Tag: published

Do You Really Want to Get Published? Write for Trade Magazines!

Have you been repeatedly snubbed by consumer magazines? Do you have little to show for your research and querying efforts other than a folder of form rejection letters? If your writing dream includes earning a halfway decent to excellent income writing magazine articles, there are editors at thousands of publications worldwide who would open their doors (and their wallets) to work with you. You’ve probably never heard of most of them, but they have loyal readerships. They’re called “trade magazines.”

Your Odds of Getting Published

Most beginning writers are curious about their chances of ever seeing their work in print. Editors have told me that a mid- to large-sized publishing house gets upwards of 5000 unsolicited submissions a year. About 95% are rejected right off the bat (most get form letters, a few promising authors get personalized notes stating why the manuscript was rejected). Of the 5% left, some are queries for which the editors request entire manuscripts. Others are manuscripts submitted in their entirety, and these go on to the next stage of the acquisitions process (get passed around the editorial department, presented at editorial meetings, perhaps looked at by sales staff to get a sense of the market for the book). The end result is that 1-2% of unsolicited submissions are actually purchased for publication.

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