Imagine relaxing on your sailboat somewhere in the Bahamas, where you’re sitting in the cockpit, enjoying a nice breeze. You look out at water that’s so blue, and so crystal clear, that you’d almost swear the water was photoshopped by Mother Nature herself.
You casually fire up your laptop and check your email, excited to see a response from the editor of Cruising World magazine, saying they will be printing an article you submitted to them a few months ago in their upcoming December issue. You then open your word processor to finish another article you’re writing for another (albeit smaller) magazine that you write a monthly column for. It doesn’t pay as much as Cruising World per article, but it brings in a few hundred dollars a month, so it actually amounts to much more in the long run.
Think this sounds like a dream? Well, for some cruisers and location independents, writing for money is a reality.
I know several freelance writers who have turned their passion for writing into a decent side income. One blog follower funds her cruising kitty by writing articles for magazines, and boasts a 15% response rate for her queries. That’s about 1 in 6, which is excellent considering the competition!
Speaking of competition, be prepared to step up your game in order to get noticed. Some editors get thousands of submissions a month, so there’s no one just waiting to throw you money for your brilliant writing.
Obviously, in order to get published, you need to be able to write well, and if you can’t yet write well, that’s ok. Practice makes all the difference, and there are a ton of technical books on how to improve your writing.
The real key to making money as a freelance writer is to use tactics that the pros use to win over editors, as well as some tactics you may not have heard of before. After all, good writing is one thing, but there’s a lot of research and finesse involved if you want to get consistent work, and if you use these tips, you’ll have an advantage over most other writers who are pitching the same magazines.
Study the Publication You Want to Pitch Your Writing To
If you look at a magazine’s submission guidelines, you’ll notice that most of them tell you to look at past issues to get to know the kinds of stories they publish.
This is a given, but sadly, so often overlooked. It goes beyond just saying, “Oh, this magazine is about sailing – I’ll write about that.” You have to niche it down. Some sailing magazines don’t accept travelogues. Some prefer “how-to” type articles. Study the magazine… study the audience. Follow the directions in their submission guidelines to a tee.
Are the articles in the magazine more technical, or more conversational? Do they show more, or do they tell more? Are most pieces short or long? (Hint: go after the short pieces when possible. Editors often will have empty spaces to fill at the last minute. They often appreciate short pieces because they fill these spots easily. The shorts get overlooked by freelance writers, but can pay surprisingly well.)
Pick an Original Topic to Write About
Get your brainstorming caps on! This is where you get out a pen and paper and just jot down potential topics. Don’t overthink it or be too specific here — we’ll do that in the next steps, but this is where you could put down general ideas you think they might be interested in.
Let’s say there’s a big regatta they cover each year. Start thinking about something that ties in with this (but not an article on the race itself, as the magazine probably has already gotten someone to cover this. Plus, more unoriginal writers will be sending submissions about the race ad nauseum). Maybe you could locate and interview (via phone or email) the winner from this race from say, 25 years ago in a “Where Are They Now” fashion. How about writing an article about ways to keep your race crew happy?
There’s always a way to put a new spin on a topic and editors will love hearing some fresh, unique ideas.
Now that you have a head start on researching your target magazines, their audience, and your potential topics, the next post will dive into the actual writing process.
In the meantime, do you have any writing hacks or tips you’d like to add? Any freelance writers out there? Let me know in the comments!
Click here to read Part 2 – Get Paid To Write: Keys for Getting Published in Magazines
This is a really useful post. I like your tip about reading the magazines media packs I hadn’t thought of that before
Thank you! Yes, when you know who you’re writing for (or what upcoming things are on an editorial calendar), it can really help. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Great article, Melody…thanks for sharing! I like the tip about using Google Adsense to come up with more topic ideas…great advice, I’ll have to give it a try sometime!
Thanks, Anne! Another, more simple tip you can try is to type in your “broad” search term into Google, then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, and see the Google search suggestions – it often comes up with more specific ideas related to your keyword that are popular. Good luck, and let me know how it goes for you. Thanks for the comment!
Hey Melanie!
I really enjoy reading your blogs and ur suggestions on the “how tos”…. I write short stories based on my sister, brother and my past experiences and the humorous rememberances I have of the unfolding events pre-E as I say, (E being my brother) & post-E. My sister, who is 18 yrs. my senior and has absolutely NO memory of childhood events, encouraged me to read your website and try to get some of my stuff published. She is a true Beloved Believer of Jonna! I like where you’ve said to pay attention to magazines as they often have “space” they need to fill!! That was inspiring. So Thanks from one Native Floridian to a Sailing Visitor!
Hi Jonna! I just realized your sister is Patty – what a small world! Love her!
Hello Melody, I just found your blog. I am a freelance writer and live on a sailboat. We sail in Greece and have visited over 40 Greek islands by boat so far. Three years ago I submitted my first article and photos to a UK sailing magazine, and they published it, which was a great thrill for me. Since then I have had over a dozen articles published in the three main UK sailing magazines. They used my photos including one on the front cover! I also approached Cruising World a couple of months the ago, but although they acknowledged me, I haven’t heard anything since, so fingers crossed!
I agree with all the comments in your article. The main thing I would say, is stick to their guidelines! If it says 1000 words, don’t send in 2000. If they ask to look at 100 photos, don’t send 500. Look carefully at the style of the magazine and the section you will be writing for, and make your article look the same, in terms of layout etc.
I’m trying to break into other types of magazines, like the popular women’s magazines, but I’m not confident that I would have anything they would like.
I have recently started a blog in which I intend to write about our sailing adventures, but as we are back in the UK at the moment, on dry land, the blog is just a collection of ramblings, articles about the cat, recipes, photography etc.
One day I’m going to write a book about our adventures on the yacht, but I haven’t really started yet, although I have a collection of articles I have already written and kept a diary.
By the way, I travelled some of the ICW in 2009 with a USA couple, helping them on their yacht. We left from Vero Beach, down to south of Miami then over to the Bahamas. A fabulous trip, but not very challenging in terms of actual sailing.I look forward to following your blog.