Writing News
December 12, 2007 Labels: articles by misti sandefur, news, paying markets, writing life 8 comments
Once again I've been published in print, and this time I sold the article through a clip! Yes, friends, you read that correctly. See, a few months back I queried Southern Families Magazine and pitched my Make it Special: Crafts for Children article to them. At the end of my query, I listed links to two of my parenting-related clips. Well, when the editor replied she asked if the reprint rights were still available to one of the clips I had sent her. I immediately e-mailed her back to let her know the reprint rights were available. Soon after, she bought the reprint rights to the clip. I may not have sold the article I originally pitched, but I did make a sell, and it was the first time I've ever sold a clip through a query letter. The moral of this success story: Don't forget to include those clips. You may not sell the article you pitched, but you could sell reprint rights to the clip you included as a sample of your writing.
The article, Perfect Gift for Baby, appeared in the November/December 2007 issue of Southern Families Magazine, and I received the check as well as a contributor's copy in the mail a few days ago. I'd also like to comment on the magazine itself. After gloating over my article, I read the magazine and loved it! This was indeed a very informative and interesting magazine. I highly recommend it to any parent!
Note to self: Send the editor of Southern Families Magazine a thank you note for payment and publication, and express my availability for future assignments. Also find out how I can obtain a subscription to the magazine.
Congratulations, Misti. That's effective marketing!
I just wanted to extend congratulations to you - the magazine layout and article looks great!!
You also reminded me to add to my long to-do list to query reprint sales!!! :)
I just LOVE good writing news! God really blesses, doesn't He?
Woo hoo for you!
Here's to an outstanding 2008! Maybe you'll rake in more income than hubby? Well... we can dream, eh?
That would put a stop to the hobby talk :-)
Smiles,
Michele
Congratulations!
http://internetmarketingreview.org/blog
Way to go, Misti! Success comes in some of the most unexpected places sometimes, doesn't it?
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your comments... Keep 'em coming, I enjoy reading them all.
Michele,
Some men don't like it when the woman makes more than he, but my husband told me he wouldn't mind if I made more. So, one of my goals for 2008 is to do just that. And I'm hoping that one day I will make enough that he won't have to work if he doesn't want. He said if I ever do that, then he'd take care of the house and cooking. Now that one I have to see. ;)
Wow! That is great news! Congratulations!
I also found it interesting that you'd never - unless I read your comments wrong - read the magazine before! I had heard that was a magazine editor's biggest grief with writers pitching cold (that not having read the magazine, the writers understood neither the voice the magazine used nor the kinds of articles the editors might want.)
Since it obviously didn't affect you, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
Diane
Diane, thanks for dropping by my blog, I hope you enjoyed it and return for more.
To answer your question, yes, if possible, it is best to read a magazine and study the voice and style before pitching, but there are times when some magazines aren't available to read. In this case, this was a local parenting magazine, and the only place you could get a copy was from that area, which I wasn't from. Therefore, I studied the magazine's website to get a better idea of what they publish. I also studied and read their guidelines closely. You'll also discover that a lot of magazines publish their back issues on their websites or articles from back issues, and you can study them this way as well.
It is a good idea to study the national publications before pitching them, and this can be done by going to your local library instead of paying for a copy. But when the magazine's not as well known as Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal and etc., then you could do the above.
No matter what you choose to do, ALWAYS read the publications' guidelines and follow them to a T.