From Apples to Xenophobia: Writing About Diet, Health & Exercise

Everyone wants to know what they can do to improve their health, which is why writing about diet, health and exercise can be such a lucrative market for freelance writers. If you know a thing or two about health, you can find markets for your work. This can be illustrated by the influx of fad diet books and health magazines in the publishing landscape, but you can also find it on the Internet. The health umbrella is one of the most searched-for topics on the web.

Writing about diet, health and exercise is also an easy way to break into your freelance writing career. There is a multitude of resources on the Internet and in print, which makes your research much easier, and even mainstream publications are looking for articles and features on these topics. Your chances are even better if you have suffered from a particular illness or if you have a background in exercise or nutrition.

Build Your Background

You must first know about diet, health and exercisebefore you can write about it. Experts in the industry advise newcomers to find a specialization and stick with it. For example, you could create a comfortable niche writing about the nutritional value of restaurants. However, in order to propogate that niche, you will first need to understand restaurants and how they work.

Know Your Audience

An article about diet, health or exercise would be written differently for Family Circle than it would for Bon Appetit. Before you approach a magazine with a query or begin to write your article, know what audience to which you'll gear that article. For example, an article for Family Circle might be about ten healthy ways to cook chicken for the whole family, while an article for Bon Appetit might focus on the top ten ways to use wine to add flavor to meals.

Think About the Seasons

If you pick up any magazine geared toward diet, health or exercise, you'll notice that a great many articles will focus on the specific season. For example, you might see an article about losing holiday weight in January or an article on summer fitness regimens in May or June. If you're going to write about these topics, try pitching articles six months before a season begins so you'll be able to get in with the editors.

Keep Up with the Trends

Everything related to diet, health and exercise is trendy, regardless of whether or not those trends have any bearing on true health issues. This doesn't mean you have to confine your writing to fad diets and miracle machines, but you should make an effort to keep up with the times so that your articles are relevant when you pitch them to editors.

Markets for Articles

Writing about diet, health and exercise is a great way to launch your freelance writing career simply because there are so many avenues for publications. If you are drawing a blank, here are several different possibilities:

• Cooking Magazines
  
• Mainstream (general interest) Magazines
  
• Women's Magazines
  
• Fitness Magazines
  
• Health Trade Journals
  
• Parenting Magazines (childhood obesity is currently a hot topic)
  
• Travel Magazines (focus on the nutrition and fitness culture of different places)