Lately I've been suffering from flagging focus. I have many, many ideas but I've just not been very efficient at following them. I've got the idea for a particular publication to write for, about how to apply for a job, and someone in a hiring position already as a good source. I've got another article, at least in my head, about how I used a particular strategy to make mornings smoother with my preschool aged son, and am just trying to figure out which parenting magazine is the best first place to try it. I've got a sort of prevention-minded article for a woman's health magazine I could pursue, if my head is in the right place. A particular magazine that has already responded favorably to my work has a call our for articles on how to find the time to maintain spiritual life when you're raising kids, and i have some thoughts on that. And there is a deadline this Friday for essays about mother/daughter relationships; I have the idea, but it's complex, and i haven't yet gotten it written well enough. And that's just a sampling of recent things. I'm also trying to hold off on a piece about how to involve your kids in making a whimsical herb garden, because I know it's about timing, and when magazines are working on spring issues is the better time to query with that idea. (But i"m already debating if I should try a new local publication, not knowing if it pays, or trying an national one). Not to mention, I should be doing what I mentioned in my last blog, a report on how many articles I've sold versus gotten rejections on. I should be taking rejected manuscripts/queries and trying them on other publications.
When there are so many directions I could put my energy into, I do this--write a blog entry!
I am most productive when I'm arrested by a topic and work passionately on that one thing, almost exclusively, until I'm done. In between passionate projects, I do stuff like write articles for content websites and blog.
I have a topic I'm really passionate about--seriously under-recognized risk factors for postpartum depression--but I'm in a place in my new career where I don't have the clout to get it to a magazine with a wide general audience that the topic deserves. I just haven't yet landed on where to send it. So I haven't even written it. I've done the research, and in bits and pieces, do write about it. For instance, I've written short articles on a single study I'm using for this larger piece, and published those short, focused articles on content websites. But I've not written the larger piece.
I get frustrated by the truth that my ideas are judged, not on their merits alone, but by my credentials as a published writer. So if I have really good ideas worthy of national publication, too bad, my resume doesn't show me to have enough national publication experience, so my idea will be turned down. Sometimes I wonder, should I keep hold of my best ideas, and wait until I've got a more impressive resume? Or, if I try that, selling only my second best ideas, will I not get far enough to propel the best ones to better publications? The catch 22. I may need to "waste" my best ideas just building my resume!
Here are articles I've written recently in the manner discussed:
Postpartum Depression, Psychological Distress Predicted by Previous Traumatic Birth
Postpartum Depression: Options for Medical and Other Treatment
Infertility, Delayed Conception Linked to Fire Retardants in Homes
Fire Retardants Found in Babies' Umbilical Cord Blood Associated with Developmental Delays
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
My 6+ Months Report: How Easy is it to Freelance for Magazines?
Ok, mid-September marked my 6 month mark since starting to send stuff out as a freelancer. So I've been doing it for 7 months now. And what can I say I've accomplished in 7 months? (For those who've followed my blog know I submit to both traditional publishers as well as online content websites. For this entry, my discussion is about only the traditional publishing route; my previous entries focused on the other.)
I've sent out a total of 33 articles or queries (ideas) for possible articles. Where are they now? Well, of the 33, all sent out between March 10 and Oct 4, four have been officially accepted for publication, at Midwifery Today, You and Me: America's Medical Magazine, and Christian Devotionals. I've been paid for one (highly unusual--I was paid even before publication). I've seen two in print just this past month. The other two won't see publication for a number of months yet.
Those first successes were great boosts to my confidence that I have the skill set for this line of work. I never considered freelancing when I was in college; I couldn't imagine having enough to write about that would sell, and I had a real phobia of calling and interviewing people (yes, a real handicap for someone who desires to work in the media!). But now, a decade later, life has given me enough experience and motivation to want to get information out there, that now my problem is really about not having enough time to write all the articles I have stewing around in my head!
A few other articles are currently in the editorial offices of MomSense magazine , a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, Christian Home and School, and Green Parent (UK). Each as expressed interest in the article I sent and asked to hold on to them for 4 months to a year in order to figure out if/when they can fit it in to an issue. While this is encouraging, it's no guarantee. It's a waiting game. And in the game of interest, I've already lost twice--both Mothering and Thriving Family have expressed interest in an article idea, but in the end, decided not to go with it.
And what of the remainder of the articles? 13 are on some editor's desk, presumably, and I'm waiting to hear.
Eleven have gotten an official rejection, many of them very polite, respectful, even encouraging me to take my interesting or well-written article elsewhere. I'm assuming the answer is a no for another 6 articles because it's been 6 months since I sent it and I've heard nothing. Now of course, in these numbers, there's some overlap. For instance, one of my articles that got published got a no first from a different magazine, etc.
So yes, I've learned the truth about how freelancing is no easy game, nor does it provide compensation in a timely manner. The article I got paid for already spent 6 months collecting dust at one magazine before I then sent it to the one that bought it. So far it seems, for me, a no or two comes before I find the magazine that gives me a yes. Success is really predominantly about finding the best match between my ideas and the publications out there. And it simply takes time, and a lot of sending articles back out there, to try again. Speaking of, how many do I have that I need to send out again after they've received a no? (I need to go check my list--I need to know this and get to work on these!) The answer: 8 articles.
It's not as simple as putting a different editor's name on the send line. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to take an artilce I wrote for one magazine and change it to meet the editorial requirements of a different magazine that may want something only half as long, with fewer or more experts, different styles of referencing, or even, I may have to revamp it for a slightly different audience or different slant to make it appropriate for that publication.
So yes, with all this work, you may see why it's sometimes easier to submit to content websites! It's always a gamble to wonder if it'll take off and garner enough views/ad revenues to pay me just compensation for my writing time, but sometimes weariness and lack of time make the ease of that option more appealing than trying a traditional magazine. Right now it's hard to compare; I'll need at least another year to really know what's been worth my while.
Articles I've sent to content websites instead of traditional magazines:
The American Diet--Are We All Made of Corn?
Postpartum Depression, Psychological Distress Predicted by Previous Traumatic Birth
Calcium Deficiency Changes Stem Cells and Increases Fat , New Study Finds
Destroying Marriage, Career and Self-Concept: Vulvodynia
Autism Rates Rise; University of Toledo Poises Itself to be Primary Resource for Deluge of Adults with Autism
I've sent out a total of 33 articles or queries (ideas) for possible articles. Where are they now? Well, of the 33, all sent out between March 10 and Oct 4, four have been officially accepted for publication, at Midwifery Today, You and Me: America's Medical Magazine, and Christian Devotionals. I've been paid for one (highly unusual--I was paid even before publication). I've seen two in print just this past month. The other two won't see publication for a number of months yet.
Those first successes were great boosts to my confidence that I have the skill set for this line of work. I never considered freelancing when I was in college; I couldn't imagine having enough to write about that would sell, and I had a real phobia of calling and interviewing people (yes, a real handicap for someone who desires to work in the media!). But now, a decade later, life has given me enough experience and motivation to want to get information out there, that now my problem is really about not having enough time to write all the articles I have stewing around in my head!
A few other articles are currently in the editorial offices of MomSense magazine , a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, Christian Home and School, and Green Parent (UK). Each as expressed interest in the article I sent and asked to hold on to them for 4 months to a year in order to figure out if/when they can fit it in to an issue. While this is encouraging, it's no guarantee. It's a waiting game. And in the game of interest, I've already lost twice--both Mothering and Thriving Family have expressed interest in an article idea, but in the end, decided not to go with it.
And what of the remainder of the articles? 13 are on some editor's desk, presumably, and I'm waiting to hear.
Eleven have gotten an official rejection, many of them very polite, respectful, even encouraging me to take my interesting or well-written article elsewhere. I'm assuming the answer is a no for another 6 articles because it's been 6 months since I sent it and I've heard nothing. Now of course, in these numbers, there's some overlap. For instance, one of my articles that got published got a no first from a different magazine, etc.
So yes, I've learned the truth about how freelancing is no easy game, nor does it provide compensation in a timely manner. The article I got paid for already spent 6 months collecting dust at one magazine before I then sent it to the one that bought it. So far it seems, for me, a no or two comes before I find the magazine that gives me a yes. Success is really predominantly about finding the best match between my ideas and the publications out there. And it simply takes time, and a lot of sending articles back out there, to try again. Speaking of, how many do I have that I need to send out again after they've received a no? (I need to go check my list--I need to know this and get to work on these!) The answer: 8 articles.
It's not as simple as putting a different editor's name on the send line. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to take an artilce I wrote for one magazine and change it to meet the editorial requirements of a different magazine that may want something only half as long, with fewer or more experts, different styles of referencing, or even, I may have to revamp it for a slightly different audience or different slant to make it appropriate for that publication.
So yes, with all this work, you may see why it's sometimes easier to submit to content websites! It's always a gamble to wonder if it'll take off and garner enough views/ad revenues to pay me just compensation for my writing time, but sometimes weariness and lack of time make the ease of that option more appealing than trying a traditional magazine. Right now it's hard to compare; I'll need at least another year to really know what's been worth my while.
Articles I've sent to content websites instead of traditional magazines:
The American Diet--Are We All Made of Corn?
Postpartum Depression, Psychological Distress Predicted by Previous Traumatic Birth
Calcium Deficiency Changes Stem Cells and Increases Fat , New Study Finds
Destroying Marriage, Career and Self-Concept: Vulvodynia
Autism Rates Rise; University of Toledo Poises Itself to be Primary Resource for Deluge of Adults with Autism
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