Terry Whalin – Almost An Author

Five Ways to Turn Off An Editor

Normally in these articles about magazine writing, I focus on positive ways to make a difference. From my years in the publishing world, I understand that sometimes a list of negatives can also make an impact. I’m taking a different slant (a magazine writing term).

While you probably don’t know it, if you violate one or several of these methods, your article or query will not be considered but quickly rejected. The reverse is also true: if you avoid all these ways you will give your submission a greater chance of acceptance and publication.

Not Following the Submission Guidelines

Editors have made the effort to tell you what they want for their publication. This document is called the submission guidelines. They will mail it to you if requested or you can find it on the publication website. Use GOOGLE to located these guidelines, read and then follow the editor’s directions. These guidelines will highlight the different types of articles that are wanted and the specifics like word count or whether they want the full article or a query letter. They will also tell you whether they pay on assignment or on publication and how much they will pay. As you know these details and follow them, it will increase your possibilities of success with print magazines.

Not Properly Formatting Your Article

Most word processors will come with a default font like Arial but magazine editors prefer a serif font like New Times Roman or Georgia. Also they prefer the top of the first page to include your name, mailing address, phone and word count and the rights you are offering (first rights or reprint rights). Also proper formatting includes sending a short bio at the end of the article.

If your submission is properly formatted then you gain a reading or hearing from the editor. If it is not formatted, you risk instant rejection.

Wrong Word Count—Too Long or Too Short

Magazine writing is about strong communication in a limited amount of space. It’s not 140 characters like a tweet but it is restricted. It is all about meeting the expectations of the editor. If the editor wants 500 words on a topic, then send him 500 words. If you send 800 words and assume the editor will cut the 300 words he doesn’t need because editors edit. Then you are risking rejection or at best, a rewrite request from the editor.

No Takeaway for the Reader

Every magazine article is ultimately about a single point for the reader. This single point is called a takeaway. If you have written a personal experience article, what is the point of that article that you want the reader to carry away from the article? From reviewing many magazine submissions, often articles are rejected because they did not include this single point or takeaway for the reader. When I worked at Decision magazine, 1.8 million copies an issue, sometimes as editors we added a sentence takeaway at the end of the article. Sometimes it was a statement and other times is was a provocative question. No matter what type of magazine article you are writing, every one has a takeaway. If your article does not, then you risk rejection.

Missing a Key Element in the Story

Magazine articles must have a great opening story or question or quotation. They must also have a straightforward overall structure—a beginning, a middle and an ending. If your article wanders all around without a point or solid storytelling or structure, then again you risk rejection and not acceptance.

The magazine world is all about making a good and lasting impression and forming a relationship. You want to be the writer that the editor reaches out to and asks you to write a specific article (assignment). Every magazine has a “stable” of writers who contribute to the publication on a regular basis. Then when the editor has an idea for his publication, he turns to those writers who have been contributing regularly.

The journey of becoming one of those stable writers begins with a single step—consistent and professional action. Stay away from these turn offs.

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Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor, Whalin has written for more than 50 publications including Christianity Today and Writer’s Digest. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His latest book is Billy Graham, A Biography of America’s Greatest Evangelist and the book website is at: http://BillyGrahamBio.com Watch the short book trailer for Billy Graham at: http://bit.ly/BillyGrahamBT His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/terrywhalin

Ideas for Getting Info for Your Magazine Article

If you’ve never done an interview with someone else, the thought can be frightening. I want to take away the fright factor and give you some ideas how to get this information and where to begin.

For your first interview, I recommend you use a family member or good friend. These interviews do not happen on the fly. One of the most important steps is to prepare a list of questions ahead of time. With your questions, you can be confident that you will gather information and add spontaneous and follow-up questions during the session. The skill of interviewing others and asking good questions is something you can develop and improve as you do it over and over. Understand that everyone feels a little awkward the first few times and then like any other skill, it will seem natural and easy.

I’ve been interviewing others for many years—since I started writing sports for my high school newspaper. You can learn the skill of writing quotations from others, asking good questions and gathering the information you will need to write your story.

Sources for Your Magazine Article

Where do you locate experts to interview? Who has the information that you need to write your article? You can use Google to find experts on a particular topic. Also, understand that many companies have a public relations department or a publicist who is eager for you to interview their experts. The PR people will work with you if you are writing an article on speculation but they definitely prefer writers who have a definite assignment. You get an assignment with a magazine when you write a a query letter which gets their attention.

These publicists and PR people will be able to provide you with background information, press releases, books and other research material to help you pull together the information for your interview and eventually for your article.

Has this “expert” written a book? Then your best course of action is to set up an interview through their publisher. Call the publisher and ask to speak to someone in publicity. It’s one of the few times I recommend people call the publisher. Tell the publicist about your assignment and ask for background materials (review copies of the books, other articles, etc.). Then ask the publicist to set up your interview and give the person the times when you are available. Wise authors who want to sell books take advantage of these interview possibilities. You will quote this “expert” and mention their book in the article and get to tap their expertise and quotes for your article. It works as a package and everyone has something to gain from the experience—you, the expert and the publisher.

With increased publishing experience, you can expect to write more on assignment and less on speculation (spec). Even an assigned piece can sometimes not work out for a particular publication. Maybe the editor sees it and thought the query was a good idea—but the execution is wrong for their publication. I’ve not had this experience often but it does happen. In these cases, the magazine will often pay a “kill fee.” It’s a token payment for the writing work you poured into the article. Believe me, it’s better than nothing but pretty disappointing.

Many years ago, I interviewed Dan Quayle on a magazine cover story. It was a challenge to reach the then-Vice President but the article was perfect—a November cover story during an election year. (This publication doesn’t exist any longer—another common occurrence in the magazine world.) Unfortunately, the Vice President was running late and crammed my 30 to 45 minute scheduled interview into about 15 minutes. My assigned format was a Q & A — which means the interview has to have something worthy of his actual words appearing as the main text of the article. I got nothing but clichés and pat answers in the crammed time frame. I wrote my article, turned it in—even turned in my transcribed interview. It resulted in a kill fee for vast amounts of time and energy.

Just remember, on the road to publication there are many possible junctures where it can fail. Some are in your control and others are completely outside of your control. You control what you can and you work with the other details. It never gets published until you hold the finished magazine article or book in your hand.

Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor, Whalin has written for more than 50 publications including Christianity Today and Writer’s Digest. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His latest book is Billy Graham, A Biography of America’s Greatest Evangelist and the book website is at: http://BillyGrahamBio.com Watch the short book trailer for Billy Graham at: http://bit.ly/BillyGrahamBT His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/terrywhalin