Not too many years ago, freelance writers who weren’t copywriters had only a few options, the most common of which were writing for magazines or writing for newspapers. Since freelance newspaper writing isn’t usually very lucrative, a lot of freelance writers found writing for magazines to be a great way to earn a living. Many still do. Still, now that so much is online, freelance writers have a lot of choices when it comes to the writing jobs they take.
Online freelance writing jobs range from writing content articles for websites to blogging, writing for online newsletters/ezines to writing for online magazines.
As a freelance writer who makes my living primarily doing corporate writing work, I earn most of my income writing newsletters (online and off), writing articles and web content for corporate sites, blogging for corporate blogs, and writing an occasional press release. For fun, I enjoy writing creatively for literary magazines — I usually look for ones that pay, so it’s like a double-bonus for me.
Although I’ve written an article for a magazine here and there, it’s not the sort of work I enjoy. However, since many writers new to freelancing email me asking for information on freelance magazine writing, I thought I’d offer up this checklist (albeit not an all-inclusive one) about how to know whether or not writing for magazines might be something you’d enjoy doing.
Freelance magazine writing might be for you if:
- You have a lot of unique ideas and have the ability to pitch them successfully.
- You have the ability to conform your writing style/tone to that of the magazines you write for.
- You enjoy interviewing people.
- You don’t mind spending time reading back-issues of magazines to familiarize yourself with the publications you want to write for.
- You don’t mind waiting a month or more to hear back about whether or not you’ll be assigned the article.
- You don’t mind waiting a month or more to get paid.
- You don’t take rejection personally.
Freelance magazine writing might NOT be for you if:
- You need work you can do right away and get paid for promptly.
- You prefer to do a lot of steady work for only a few clients.
- You don’t like to see your work edited, sometimes edited quite a bit.
- You don’t like to wait.
- You don’t enjoy writing query letters.
- You don’t like making phone calls.
- Rejection breaks your heart.
Recommended reading for breaking into freelance magazine writing:
If you’re a new writer interested in freelance writing for magazines, one of the very best books I’ve read on freelance magazine writing is Jenna Glatzer’s Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer. If you prefer ebooks, the best ebook I’ve read on the subject is Cheryl Wright’s Writing for Profit: Break into Magazines.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Excuse my ignorance, but since I’ve never written for magazines I’ve got to ask: how long *does* it take to get paid? Once you’ve turned in the article I mean.
Great list of pros and cons, Amy! You really make a writer think
Oh, and thanks so much for the link to my blog! I appreciate it
Your blogs have been on my Favorites for a while now, so “blog on!”
Smiles,
Michele
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