THE PUBLISHING PROJECT

Good morning. I’m enjoying a strong cup of coffee into which I am dunking my latest favorite treat, thin mint flavored Oreo cookies.

Thinking about our Publishing Project, it’s easy to put out of our minds sending something you write to a magazine. You may have another project you’re working on or lack confidence about getting something published. I encourage you all, though, to keep focused on offering something you’ve written. If we are inclined to write we all have meaningful material hidden away in files or even part of a larger project you may be working on.. Editors out there are looking for meaningful pieces be they nostalgic, humorous or though provoking.  

·        Consider publishing something you’ve written as a goal that needs attention.

·        Consider setting a time each week, maybe when enjoying coffee on Sunday mornings, where you put thought to that goal of publishing..

·        Consider creating some special folders, either a physical ones or files in your Documents on your computer. Make them easy to get to and specifically about the pieces you are considering sending out for publishing.

·        Consider, in that time put to your goal, choosing one you particularly like and going over it for some fine-tune editing. Going over a piece numerous times on different days can help your creativity.  Keep in mind the word length of targeted publications. For example, Northwest Primetime is in the 600-word range.

·        Consider making a file, either a page in your paper files or a computer document where you have a list of publications you are considering, ideally print or save a copy of their Writer’s Guidelines to say focused on what they want.

Let’s keep working on seeing our pieces in print. It’s fun, it creates a sense of accomplishment, (even rejection letters tell me I’ve tried.) and remember, you have meaningful things to say.

THE PUBLISHING PROJECT

You have been inclined to document your creativity, thoughts and ideas, that makes you a writer. I’m proposing a project for the new year. For those of you interested, let’s consider working to share some of your writing with a magazine editor. There are editors out there who are looking for new voices, new ideas, creativity and more.

Especially if you haven’t considered submitting something you’ve written, it’s important to become familiar with a magazine of interest. To start this project, I am suggesting we focus on the regional, online, senior-directed magazine, Northwest Primetime. You can subscribe to it for free and receive a link to monthly issues in an email. The site is www.northwestprimetime.com.

The first step in becoming familiar with a magazine is to spend some time examining it. Scroll through an issue and examine what types of articles appear. All magazines have something called Writer’s Guidelines that give interested writers information about what they are looking for, how they like pieces submitted, desired length of articles, if they do or do not pay, etc. The page that includes Writer’s Guidelines for Northwest Primetime is: https://northwestprimetime.com/editorial-info/

Let's consider creating a piece for this magazine.

I’ll continue to keep us focused on this project, offering more information and ideas. I encourage you to start out by:

·        Subscribing to Northwest Primetime

·        Examining the current issue, doing kind of an overview of the content and starting to think about a piece, poem, etc. you’ve written or might consider writing that would be appropriate

·        Reading through the Writer’s Guidelines

Reaching out to a magazine editor with something you have written can seem overwhelming, but it isn’t and I know there are pieces languishing in your files or ideas you have that aren’t on the printed page yet. Let’s get started.

THE PUBLISHING PROJECT

 Freelance writers study their target magazines

---First they understand the Writer's Guidelines available in most magazines and respect word length and other requirements the magazine has for pieces submitted. (Type the name of the magazine plus the words 'writer’s guidelines' into Google.)

 ---They become familiar with the tenor and the style of the pieces that the magazine has published by reading the magazine. I had a friend who would go further and read the first and last paragraph of every piece in a magazine to get the feel for any style of article structure the magazine may like.

---Even if you aren't an article or short fiction writer, there may possibly be sections of a larger work you are creating that could be taken out and offered as a shorter piece.

 

For those of you who don't have a background in submitting, I've suggested you start by studying the magazine, Northwest Primetime ( http://www.northwestprimetime.com ).

 

---They are a completely online magazine. As a way of studying a magazine I suggest subscribing to it, it's free. Read it regularly, look over each issue and get a feel for the magazine as a whole.

 ---Its primary readership is seniors, thus articles of interest to seniors would get more serious consideration (If you want to know to what population a magazine targets, read their ads.)

 ---They accept general articles, though. I have had a couple that centered around recipes and a humor piece about wearing scarves. 

 ---There is a special section called, Sharing Stories, that accepts an eclectic mix of articles, short fiction and poetry.

---Submitting a piece to it would be a more realistic way of breaking into publishing pieces and gaining 'tear sheets". A tear sheet is proof you've been published usually a .pdf of the first page of your article or piece in the magazine. (Computer centers at Senior centers can help with computer related needs.) When you send future articles out to magazines your cover letter can then say, "Tear sheets available" which catches the attention of editors realizing your pieces have been acceptable to other editors.

 

Get started, if interested, I encourage you to celebrate the pieces you write. It's fun to see them in print. You have a unique voice why share it.