Ideas for magazine articles are everywhere and the places to write are just as plentiful. Maybe you have an interesting personal experience story that you can capture? possibly you have been involved in a ministry and created some unique materials that you'd like to tell to others through a how to article. Maybe you've compiled some teaching on a topic from the bible and would like to get that into print. Or if you don't have any material from your own experience to write about, consider interviewing some interesting people around you and writing their story for publication.

The first question to ask is: who is my audience? what publication will use this article? the possibilities are end less: adult, women, men, children, teenagers, or youth. Are they in a specialized occupation such as pastors or school teachers? are they a certain age? the important thing is to be sure to target a specific audience not simply christians in general. I caution you that rejection and unpublished articles is a part of the writer's life and the road to consistent publication. How do you get an assignment? which magazines do you read on a consistent basis? your familiarity with these publications and the types of articles that they publish, gives you some needed background. What types of articles do they publish? how to articles? personal experience? for example, at decision almost every article is a first person, personal experience story. If you send them a how to article which is not written in the first person, you are asking for rejection.

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Or if you write a story about someone else in the third person, you will again invite rejection. After you have studied the publications, then write the publication for their writers guidelines. Write a simple letter asking for guidelines and enclose a self addressed, stamped envelope for the response.

You can find the address for the publication usually on the masthead of the magazine under editorial offices. This guide is a critical tool if you are going to write for the christian marketplace. Does the publication accept query letters or prefer full manuscripts? some magazines have a query only system. This means that you have to write a query letter and get a letter of request from the editor, before sending the full manuscript. Other publications like decision do not look at query letters but only completed manuscripts. What's a query letter? entire books have been written on this topic and one of the best is irresistible query letters by lisa collier cool writer's digest books. You don't write the entire article only the first paragraph which captures the reader's interest.

I won't walk you through the day of an editor but since i've been one for years, i know they are involved in a multitude of tasks. For editors to read query letters, it is often done at the end of the day, late at night or in a car pool on the way home. The second paragraph includes the main points of how you will approach the article. The third paragraph gives your personal qualifications for this topic and your writing credits if any. It basically answers the question, why should you of all the writers get this assignment? highlight your own area of expertise in this paragraph.

The final paragraph says how soon you could write the article give yourself enough time for example, three weeks from assignment and says you are enclosing a self addressed, stamped envelope and looking forward to their reply. I often send the letter to as many as ten different publications at the same time. Within the magazine business, there is an on going discussion about simultaneous submissions where you send the same finished article to several publications.

Also each publication has a list of authors they use regularly and call with ideas. Go ahead and query several magazines at the same time on the same topic if you think you can write several different articles on the same subject. One magazine may ask for 500 words on the topic while another may approach it from an entirely different viewpoint and ask for 2,0 words. On the other hand, perhaps you will get an acceptance or two, or at least a request to see the entire article on speculation. On speculation means that the editor is not under obligation to purchase your article if it doesn't meet the periodical's standards or expectations.

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Maybe they have an article on that topic coming in an issue which is already in production but not printed. There are many different reasons for rejection which are out of your control as a writer. Several years ago, i had queried a number of magazines about writing on listening to the bible on tape. Several weeks later, i received a phone call from a new editor at christian life magazine. Would you be able to write 500 words on the topic in the next three weeks? no problem. That little article turned into one of my most popular articles for reprint in other publications. You've decided what publication and what type of article you are going to write.

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Some writers spend huge amounts of time in research and never sit down and write the article. How will you collect the information for your article? will it come from your personal experience? will you need some stories from other people? will it involve library research for statistics? at your local library, make friends with the local librarians. While this article is not about interviewing, make sure you prepare as much ahead of time before the interview with your questions. I have a small micro cassette player which is almost immediately forgotten by the person that i'm interviewing. Any number of times, i've had people lean closer to me speaking closer into the machine and say, i've never told this to anyone.

For some stories, the interview doesn't have to be very long even ten minutes on the telephone can get some useful stories and quotations provided you're asking pointed questions. No matter how famous the person, don't forget they are a real person too with feelings and concerns. If it is a telephone interview, you have to tell the person that you are recording the conversation for legal purposes and also use a good recording device try your local radio shack for ideas. Most publishers are more than willing to help you to schedule an interview with their authors. These publishers will furnish you with complimentary books as background for your research and schedule the interview time.

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After the article is published, make sure you send or arrange for the magazine to send, a copy of the article back to the publisher. Publicists for book publishing houses, have dozens of projects going simultaneously. You want to establish your track record with the publishers for following through on your ideas and getting the information from their author published. This step of sending them the article builds your credibility and reputation as a writer for future writing projects. If you've written a query letter, then you've already written the opening for your article. Otherwise, the first step in the writing is to create a motivating opening story.