Welcome back to Coaching Corner, a new feature of Page Fright.
You know how, as a writer, you want to…write? Not figure out where to send query letters or how in the world to write them or develop a book proposal or any of the other nasty writing-adjacent stuff you’ve got to do to get published? Well, Coaching Corner’s here with incredibly useful tips to 1) help you figure it all out, 2) save you time, and 3) improve your chances of getting published.
The first Coaching Corner column featured four suggestions for Finding Just the Right Places for Your Articles and Essays – Part One.
Here’s Part Two, with additional strategies that have worked for me and will hopefully work for you:
· If you’re writing personal essays, go to the library or local bookstore (brick and mortar!) and find essay collections by your favorite essayists. Look at the back pages to see a list of which magazines the essays originally appeared in. This will give you a good sense of publications you could pitch
· For columns (think “Modern Love” or “Lives” in The New York Times, for instance), see if different people write them each time. If so, the editor is likely open to freelance submissions. (And don’t be fooled if the writer is referred to as a “contributor”—that’s just a fancy way of saying “freelance writer,” sometimes on a frequent basis)
· For columns, also see if there’s a mini-bio at the end of them. If so, check if the writers include a personal email address rather than a publication’s email address (for instance xyz@nytimes.com). If so, this is a good sign they’re not staffers, which means this space is probably open to freelancers
· Local and national newspapers’ editorial or opinion sections run op-eds written by guest writers (a.k.a. freelancers), so this is a great place to seek publication. Keep in mind that, in addition to opinion pieces, they also tend to run personal essays connected with holidays and events like Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, back to school, graduation, etc. This may sound cheesy, but your writing doesn’t have to be
There’s plenty more where that came from, so look out for future editions of Coaching Corner in these pages.
Important reminder: Summer’s here at last! That means it’s nearly time for the start of my 8-week summer workshop (on Zoom), “Writing from Personal Experience.” THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS SATURDAY, JUNE 8. Spots are already filling up, so if you’re interested here’s where you can find out more info and register. Also feel free to email me at meta@metawagner.com if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!