WRITE AND BE READ. (Writing Fiction Profitably for Magazines)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Writing Fiction Profitably for Magazines
Date:	16/03/06 (381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Learning how to make submissions helps.

Disadvantages: Many people send hit and miss stories without researching the market.

I have written this guide, as there are good writers who do not know how to go about selling their work. I am a professional writer and it took me many years to establish a market for my work, and I believe that my research can help writers to get published. In the U.K. there is a vast market for written work, and room for everyone to try their hand at writing. My speciality is fiction and it is only fiction that I am writing about because this is my craft and my expertise is limited to fiction writing.

SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT MARKET

Each magazine has its own guidelines. The mistake that many writers make is not following the guidelines of a magazine. As writers, if we want our work to be sold, we have to understand that the market will not change for us, and in order to establish which markets are suitable for our writing, a little bit of homework is essential. If you write to the Fiction Editor of a magazine and ask them for a list of their guidelines, they will gladly supply it. After all, they do not want to wade their way through stories that are not suitable for their magazine and it helps both the writer and the magazine to have guidelines. Always remember that magazines are profit making and that it will be appreciated if you enclose a stamped address envelope for their reply.

HAVING ESTABLISHED THE MARKET

The next step for a writer is researching the magazine itself. In order words, reading. With all markets for writing, there are a certain subjects that are acceptable, and those which are not, subjects that have perhaps been outplayed, and a fiction writer needs to read current editions of magazines in order to know what kind of stories each magazine publishes. When you find a magazine that publishes the kind of story that you feel you can write, keep that magazine in mind to sell your stories.

Here it is interesting to note that my particular market, i.e. the magazines in the IPC group which can be seen on line by tapping IPC into Google, although aimed at women, accept both male and female writers alike.

PRESENTATION

When you first approach a magazine with a short story, there are certain rules that may not be obvious to all, and it took me a while to learn these rules. For example, always provide your work double spaced with large margins. This may seem petty, but in fact what you are doing is making it easy for the magazine to scribble notes for the printers that eventually print your work, and making it possible for a Fiction Editor to edit your written work.

In the guidelines of magazines, there is usually a story length mentioned. This is very important. A magazine that says it will accept stories of 1500 words will not accept a story of 2000 words just because you thought it was good. The number of words is important and in word, you will find a word counter. Stick rigidly to the number of words stated and at the end of your written work, state how many words the piece has. This is a great help to magazines.

Never print on a dot matrix printer, because the tool with which they read your story has trouble reading print that has come from a dot matrix printer. One editor was most helpful in pointing this out to me, and although she rejected stories simply because of the way I presented them, actually published them when submitted in the acceptable manner.

Always present your work with a nice letter to the Fiction Editor at the magazine, together with a stamped addressed envelope for its return. It may be the best story in the world, but if you do not keep to these standard guidelines, your work may be rejected.

HOW TO DEAL WITH REJECTION

If your work is rejected by an Editor, that is a learning process. It is not a rejection of who you are or a reflection of your ability. What it means is that that particular Editor did not think your work suitable for his/her magazine. I always think of rejections as helpful because it tells you what a particular magazine does not want. Having established that, you can then send your work to another magazine, and send a different kind of story to the original editor. Once you find what one particular editor likes, then selling stories to them is easier. You are then catering not only for the magazine, but for the taste of the Editor who will accept your work. Never think of rejection as negative. It is not. It is feedback which is valuable for the progress of your work. Out of each ten stories that I produce, maybe 3 will hit the right market the first time, though the number was much less in the early learning stages.

NEVER EVER DO THIS

When submitting work to Editors, it really is bad form to send the same story to two magazines at the same time. If both magazines accept your work, you are put in a very awkward situation and are equally putting the magazines in a difficult situation because what you are selling is First British Copyright and you cannot sell this twice at the same time. Your reputation depends on your honesty and integrity. Usually Editors are swift to reply, and really it is a case of waiting for one reply before sending out the story to another Editor.

MARKET AVAILABILITY

When looking through magazines, be aware that if a magazine is printed monthly and prints one story, then the marketplace is much smaller than with a magazine that comes out weekly and prints 5 stories. It may seem like commonsense to say this, although your chances of rejection are much higher with the small market than the large one.

STORIES IN GENERAL

This I cannot emphasise enough. A short story is between 1,000 and 2,500 words. I have taught creative writing and the mistake that a lot of writers make is that they begin a story and really do not know where it is going and this shows in short story form. A good story must have a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is really a readers introduction to what lies ahead and should tempt the reader into the main body of the story. The middle should not be padded out for the sake of making more words. It should be the body of the story, the part that keeps the reader interested in what you have to say, and the end should leave a reader satisfied. Twist endings are particularly well accepted in the British market, as you will see in magazines that come out weekly. These are clever pieces of work which have been well thought out in advance.

As a professional writer, my method works for me, although it is not the same for everyone. It is however, a good starting point for a new writer. Imagine your characters, make them real in your stories, know how they would react in given circumstances. Be aware that different kinds of people react differently in different circumstances. What I do is construct the whole story in my head before I even touch the keyboard. Once I have a beginning, a middle and an end, then I write it easily and it works for me, and flows well.

REMEMBERING THE MARKET YOU ARE WRITING FOR

As writers, we are one a penny. There is a vast market out there for writers, and we should never forget that our competition will be fierce. Editors are looking for new fresh work all the time, although it must be within their guidelines. None of us, as writers, are important enough to change the format of a magazine. We have to write for the market, rather than expecting the market to change for us. When you are a more established and published writer, yes you can suggest ideas to magazines, but they are slow at change and your ideas must be convincing ones.

Remember that a rejection is not personal. A few of the editors that I write for have had short story writers questioning their rejection. Editors do not like this practice because they are busy people. Some editors tell you why your story does not fit their market whilst others send a standard letter of rejection. Just accept that your story is not for that magazine and send it to another. At any one time, I may have 15 stories with magazines waiting for approval. It's quite normal.

Also marking each story with the name of the editor that rejected it helps, as this gives you a clue in the future as to what kind of stories are unacceptable for that particular market.

PAYMENT

On the magazines guidelines, it will usually say what you can expect for a story, and the going rate at the moment in the U.K. is around £120 for 1000 words. As you become a more respected writer, this increases.

WHEN TO WRITE STORIES

This might seem like a silly thing to write about, although it isn't. Most magazines schedule their work three months in advance and in the Spring when it is cold, you should be writing Summer stories, always at least three months in advance. I write Guy Fawkes stories in August, Christmas stories in September. If you write on a whim on the month of the event, you will hit the market too late when they have already chosen what they want to print.

AS A FINAL THOUGHT

I love my work. It has taken me a while to become an established writer and I am now being published in France and concentrating on that market because I live here. The market here is much smaller but the satisfaction of seeing my work in print here in France is good for me. There are a lot of good writers out there, and I wanted to write this really to encourage people to believe in themselves as writers and to try the short story market. Since having access to the internet, I have seen people that have never written fiction before producing stories that are amazing. We all have that element of imagination inside us and seeing it in print is a great buzz.

Never give up if you believe in your own abilities, and if you are a new writer with ambition, you can never fulfill that ambition without trying, so go for it !

Thankyou for reading.

Rachel

Summary: The possibilities are there. Enjoy them and learn.