that writers come up with an attention-grabbing headline, and then write the story. "Click-bait" headlines do grab readers. (In your pitch, make sure to include the headline or working title." 

• Think ahead, says Marissa Stephenson of Men's Journal. "We work about six months out, so we're already looking at October/November pitches, and thinking about our January fitness package." She said Men's Journal pays $2/word and $150-300 for quick online posts; $500-600 for slide shows. 

• There are three places to find content work, says Jennifer Goforth Gregory: agencies; brands; and content services company like Ebyline and Contently. To get your foot in the door, "write a killer LOI that packages your experience and shows how you can help your clients. Include publications you've written for that are relevant to them. Make it really easy for them to say yes." 

** Want more advice about successful freelancing? Check out my books on freelancing, like Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition and Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets.