Market Round-Up July 2006

© Deborah Ng – All Rights Reserved

 

It’s difficult to be motivated during the summer months, isn’t it? The outdoors, the pool, the barbecue grill, everything beckons. I suppose staying focused is one of those things freelance writers have to endure; I seem to be losing the battle lately. Still, I’ve managed to bring you a short list of some nice paying markets.

Natural Home Magazine – Natural Home is dedicated to people who care about the environment, especially their own personal environment. If you grow your own or prefer to clean the house using "green" products, you may be a good candidate for contribution.

The editors at Natural Home prefer to assign their own articles, but will consider a piece that’s already written. Issues are planned out at least six months in advance, so pitch early for holiday articles. Natural Home pays .33 to .50 per word. Send queries or submissions to:

Jessica Kellner
Coordinating Editor
Natural Home Magazine
1503 SW 42nd St
Topeka, KS 66609

If you wish to have your manuscript returned, include an SASE and do use enough postage. For more information, visit their website:

http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/contactus/editorial.asp

 

Artella – Artella is a unique web magazine for creatives. It offers articles and support for writers, poets, artists and others. Artella offers both a print and electronic format and a sample issue can be had by visiting the website.

Though the guidelines can be obtained by visiting them Online, the editors would be most interested in articles about writing poetry, freelance writing and pieces connecting writing to other visual arts. They’re very open to suggestion, however.

Artella pays $50 for articles of 500 – 1000 words. Submissions should be pasted in the body of an email to: article-submit@ArtellaWordsAndArt.com

For more details, please visit the Artella website:

http://www.artellawordsandart.com/article-submissions.html

 

Chicken Soup - Surely you’ve seen or heard of the "Chicken Soup" series of books. It all began with the bestseller "Chicken Soup for the Soul." Since then, many more "Chicken Soup" books have been published. In fact, I think it’s safe to say there’s a "Chicken Soup" out there for everyone.

Want to get into the action? "Chicken Soup" is very open to contributions. In fact, all of their stories are submitted by freelancers. They’re looking for true, inspirational essays but not preachy articles. Each accepted story will be paid $200.

For more information, visit the "Chicken Soup" website at

http://www.chickensoup.com/

 

American Baby – American Baby is a staple of OB-GYN offices all over the US. I’m not sure if it’s better known for giving pregnant women something to while sitting in the waiting room, or the free subscription offered to all new parents. In any event, American Baby accepts submissions from freelancers.

The preference is to query for features first, they accept articles between 1,000 and 2,000 words. They also accept shorter items for their "Crib Notes" and "Medical Update" sections. Payment for features and first person experiences ranges from $500 - $1000. Send queries to:

Editor
AMERICAN BABY Magazine
125 Park Avenue, 16th floor
New York, NY 10017

For more information, visit the American Baby website:

http://www.americanbaby.com/ab/file.jhtml?item=/help/writersGuidelines

 

Tip of the Month: How can you spot a scam? It’s all in the punctuation! If a job listing has too many exclamation points it’s a sure bet they’re trying to catch your eye and sucker you in. Those offering legitimate opportunities would never use words such as "legitimate" to describe themselves. Also beware of vague testimonials offered by anonymous visitors using only their first names. Most editors don’t need to rely on testimonials to get writers. Remember this, an employment ad should be simple and to the point. If it sounds more like a sales pitch, it’s probably something to be avoided. Ask yourself, "Why is this person working so hard to get me to write for him?" Finally, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Good luck!

Deb

 

About the author:  Deborah Ng is a freelance writer specializing in web copy. Her Freelance Writing Jobs blog  won The Preditors and Editors "Truly Useful Site Award" for June 2006. Deb is very vocal against the $2.00 per article web content industry and volunteers her time to help new writers find decent writing jobs for fair wages. Check out Deborah's blog:  http://writersrow.com/deborahng/freelancewritingjobs.html

 

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