LOVE OR MARKETS ONLY

I've been trying to step away from writing only fiction and have been drafting some articles to submit—who knows where at this time. I know I should study the market first, right, but in order to get back into the nonfiction groove, I have simply been writing. But there will come that time when I must study the market in order to place my work.

That brings up the age-old question: what comes first, your love for writing, or a market to sell it to? Some writers will tell you they only write for their personal pleasure and what they want to read. Still others say that doing such a thing is a waste of time. What if you can’t find a market for your work? What if the audience you thought was out there for your work, isn’t? What if no editor today wants to publish what you love to write? Hard as it may be to acknowledge, we all have to write to the market if we want to be published in today’s writing world.

That means we have to know our market. We have to read and research those magazines or publishers we want to accept our work. What interests us may not be anything like the topics editors find unique. And that is a word (UNIQUE) we have to listen to. Today what we submit must be different, off the beaten path of the same old information recycled, a topic covered thoroughly that will give the readers information they don’t get in their daily lives.

Researching your market means knowing what the editor/publisher will print. Write a good piece suitable in content, word length, and interest for the publication. Offer the audience something unusual about your subject matter, give expert’s advice or worthwhile quotes, and make sure your manuscript is proofed, tightened, and follows the guidelines set forth by the editor.

I’m looking forward to the research for my pieces, even though it will probably mean a lot of rewrites. I want editors, and their readers, to be as enthusiastic as I am about my topic. That means writing for their pleasure too.