As a newsletter editor and freelance
writer, I get to see writers’ guidelines from all angles: I write them and I
read them. If you’re looking for articles for your newsletter, it pays to spend
some time telling writers exactly what your wish list looks like.
First, make a separate Web page for
your writers’ guidelines. Make sure it’s linked from your home page, not buried
six layers deep where writers will never stumble upon it. Here’s what belongs on
that page:
About You
Write a couple of paragraphs telling
potential writers about your newsletter, your company, and / or yourself. Let
them know how long you’ve been around on the web, the main focus of your
newsletter, the frequency of your newsletter (Weekly? Monthly? When you feel
like it?), and the approximate circulation (e.g., 5,000 subscribers).
About Your Audience
Tell writers what you know about your
readers. Who are they and what do they want? What level are they on -- are they
beginners in their field, or more advanced? What’s the male-to-female ratio? Are
they well-educated? Are they affluent? Do they live around the world or mainly
in one region? Are they parents? Do they work from home? The more information
you can give, the better a writer will know how to write something to resonate
with your readers.
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Outwitting Writer’s Block
If you've ever found
yourself staring at the blank page all day, or cleaning out the refrigerator for
the fifth time in a week
just to avoid seeing that taunting, blinking cursor, then you've experienced
writer's block.
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Article Types
Here’s the most important part of the
guidelines: What, exactly, are you hoping writers will submit? The more specific
you can be here, the better. For example, I edit a newsletter for writers. If I
simply said I wanted articles about writing, that wouldn’t do much good. People
could interpret that to mean nearly anything, and it wouldn’t help them
brainstorm ideas for what might be appropriate for us. Instead, I told them
exactly what I need.
So I specified: Primarily, I wanted
how-to articles about different branches of writing (screenwriting, greeting
card writing, nonfiction writing, etc.). Secondarily, I wanted ... "interviews
with working writers or those connected to the publishing or film industries--
we particularly need interviews with agents, editors, and producers," "news
stories or trends related to writing," and "perspectives from working writers.
Can cover any aspect of a writer's life -- business, craft, or ‘life’ (balancing
work and family, overcoming writer's block, increasing creativity, etc.)." Give
examples when possible.
Departments
If you have any columns or features
that you run regularly, tell writers about them. For example, if you run a
section called "Bet You Didn’t Know That" every week, and it contains
interesting trivia, tell writers about it. If you have a humor section, an
opinion section, a book review section... let the writers know, and point them
to a few good examples of the types of articles you like for each of these
sections. Give direct links to your favorite articles. It’s more helpful than
saying, "Read our newsletter to get an idea of what we publish."
Taboos
Likewise, if there are any topics
that are off-limit to writers, tell them. Maybe YOU write that trivia column
every week and have no interest in having another writer submit an idea for it.
Maybe your newsletter doesn’t want to touch controversial subjects like
religion, abortion, the death penalty, etc. Or the opposite: Maybe your
newsletter takes a specific stance on those issues and doesn’t want anything
from an opposing viewpoint. If you don’t want any "strong language" (read:
swearing), mention that. If you want everything from a third-person perspective,
not a first-person perspective, say so.
Word Count
Freelance writers are accustomed to
writing according to specified word counts. If you tell a writer that you want a
"long article" or a "short article," you’re likely to get a blank stare in
return. You need to specify a range. If your "Bet You Didn’t Know That" section
is meant to be only a paragraph or two at the top of your newsletter and a
writer sends you a two-page article, it won’t do you any good. Check the word
count of the articles you’ve already run to get a better idea of what works for
you. This article, for example, is 1360 words. If possible, specify a range for
each department, as well. You might write that feature articles are 800-1500
words, humor essays are about 500 words, and so on.
Pay Rate
Know that a good three-quarters of
your potential writers are going to skim through everything else just looking
for the paragraph with the dollar signs. If that paragraph is missing, they may
go no further.
This doesn’t mean that all is lost if
you can’t afford to pay for articles. What it does mean is that you must be
up-front with writers and tell them what you’re offering; give them some kind of
incentive to write for you.
If you do pay, you may choose to pay
by the word, or use a flat rate. For example, most newsstand magazines pay about
$1 a word, which means that an 800-word article would pay $800. Newsletters more
often pay about $0.10 a word, or $80 for that same 800-word article. Or you
might choose to pay a set amount: $50 for feature articles, $25 for departments,
and $10 for short humor, reviews, and trivia, for example.
If you cannot pay, make sure you’re
offering your writers something. This is, after all, their livelihood,
and "exposure" appeals only to the most inexperienced writers. The inclusion of
a bio and / or free advertising space is always good, and if you can give them
any of your products, all the better. I once wrote an article in exchange for a
bio and a homemade candle. You can also barter for other things: For example,
you could offer to design a free Web page for the writer, or make a banner ad
for her.
Rights
Just as important as your pay rate is
your rights policy. Unless you are paying big bucks, there’s no good excuse for
asking for all rights to the articles you publish. If you want to entice
writers, ask for nonexclusive electronic rights only, or ask for exclusivity for
a specified period of time ("exclusive rights for 30 days after publication,
nonexclusive rights thereafter"). Also include your policy on reprints: Will you
consider a piece that has already been published elsewhere? Before you balk,
consider excluding only your closest competitors ("We are happy to accept
reprints, as long as they have not previously appeared in newsletters X, Y, or
Z").
Contact Info
Tell writers how you would like their
work submitted. Do you want to see completed manuscripts, or would you rather
look at query letters? (Queries are short descriptions of what the writer plans
to write about for your newsletter, along with a bio and samples of the writer’s
work.) Where should they submit their work, and to whom? Give them the name of
an editor, and an e-mail address and / or snail mail address. Know that very few
writers will bother sending queries or manuscripts by snail mail anymore unless
you’re offering high pay. Also, for email submissions, let writers know if you
prefer attachments or copying and pasting the text within the body of the email
message.
Response Time
It’s nice to let writers know how
quickly you plan to respond to them. Otherwise, they may well bug you every two
hours until they hear from you. So, you might say something like, "Our average
response time is 1-2 weeks. If you haven’t heard back from us in two weeks,
please feel free to follow up." Also, unless you specify that you do not want
simultaneous submissions, expect that the writer may be submitting to other
publications at the same time. Again, unless you’re offering big bucks and can
commit to respond quickly, do not expect exclusive submissions.
Get the Word Out
If you are able to pay writers, even
just a token amount, writers’ newsletters will be happy to let their readers
know about you. To start, you can send me the link to your writers’ guidelines
at jenna@absolutewrite.com, and I’ll send it to the 23,000 writers who read
Absolute Markets. Then you can surf around to other writers’ sites and ask them
to do the same.
Guide your writers well, and you may
find that both the quality and quantity of submissions skyrockets. Good luck!
About the Author:
Jenna Glatzer is the editor of
the most popular online magazine for writers:
