Part IllPersonal Development

How To Get Your IdeasYour published articles may do more to enhance yourcredibility-and career-than anything you do on the job.

By KIMBERLY A. EDWARDS

T here's more to be gained fromauthorship than the satisfaction ofseeing your bN-line beneath a well

xx ritten story. Visibility, newv clients,leadership in the field and even fortunecanl be yours when you see books,magazine articles and contributors' col-umns as business tools. If you take thetime to learn hoNw to xxvrite wNell and care-ftlly identify your audience, the rewxardsare many.

Writing for magazinesBelieve it or not, tackling magazine arti-

cles can be much easier for you, thespecialist, than it is for most aspiring free-lance writers who spend countless hourssending articles on any subject imaginableto any publication imaginable. The smartxx riter realizes that he or she would be bet-ter off with a developed, saleable special-t'a. As an HR)D professional, you alreadyhave that kind of specialty, so it's just amatter of targeting your efforts to thepublications read by potential clients (andpeople you want to impress).

Before you begin writing, though, dosome research. Who, preciselv, are yourtarget clients? What magazines do theyread? If you specialize in trainingengineers, look at wNhat engineers read.Go to the librarN and find out about engi-nieers' clubs and associations, then xx ritcto find out if they publish a magazine.Also, check Writer's Market, a listing ofthousands of miiagazines. Send off for sam-ple copies of these magazines and theirguidelines for contributors. Noxv studythem. Look at the ads, the letters to theeditor, the columns and the majorfeatures. Analyze readers' intcrests andneeds. Inspect the articles. Are they shortor arc they long? Are they how-to's or

JKinll)erly A. Edtwards is publisher of\Vtritinga Udtldte, (a nonthly\, ntewsletterfor writers, conlsiulta nts (a1n1du)l(sins0se5s ill (Sacir(1nenlto.

philosophical pieces? Do the articles startwith alarming statistics or funny anec-dotes? Each magazine has its own per-sonality; dissect it wvith fervor.When you find a magazine whose

readers might gain from your expertise,think of a topic that fits the format. Pro-fessional magazines won't promote yourbusiness, but they do seek articles ontopics that solve readers' problems. As inthe case of engineers, what problems doengineers have that you can help thenwvith? Keep in mind that an article idea isdifferent from a general subject. "'ITrain-ing" is a subject area. Examples of articleideas wx ould be "'T'he Engineer's Guide toSetting Career Goals" (for a generalengineers' magazine) or "PinpointingTrraining Needs of Enginieers" (for amagazine read by engineers' administra-tors). Do vou see the difference? Youtmitist fill a need. Creating an article first,then trying to market, can spell disaster.Instead, pinpoinit your interests and pas-sions, find markets that coincide andcreate only for them.

Small, specialized magazines typicallyrre more tolerant of beginners and wxrill

serve as an excellent training ground foryou. After vou've established a trackrecord, you may xvant to try top-circula-tion, general interest magazines. Combthese magazines for 'update" sections thatrun short, interesting articles. Now thinkof an aspect of training that might be ofinterest to that readership, whether it becomposed of housewives, career xvnomen,or sports-minded folk. It's unlikely thatthe most popular magazines xxill xxant amajor article from you-they receivethousands of manuscripts each month and

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prefer to deal with professional writers-but it's always possible.

Regardless of who you want to shootfor, don't submit your manuscript untilyou've sent a query letter to the editorresponsible. What's a query? It's a one-page letter describing your specific articleidea, why you think it might be ap-propriate, what particular reader problemit xx'ill solve and how you plan to developit. Include a few sentences on why you'requalified to write on the subject. Alwaysenclose a self-addressed stamped enve-lope (rule #1 in writing xvhen you write aneditor for anything). The query saves youfrom wasting time on the article in casethe editor feels your idea xvon't work orhas recently run a similar article. Becauseyour query represents you (as does an in-terview), you should make it direct,smooth, professional. If you'd like furtherinformation on writing query letters, con-sult a book on free-lance xvriting or readWriter's Digest or The Writer, txvo profes-sional wxriters' nmagazines that frequentlruni (query pieces.

An interested editor probably wvill askyou to submit your manuscript on specu-lation. This means they'll consider it xx ithno strings attached. In other words, it'stime for you to write, revise and prepareyour manuscript for submission-andyou'd better deliver wvhat you promised inthe query. But before you start, pull outthe magazine. Again, look at format, style.readership. What do readers already knoxvabout the subject you're xvriting on? Startthere-not above, and certainly notbeloxw-because you don't Nxxant to rehash-xwhat they already knowv. Noxv develop ashort outline.

Reprinted with permission from Training and Development Journal, August 1985, pp. 41-43.

Selling a book idea to a publisher means meetinga market need

You should go through at least 10drafts. Saving editors the trouble an un-professional manuscript causes will saveyour storv. Each time, cut out the excess,even though it hurts. Use simple wordsrather than big ones-unless the magazineprefers big ones.

People like to read about people, sokeep human interest high. Set each draftaside for a day or two. When you pull itout, you'll be able to read it more objec-tivelv. Then, w hen you feel that it'spolished, give it to someone who w ill giveyou an honest assessment. Is it interest-ing? Helpful? To the point? Is it organizedso that the reader can follows it? If voudon't knoxx' anvbodv who can do this foryou, consider hiring an editor to read it-asmall price to pav for a nice article.A word about grammar, punctuation

and diction: Applv as much attention tothese aspects of professional writing asvou do to your field. If this is a problemfor you, then find someone to check vourstorv.When you're certain that vou've got the

best product possible, type it double-spaced on non-erasable white paper. Plageone should carrv vour name, address andtelephone number in the uppcr corner.The title should appear about halfwaydown the first page. Count the number ofwords in the manuscript and place thefigure in the corner opposite vour nameand address. Submit the manuscript witha self-addressed, stamped envelope. Keepa file copy of everlthing yov senlld.There are other issues you may wish to

ilvestigate. such as what rights to sell.Writers groups suggest selling only FirstNorth American Rights. This means that,upon publication of the article, the rightsrevert to you to resell or resubmit toanother magazine. Familiarize yourselfwith current copyright laws.What about pay? Naturally, large

magazines pay the most-hundreds, eventhousands of dollars. Smaller magazinespay up to 15 cents per word. No, vouwvon't get rich, but think of the benefits ofexposure. That's why many business peo-ple write for free for professional journalsthat do not pay.

Book wvritingSelling a book idea to a publisher means

meeting a market need. Tvo increasc yourchances of writing a book that will meetmarket needs, there are a number ofthings vou should do, according to SandraD)ijkstra, a California literary agenlt. In arecent talk to the San D)iego Writers/1di-tors (Guild, she suggested that an aspiring

author first understand the business. ReadPublishers Weekly, the trade magazine ofthe book industrv. Look at publishers'catalogues and finid out what's hot atbookstores. Read Small Press, a magazinethat reviews books published bv thenumerous small presses. Read the NewYork Times book review section and wN-eek-lv Review ofBooks to see what books arebeing reviewed. Ask yourself these ques-tions: Is my book timelv? (Interest intopics comes and goes.) Does mN bookhave a clear focus? Is my book unique?You should research what's alreadv outthere. If there are 10 books on vour sub-ject already in existence, chances are thatno publishing house will w-ant to gambleon another one. But if your idea is trulvunique, someone mav be interested.

If vou've done vour research and stillthink your idea is marketable, puttogether an outline and three samplechapters, then send them to a companythat publishes similar materials. ConsultWtiter's Aiarketfor a list of publishing com-panies and the types of materials thev'relooking for. If Xyou see a book on a similartopic, the publisher might be interestedin yours.Mans authors choose to publish their

own books. Onlv do so if vou have thetime and energy to enter the miiarketingand distributing arenas. Buying advertis-ing, sending out review copies, dealing

ith bookstores (most of which prefer notto deal with first authors): If these ac-tivities appeal to you, self-publishing maybe the answer. One Massachusetts train-ing consultant w ho has successfully self-published and marketed books throughmail order and wx ith the help of TV ap-pearances and write-ups in nationalmagazines is Jeffrev Lant. Lant is authorof The Consultant's Kit and The UnabashedSelf-Promoter's Guide.' 'hat Every MVan,Woman, Child, and Organization N"eeds toKniow 4bout Exploitintg the ilaeliti (ILAPublications, 50 Follen Street, Suite 501,Cambridge, MA 02138). In addition tomail order, you can sell your (and otherpeople's) books through your workshopsor seminars, as does Al Galasso, directorof the American Bookdealers Exchange(Box 2525, La Mesa, C(A 92041). Ifyou're at all intrigued bv the thought ofpublishing your owxn book, you mightwant to take a class on it through adulteducation and community colleges.Anothcr excellent resource is I)anPoynter's 'hie Self-Puiblishinlg,Mtanua,l, Howto Wbite, Ptilt, &-Sell Youir Own Book (ParaPublishing, Box 4232, Santa Barbara, CA93103; S14.95).

Continued on pg. 60

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The Rules of Writingfor Publication1. Your idea must be marketable as wellas good.2. Study like crazy a publication or, inthe case of a book, a publishing com-pany, before even approaching aneditor with an idea.3. Always enclose a self-addressedstamped envelope. Make sure to stickon enough postage.4. Develop a clear, simple style. Putpeople into your writing. Even the mostboring subject will come alive when it'swrapped around a human story.5. Query letters and manuscripts mustbe impeccably written! Go through atleast 10 drafts and cut, cut, cut. Queryletters and manuscripts must also be im-peccably typed, double-spaced.6. Meet all deadlines established by aneditor; follow through on yourpromises.7. Don't take rejection personally. Ifyour idea is a good one and the writingclear, chances are that the timing waswrong for the magazine (or publishingcompany). Chin up and try again!

An editor's note: When querying aneditor, your own credibility will benefitfrom addressing the editor by name andspelling the name correctly. To addressa woman editor as Dear Sir suggestsyou don't know your audience. Everymagazine lists the editor inthe masthead at the front of thepublication.