A Hidden Market for Freelance Writers
I’ve started noticing a theme that comes up with most of my e-course students and mentoring clients: They tell me they want to break into national magazines (usually women’s magazines) so they can make enough money to quit their jobs and make a living as a full-time freelancer.
Of course, I’m very willing to help them. I’ve written for dozens of newsstand magazines, from Family Circle to Fitness, and I have a pretty good idea of what they’re looking for. However, I don’t know anyone who makes a full-time living writing only for these types of magazines, for one good reason: They’re very difficult to work for. It seems pretty sweet to make $2 per word and up writing for a newsstand magazine, but let me tell you — you work your ass off for that money.
Because ideas have to go through multiple layers of acceptance, it often takes months to hear back on a query — and then, when you do, sometimes the editors need the article turned around very quickly. Then, once you turn in the article, the multiple rounds of revisions start. Finally, once the article is finally accepted, you have to wait to get paid. One newsstand women’s magazine accepted my idea in June, the article wasn’t accepted until November, and I wasn’t paid until the following April.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s not worth it to pitch and write for national magazines. Not at all. They make excellent clips that can help open the door to other magazines. And the per-word rate is a factor: I definitely felt like I had “made it” when I got my first assignment that paid over a dollar a word. Finally, I’ve developed relationships with many wonderful editors at national magazines.
But if your goal is to make enough income to freelance full-time, I’ll tell you what I tell my students: You need to write for other markets as well, and trade magazines are a great, often overlooked market for freelance writers. Trade magazines are publications that are created for the members of a certain industry. For example, Credit Union Times is for execs in the credit union industry, In-Plant Graphics is for people who run on-site print shops, and you can probably guess who reads Sheep! magazine.
Here are some of the benefits of writing for trades:
* They’re easier to break into than national magazines. I’ve written for more than two dozen trades, including Funworld, Multi-Channel Merchant, and Call Center Management Review, and I broke into almost all of them with letters of introduction. While many trades are happy to receive pitches, they also often come up with ideas in-house and assign them to freelancers.
* They’re less competitive than national magazines. So many writers overlook this great market that trade magazine editors tend not to be overwhelmed with pitches like their national magazine counterparts.
* They make great clips. A clip from a trade magazine can help open the doors to other magazines. I used mostly trade clips to break into national magazines.
* They’re fun to write for. The people I interview for trade magazines are usually excited to share information about their industries, and that excitement is contagious. You may think it’s boring to write about, say, how to set up a cleaning schedule for your restaurant (which is a topic I wrote on last year), but I disagree. A true freelance writer can find interesting nuggets in any topic.
* They can pay well per hour. The per-word rates can look stingy compared to national magazine rates — anywhere from 5 cents per word up to say $1 per word, but usually somewhere in between — but the editing process is so much easier than at national magazines that you can end up making more per hour. For example, many of the trades I’ve written for in the last few years have paid around $.50 per word, but my hourly rate has been around $250.
So how do you break into the trade market? Here are some tips:
* Seek them out. You can find trades in many places. For example, tradepub.com lists thousands and includes links to their websites, where you can read the archives and find the editors’ e-mail addresses. Writer’s Market (which is a pay service) lists many, though their directory is by no means exhaustive. The American Society of Business Publication Editors costs $50 per year to join and gives you access to their membership list. And of course, you can always Google your chosen industry plus “trade magazine” or “trade journal.” The only problem is that outside of Writer’s Market, it’s hard to determine how much a trade magazine pays — or if it pays at all. It’s really hit or miss.
Look for trade magazines that address topics you have some expertise in. For example, if your full-time job is as an HR manager, look for trades in that industry. It seems that almost every industry has at least one trade magazine. Don’t believe me? My husband once wrote for Indian Gaming Business — and this magazine actually has a competitor.
If you have a general area of business expertise like small business management, employee relations, or marketing, this can play well in trades across all industries.
* Script your LOI. Your letter of introduction should make it clear that you’ve read through the magazine, or at least the online archives. Ask the editor if she assigns articles to freelancers, and then tout your credentials in the trade’s target industry. End by asking if you can send the editor some clips (if you have them; if you don’t, don’t mention it — just ask if there’s anything you can do for the editor).
* Craft a pitch. Alternatively, you can pitch an idea to the magazine with a query letter. Make sure you thoroughly read through the magazine’s online archives. And keep in mind that trade magazines target businesspeople, not consumers. So a trade for the travel industry might have an article on how readers can market their services, but it would never run an article on the best wineries in Napa Valley.
* Follow up. Always follow up on LOIs and pitches! I usually give it two to three weeks before sending a quick e-mail note to check on the status of my LOI/pitch.
* Build a relationship. Your goal is to build a relationship with trade magazine editors so that they think of you when they have an assignment. I wrote a whole blog post on this in September.
* Happy writing! I hope you score lots of assignments with trade magazines. Let me know when you land your first assignment with one! [lf]
If you liked that post, you might also like:
- How to Write for Trade Magazines in *ANY* Industry
- Do You Know What to Do with an Article Idea Once You Have It?
- You Ask, I Answer: Is This a Bad Time to Be a Writer?
- How to Write a Letter of Introduction That Will Impress Editors and Get You More Freelance Writing Gigs
- FOLIO Magazine’s 115 Magazine and Media Predictions for 2010
Nov 8, 2010 Advice, Ass, Editors, Magazines, Marketing, Money, Observations
Great points, Linda. I’m a freelance writer who does almost all my work for national magazines, newspapers and a few paying websites, and while I make a living wage out of it, the best paid writers I know do most of their work for trade magazines, or general copywriting.
I hear from so many people who want to write for glossy magazines – and I get that, I love them too – but even as someone with good relationships and good pitching skills, it’s a struggle to make ends meet.
My issue is that I’ve carved out my niche as a “think pieces” girl (with some more standard women’s mag fare thrown in) that I’m not sure how easy it would be for me to break into more practical markets. On occasions when I have dipped my toe in the water, I’ve heard, “Well, you have great mastheads on your CV, and you can obviously write, but can you write XYZ?”
A couple of more positive points I’d add on the glossy mag market, though:
1. In a couple of hundred articles, I’ve only ever had to do a handful of revisions. And the one major rewrite I had to do, I think the editor got completely right.
2. While I’ve also written for a couple of publications that pay you six months plus after submission, I’ve found that working for bigger companies usually means faster payment (within a month of submission, or at least within two).
3. And finally, because most of the publications I work for are Australian, I’m working for much lower rates than writers in the US. Most Australian glossies pay 50c per word, although experienced writers can negotiate higher rates. If I was getting $1+ for every piece I wrote, I’d feel much more financially comfortable! (Of course, writing primarily for Australian publications might also be why I’ve experienced better conditions on the first two points.)
Great post! I work for a trade magazine (with an association) and we really are always looking for reliable freelancers.
I also freelance myself and I’ve been thinking that trade would be a great way to break into more national magazines since all of my clips are local, smaller publications. Good tips here – so thanks
Thanks for your comments! Rachelk, when I read your experiences I was like, “Who is this magical writer, and what’s wrong with ME?” Then I read that your markets are in Australia and I said, “Ah HA!” I think the American market is much different. But it’s great you do so much work for women’s magazines! I think that think pieces are especially interesting.
Alyssa…ahem…*I* write for association magazines!
Also, Rachel, in terms of breaking into trades, can you find some that address a topic you have some sort of personal expertise in through your education, former job, or hobby?
I’ve written for a few trade magazines and they’ve been my most lucrative jobs. Thank you for explaining that a letter of introduction is appropriate. I didn’t know that and have instead tried to think of article ideas for some of them. I’m definitely going to try a few letters of introduction instead.
JoAnna, that’s great! But I have to say, if pitching trades has gotten you work, I would stick with that. Why fix what isn’t broken? You can always send an LOI in those cases where you don’t have any immediate ideas for the magazine.
Thank you for this post, Linda! I’ve been wanting to write for trade journals for a long time. Just curious–I happen to work in a profession (librarianship) where the trade journals are mostly considered “scholarly,” and either don’t pay or pay a pittance. Would it be worthwhile to try writing for one of them anyway, to acquire clips? Might that be enough for me to break into trade journals in fields I have no experience with?
Hi, Mariana~ Hmm…if you don’t have any other clips, it could be worth it, If you already have clips (especially business-related clips), even if they aren’t trade, you can likely use those to break into paying trade magazines.
An awesome post, Linda. I had it all backward. I thought I needed bigger, better experience–along the lines of national mag experience–in order to break into trade publications! I figured they wouldn’t want someone who only had work published in regional markets. Thanks for setting me straight!
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Glad it helped, Holly! Some of my very first sales were to trade magazines. I think the second or third magazine i ever wrote for was Sign Builders International.
[...] Linda Formichelli has a couple of posts on her website on breaking into smaller publications, click here to check one of them out. Another option is to do an internship to build your clips. While most [...]
Hi Linda,
I have some old clips (about ten years old) from before I went to grad school and then worked in banking and government. I’m working on an LOI now, for three banking trade publications I’ve found. I am curious: when you send a follow up to your LOI, do you THEN pitch specific story ideas in your follow-up letter, or do you just follow up with a short e-mail checking in with the editor re: your first message?
E, I think either way would be fine. If you have ideas, go ahead and send them…or else you could just send a follow-up making sure the editor got your original message.
I’m new to writing freelance for magazines. Trade magazines interest me. But what are ” Clips “? Obviously I do not own any clips…
Search this site using the search box below for Clips 101…that will tell you everything you need to know!
I just recently started writing for custom content and trade pubs. I send a letter of introduction, but at the end ask if they accept pitches or have writer’s guidelines. So far, they’ve just assigned me an article and tend to have an editorial calendar. I figure at least that opens the door for a reply to my questions and if they want something specific, I’ll know about it in advance.
That’s great! I’ve been advocating against the traditional LOI lately (“Here I am, hire me!”) and for the query/LOI hybrid where you include a few ideas just to stand out from all the other writers sending LOIs. What kind did you send? I’d love to know if the traditional LOI us still working for people.