Publish your Writing

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Publish your Writing

Before writing… Do Read…

The moment the idea of pitching a piece of writing to an editorial board comes, many are confused about where, when and how to start? The importance of writing and publishing an article, online or offline, is beginning to root deep in people’s opinion. Getting an article published is one of the efficient ways of proving one’s credibility and to position oneself as an expert in their field. Before starting to write one might be wondering – In what way is an online publication different from an offline publication. Can we publish the same article both online and offline? The answer for this is actually there is not much difference between online and offline writing, but of course the difference does exist in terms of language (interactive/informative), audiences targeted, information that need to be conveyed. But how will someone know which way to focus.

Writing the base content is same for both online and offline writing. Before beginning to write, always read the publications guidelines. Reading doesn’t mean just sliding through the article without understanding anything; it means going through every line, understanding it, looking at the editorial column, checking out the guidelines for writers, knowing better about the publication as this will help in writing an article that fits the publications guidelines and reduces the chance of rejection.
Go through the guideline properly and then follow them closely. If the guidelines read that photographs are not required, then please do not send it just because it will make the article look good. This simply means that the guidelines were not read properly or they were not followed, and might increase the chance of rejecting the article.

Be sure of the target audience…

Knowing the audience who reads this publication or who might be interested in this topic of concern is very important. This is not as easy as it seems, as the target audiences changes for an offline and online writing. At times, the article should be re-written for an offline and online publications, as required.

Precise… but to the point

Article should always be quick to read and to the point with maximum information that fulfills the need of the article and explains the writers idea. Article should be full of energy and glimmer that grabs the editor’s attention first and then the readers. An article too long, too short, too flowery, too much of space left might be very disappointing to the editor and especially to the writer. Always remember that the writer has to impress the editor in few seconds, within which he needs to gain the editor’s attention.
Finally remember that any publication would expect the writer to follow all their guideline. They will always be hunger for interesting, good written topics and topics that might increase their sales. Read…read…and read the guidelines and follow them. The writer should make sure that his contact numbers are easily available to the editor for future use.

General/non Scientific articles

General or non-scientific articles include all those writings that a writer writes on his own interest without any survey or scientific research done. Some common non-research/general articles are

Review of books or film
Letters to the editor
Case study and case reports
Opinion paper
Review paper
Editorials
Art and entertainment
Family issues or parenting tips
Money & finance
Career and jobs
Health information
Stay fit
History
Religious issues
People and culture
Craft works
Food habits and dietary
Gardening
Sports, leisure and hobbies
Fashion & beauty
Travel information and many more are listed under non-research articles.

Why to publish an article?

Many of us write very beautifully with or without the author himself knowing that the article is worth publishing. Some scribble as hobby and to pass time, and some write very high-quality articles that if published might attract readers. Many home-writers are unaware that they can display their writing talent in front of the world by just publishing the article, either online or offline. Just by submitting their article they would have thousands of readers worldwide. Many readers might be benefited and they might share their experience or post their suggestions.

Benefits of submission

By submitting an article, online, the author can promote himself, his website or his brand (this personal promotion is allowed only in few websites like ArticlesBase.com). Readers who have read the article might be eager to read more on the same topic so it is very necessary that the author up-dates his content every now & then to attract more readers and to treasure the previous readers.
Plenty of exposure and contacts with other expertise writer, which will help improve the writing skill of the author.
Reach a wide-range of population globally.

Tips to choose a perfect market for publishing ONLINE

The article is ready and the author wishes to share it with others then the only best medium is to publish the article online where thousands of readers, globally, would get a chance to read the article. Finding an electronic outlet for a scientific or other professional writing is easier than finding for fictions. Fiction writers can try submitting their articles to ezine. But publishing isn’t so easy; listed are few tips that will help the author in publishing his article.

If the author is expecting financial compensation for his writing, then finding a website that pays him requires lots of research in finding the appropriate website.

Once the website is chosen and if the author thinks that this is the perfect website for his article, then the next thing he should focus on are their guidelines. Articles that deviate from their guidelines might stand a stronger chance of rejection. If the guidelines are not available, then the author can e-mail the editor requesting him to send the guidelines.

Next would be to send a query mail to the editor, which would be of one page telling him about the ideas and points that the author wishes to cover in his article and asking him whether they would be interested. This is an optional step where if the author is clear about all the guidelines, then he can proceed right away.

After this, the author might get an assignment for which he may or may not get a contract. It is always better that the author requests a written copy of the agreement of payment. But if their guidelines are clear and they compensate their writers, then just go ahead. If the author is stubborn in getting a written contract, then ask for it. If the editor does not respond, then move ahead and follow the same with the next ezine in the list.

If the author is getting a contract, then it should mention the amount payable, when are they like to pay, upon acceptance or upon publishing; and what rights the publishers are buying. If it is a start-up website than negotiate for payment after acceptance if it’s a well-known publisher than the author should not have any problem in receiving his money.

If the author is being paid for his work than it means that the publishers are buying certain rights from the author. The word “RIGHTS” should be dealt carefully as it is different for online and offline publication. Therefore, it is always advised that the author know few basic rights:

First serial right: The author is selling the rights to publish his article only for the first time. After which the author is free to sell, use or publish the article anywhere else.
One-time right: The author is selling the right to the publisher to publish his article only once. Later the author again can sell the same article to others.
Second serial rights: The author is selling the right for publishing his article the second time, after it has already been published.
All rights: The author literally sells all rights to the publisher and the publisher is free to use, publish the article anywhere in any format. The author cannot further sell the same article to anyone else.
Electronic rights: The author should be very clear and know what electronic rights he is selling to the publisher, either only reprint right or archive rights also. It is very important to get it in the contract.

Getting article published OFFLINE

Before penning down on any topic it is important to consider few points that will help in bringing out the best.

What benefit does this piece of writing is to the audience?
Who are the target audience?
What are the audiences mostly interested in?
Which publication does the audience read?
What kind of articles appear in those publications?
Will you be able to make a meaningful contribution to the readers and the publication?

Focusing on some of these questions might help in writing something that interests the target audience and also show the writer’s expertise. To find out answers for these questions, look around in common areas like

Any professional organization: Look for the newsletters, magazines, books that are kept for the readers to read. Make a note of the publications also.
Local library: The writer should ask for the widely circulated article or magazine and find out the how much it is related to his area of interest and then proceed.
Client’s office: Observe the publication and the books kept in the waiting areas and note down the publications.

After having a list of publications, the next step is to contact the editor and knowing whether they accept freelance writing. If yes, the writer can discuss about his area of interest and know how much the editorial board is interested in this topic. Before starting to write the writer must list up all the ideas and topic of interest and those topics that he is qualified to write. Remember that this is not a publicity article or an ad for your name, let the article be informative and before submitting it, always get it corrected by a trustworthy professional to reduce the chance of rejection.

As newsletters are always written by a volunteer, they might also offer some pay to the writer. For writing in newsletter the writer can call the editor and discuss but in case of writing for a magazine “query letter” is the acceptable form. This is a one-page proposal which should contain author’s introduction, explanation of the article, and the reason why they should go forward with this article. This query letter should convince the editor that the article is worth publishing. Maintaining time line is very important; submit the article on or before the deadline.