How to Become a Magazine Writer

I clearly recall the day I first got published, I was 18 then and sent a short poem I wrote to a local magazine. Imagine my excitement when I opened an issue and saw my name printed on one of the pages. My poem was quite unnoticeable I must admit, dwarfed by the ads scattered around the page, but to me it felt like I just won a Pulitzer.

Since then I've been hooked on writing. I started out writing poems; the pay was only a few dollars but I was happy just to share my work with other people. Then I started dabbling in short stories; my first published short story came out when I was already 24. After that, I tried my hand at essay writing and had a few published on the editorial section of our local paper.

If you'd like to write for magazines, first look at the ones being published locally. See which magazines are selling well, buy several issues to get acquainted with their tone and target audience, and see what topics you can write about or contribute to. Once you've built your portfolio, you can branch out to publications with a larger audience.

Magazines cover a wide range of topics; a certain magazine may feature a cornucopia of topics or focus on only one. Here are some examples and leads:

• Health and Fitness - Covers the latest trends and discoveries in health, nutrition and fitness. Also includes product reviews and interviews.

  Lead: Oxygen - Magazine for women published 12 times a year. Pay range is from $250 to $1,000.

• Home and Garden - Tips and advice on decorating, cleaning, planting, landscaping and other related topics. Includes step by step articles with photos, tutorials, product reviews and interviews.

  Lead: Fine Gardening - Focus on landscaping and gardening, published 6 times a year. Pay range is from $300 to $1,200.

• Parenting/Family - Tackles issues concerning parenting, children, marriage, budgeting, meal planning, home organizing, etc. Includes product and book reviews, interviews and other related articles.

  Lead: Family Fun- Magazine dedicated to families with children ages 3 to 12, published monthly. Pay varies depending on the length and which section it will fall under, from $1.25 per word for features to $1,500 for articles appearing on the Healthy Fun section.

• Science and Technology - The latest scientific discoveries and tech gadgets. Includes product and book reviews, research articles, interviews and other related content.

  Lead: Cosmos - Science magazine published 12 times a year. Pays 25 cents per word for unsolicited articles and 50 cents per word for assigned articles.

• Sports and Hobbies - Covers sports news, player profiles, more information on certain hobbies such as cross stitching, crocheting, scrapbooking, jewelry making, beading and others. Also includes product reviews, interviews, etc.

  Lead: Papercraft Magazine - Magazine published 10 times a year focusing on handmade crafts. Pay range is $100 to $500.

• Travel - Travel destinations, romantic getaways, adventure travels, airfare and hotel deals and anything related to traveling.

  Lead: Travel + Leisure - Magazine dedicated to business or leisure travelers, published 12 times a year. Pay range varies depending on the length of the article, $100 to $500 for short pieces and $4,000 to $6,000 for longer articles.

Remember to read the writer's guidelines before you submit your manuscripts.