Six Magazines That Welcome New Writers

If you’re finding it hard to break into the magazine market, you might want to consider some of the magazines below — these publications all say they “welcome new writers.” It’s reasonable to expect that editors of these publications really want to read and consider your query or completed article. As with any publication, before querying or submitting, be sure to read a couple of issues of the magazine and follow the guidelines carefully. All of the information below appeared in the magazines’ guidelines.

Take special note of the quoted material in each listing below, too. Editors often reveal extra how-to-sell-to-us tips in their quotes.

Sky & Telescope is about the science and hobby of astronomy and is read by more than 200,000 amateur and professional astronomers worldwide. Feature articles cover important new advances or current problems in astronomy and planetary science; key figures and events in astronomical history; and new ground- and space-based observatories. Features run 1,500-2,000 words; other articles run between 1,000 and 1,500 words. Pays for most articles on publication. “Most authors write for us again and again, but we’re always looking for new writers eager to share their enthusiasm, talent, and expertise with our readers.” For complete guidelines, click here.

QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) is a trade journal serving franchisees and franchisors of quick service restaurants (fast-casual and fast food). It reports on news, products, trends and information the restaurants need to survive and prosper in a competitive industry. Departments include “Short Order,” 400-700 word profiles, interviews and reports; “Franchising,” 800-1100 word interviews, profiles, book reviews; “Tools,” 800-1100 word reports on ideas and actions that successfully put technology and other tools to work. For Features, 1800-3000 words, writers and editors work together on finding the best possible angle for a topic and the best industry sources and facts for the article.

QSR generally buys all rights and pays within 30 days of acceptance, “We prefer to work with writers who know the quick-service industry and can make timely, informed queries. If you feel you bring valuable experience and contacts to QSR, please submit a one- to two-page query.” Go here for complete guidelines.

Stop Watch is a trade journal for truckstop and travel plaza operators. Features typically run up to 2,000 words and shorter pieces average 800 words. Payment is made upon publication. Buys First North American Rights. Click here for guidelines.

“We welcome new writers to Stop Watch because we want to keep a fresh perspective. We especially welcome truckstop and travel plaza members and drivers to submit their ideas. They know this business and our writers should, too. The best way to familiarize yourself with our style and content is by reading past issues. Accuracy is crucial. Please be sure every date is accurate and every name is spelled correctly.” Submit story ideas or articles to Mindy Long at mlong@natso.com, or NATSO, Inc., 1737 King Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Paste Magazine is a monthly publication focusing on music, film, books and other forms of arts and entertainment. “We focus on Organic & Eclectic music, encompassing rock, singer/songwriters, alt. country, Americana, indie rock, world music and whatever else we think will grab music lovers seeking something a little deeper.” Paste hopes to cover the best music in the mix, devoting space to independent musicians alongside established artists. The magazine welcomes unsolicited articles from anyone who believes the piece is appropriate for Paste and its readers. (Hint: Best way to figure out what is appropriate is to read the magazine.)” The magazine is often available at Barnes & Noble. Check local your local newsstand for a copy.

Cover stories run 3000-4500 words; Features 1500-4000 words; Front of the book pieces 50-800 words; Film Reviews 200-500 words; Book Reviews 100-500 words; CD Reviews100-800 words. Pays on publication and retains the right to publish submissions on its website and other sites that use its content. Go here for complete guidelines.

Relix is another music publication looking for submissions. The present-day magazine is an outgrowth of the 1964 Dead Relix outlet for Grateful Dead tape traders. The emphasis has shifted away from the Greatful Dead over the years and now the coverage includes jambands and other non-mainstream types of music.

According to the guidelines, “We want to expand our coverage of new artists who might be of interest to our readers, so we are always looking for ideas. We also deal with environmental, cultural and lifestyle issues of concern to our audience. We are happy to welcome new contributors, so if you have story ideas, please feel free to drop us a note, preferably by email, to the appropriate editor.” Complete guidelines are here.

The magazine is looking for behind-the-scenes stories: “Straight-ahead interviews and live show reviews are fine (they’ve long been our stock in trade), but we’d like to see more intimate stories about the people who work out of sight, and the places in which they work.” Payment is made approximately four weeks after publication.

4WD Toyota Owner Magazine is an independent magazine for 4WD Toyota owners and enthusiasts worldwide. “It is a magazine that welcomes contributors of all styles, talents, and field. We welcome new writers, photographers, and yes, perspectives.” The magazine wants tech articles, trail run stories, cool rig features.

“Email us with your idea and we’ll give you a word count. 300 is typically the bare minimum.” Pays for submissions, with the rate depending on size of layout and amount of editing needed. Rates start at $50 and go up from there. Click here to read their entire submission requirements and information on how to email your story idea to editors.

Words into Print gives no warranty to completeness, accuracy or fitness of the above markets, although research was done to the best of our ability.

© 2008 by Laverne Daley

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Use the listed information at your own risk. Words into Print gives no warranty to
completeness, accuracy, or fitness of the markets, although research is done to the best of our ability.

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Eight Magazines That Pay $1 a Word for Articles

NOTE: The information below was valid at the time it was posted. Magazines, however, go in and out of business all the time, so be sure to visit a publication’s website and check its guidelines before submitting anything to them. Also, check with sites like mr.magazine.com to find out about new start-up magazines).

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Beginning freelancers often sell to low-paying markets when trying to break into the field. Sooner or later, however, they begin to realize that more money can be made by sellling to higher-end publications. $1 a word is a good goal to have — sell a 1,000 word article and make $1,000. Surely beats writing for publications that pay a pittance — or sometimes nothing at all.

To start you on your way to selling to higher-paying markets, check out the following group of publications that pay at least $1 a word for articles. Some pay much more.

American Forests, which is produced by the nation’s oldest citizen conservation group, welcomes new writers. Looks for topics that profile the group’s work, including its Global ReLeaf Forest plantings, and examples of urban forestry, small community-based forestry projects that benefit local land and landowners. Writers are advised to study a few issues before submitting queries. Payment ranges from $100 for clipping items (to 300 words) to up to $2,000 for feature-length articles with photos supplied. Writers can also submit samples of their work and ask to be considered for assignment. Specify your specialty: (education topics, policy, science stories, etc.). Guidelines are online here.

Major articles for Boy’s Life run from 500 to 1,500 words and payment is $400 to $1,500. “We cover everything from professional sports to American history to how to pack a canoe,” according to their writer’s guidelines. Articles must interest and entertain boys ages 6 to 18. Editors want to see queries by mail (with SASE). Buys first-time rights. Click here for complete guidelines.

Scrap Magazine pays $800-1200 for articles ranging from 2000-3000 words in length. Pays $600-$1200 for photo shoots. Scrap is the preeminent magazine for the scrap recycling industry, which is NOT the same as curbside recycling. The magazine provides news and feature articles on topics to help scrap recyclers operate better, more profitable businesses. According to the writer’s guidelines, “The best way to understand the scrap industry is to visit our website and the site of our related trade association and review a sample copy of Scrap.” Buys all rights, including electronic. Guidelines are online here.

enRoute is Canada’s upscale, award-winning bilingual (English/French) inflight magazine for people who work and play on a global scale. It’s read by nearly 1 million passengers a month. The publication’s base rate if $1 a word Canadian upon acceptance. Short profiles, feature profiles, roundup service features, essays, cultural trend stories, short and long travel features and front-of-the-book roundup of short pieces on global travel/lifestyle trends. Read the guidelines for editorial requirements plus some back issues before you pitch the publication.

Coastal Living Magazine is a lifestyle publication that covers homes, destinations, activities and people along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coast of North America, including Hawaii and Alaska, as well as coastal Canada and Mexico and, from time to time, the Caribbean islands and the U.S. Great Lakes. Stories are planned a year in advance during editorial meetings from November through January, so you can research a story now to pitch for issues to be published in 2010. Pays $1 a word, plus reasonable expenses (such as transportation, lodging and dining for travel stories). Be sure to check out the extensive writer’s guidelines before approaching the publication.

The mission of EdTech: Focus on Higher Education is to help college and university IT managers, directors, practitioners, and others to better serve their institutions. The magazine uses features, best practices, case studies, reviews, columns and tech trends. 90% of the publication is written by freelancers. Payment is $1 a word for 500-1500 words. Currently the publication needs story pitches, including specific technologies and schools that would make a good fit for the story. You can request complete guidelines by email. Some advice from the guidelines: “Make sure stories include a technology angle and are relevant to higher education.”

Eating Well is a bimonthly national food magazine that focuses on eating healthfully. Readers are interested not only in cooking and nutrition, but also the origins of food and social issues related to food. The guidelines state: “We welcome ideas from new writers. If you haven’t worked with us before, it’s best to start off pitching front-of-the-book ideas, even if you’re an established writer. Consider it an audition for a longer piece.” The pay rate is up to $1 a word and the magazine purchases all rights, including Web rights. Check out the guidelines for freelance-friendly columns and tips to help you pitch to the publication.

Midwest Living is a bi-monthly lifestyle magazine that focuses on travel, food, home and garden. Most articles take a service approach and run between 300 and 1,000 words. They coverage area is Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesote, Iowa, Missouri, North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, and sometimes Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. The guidelines detail what makes successful pitches to them, what they’re not interested in, and how to submit an idea. According to the guidelines: “Our rates vary depending on the article, the writer and the amount of research involved, but we are generally in the range of 80 cents to $1 a word, plus expenses.” Go here to read complete guidelines.

If you pitch one of these publications and receive a go-ahead, please come back here and share the news with everyone. And we’d be delighted to read your articles when they are published. Please let us know.

Use the listed information at your own risk. Words into Print gives no warranty to
completeness, accuracy, or fitness of the markets, although research is done to the best of our ability.

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© 2008 by Laverne Daley

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Five Helpful Websites for Freelance Writers

It’s always good to find helpful websites for writers, especially for freelance writers. The annual listing of 101 Best Websites for Writers in Writer’s Digest is an excellent source for those sites. This year I took careful note of five sites that WD listed for freelancers. Here they are:

fundsforwriters.com. Grants for writers are the specialty of FundsforWriters, along with “contests and markets that only pay in cold hard cash,” according to their website. C. Hope Clark edits the site, which offers free and paid subscription newsletters as well as other resources to help writers make more money. Well worth your attention.

fwointl.com. I’ve been a subscriber for some time to this one, Freelance Writing Organization International. The site has a vast number and variety of writing resources inside a searchable database, including more than 4,400 free writing resources and links, writing job opportunities, free eBooks and software downloads.

At Susan Johnston’s site, theurbanmuse.blogspot.com, you’ll find a wealth of writing and marketing help. Don’t fail to read her post, “6 Things to Do Before You Send Your Query Letter.” Some good, down-to-earth help here.

worldwidefreelance.com/writing.htm. At Worldwide Freelance Writer, you can access writing markets from USA, Canada and around the world, books and other products for writers, directions to online resources, how-to articles from experts and much more. There’s a free market database (500+ less high-paying markets) plus a Markets Plus database (2,000+ markets), where access starts at $1.25 monthly.

writergazette.com. This site brings up a dazzling array of links and resources for writers: writer-related articles, calls for submissions, job postings, contests, tips and more to help promote your writing career. The Writer Gazette has made it to WD’s list of 101 Best Websites for Writers five times, so they must be doing something right.

It’s always fun to read the list of 101 sites in Writer’s Digest. It’s even more fun to realize how much the listings (all 101 of them) can help with our freelancing.

Do you know of other helpful sites for freelance writers? Please add yours here.

Please leave a comment
© 2008 by Laverne Daley
Use the listed information at your own risk. Words into Print gives no warranty to
completeness, accuracy, or fitness of the markets, although research is done to the best of our ability.

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