When An Editor Requests Writing Clips

So many publications and you're not yet published? Submit writing samples for editorial consideration & your name could one day find its way onto a masthead.

As a freelance writer, I can’t think of an assignment much more rewarding than writing for a magazine. Especially if that magazine is a print publication, because there is something so very satisfying seeing your name listed as a contributor on the masthead. And with several pages in that issue reflecting your abilities, you have all the validation you need to confirm that you are, indeed, a professional writer.

These days, many writers make their living strictly by providing online content and related collateral, fully satisfied with what they are doing. More power to them – I don’t believe that the better content writers among them are being paid what they’re worth, especially those who are gifted in a particular genre and toil in relative obscurity.

Are You Published?

Yet, maybe you have set your eyes on taking your writing to the next level and would love to see your finest work appear in a particular publication. Certainly, the pay is usually much better than most gigs and the exposure you receive could transform your writing career. Once you are published, you may be asked to become a regular contributor or find other editors interested in your work.

How do you get to the next level? By providing writing clips (samples) of your best work. Therein lies a problem – if you haven’t produced something tangible, then you aren’t likely to be considered for a writing gig. But look around you – could it be that you already have been published, but not in the traditional sense of the word?

4 Writing Sample Suggestions

Consider the following sources when scouring for writing clips:

Article Directories – True, article directories accept mostly anyone who can put 400 words together to form a thought. Much of what is published is rehashed material, but there is some good information posted to sites like EzineArticles.com too. In 2006, Sam’s Club Auto magazine contacted me about one of my articles posted to that directory, a piece I wrote on behalf of another customer. Their acquisitions editor asked me for reprint permission and by the next issue I was published. Without much effort I had a nice “writing clip” to share, something that I now include with my personal clip file.

Newsletters – Your church, school or civic group newsletter could be all the evidence an editor needs to measure your writing ability, particularly if you have written a feature article. I’ve read PTA newsletters and have found the occasional diamond in the rough, an article written by a parent who doesn’t have formal training as a writer, yet has a way of telling a story quite well. Perhaps that mission trip story you did for your church or a cancer story you wrote for the hospital auxiliary made a difference. And how would you know that? Readers told you.

Editorials – Letters to the editor or an op/ed piece published by your local newspaper can sometimes be helpful too. Addressing a problem, offering solutions and presenting possible outcomes can show an editor that you possess critical problem solving skills.

College Papers – I still have a copy of a college paper I wrote 25 years ago about wolves. Even though I was a business major, the topic was of immense interest to me which meant that I was thorough in my research, crafting a report that was spot on. You may have written a paper or an essay which could be used as a clip and that would be especially helpful if the report matches the subject you want to discuss.

Google Knol

Discriminating editors may still want you to send something in that can be found online, especially if it has been published to a trusted site. In that case you may want to take your best piece, modify it, and submit it to Google Knol. With this particular option you’ll need to cite several relevant sources in order to have it published, but your finished work will be featured in one of the more trusted content websites available.

How To Help Your Clients (When They Aren’t Even Asking)

After nearly seven years of freelancing, I’ve come to one realization: most of my clients are clueless.

No, not clueless in that they don’t know what they’re doing, rather they’re clueless as to what is the best direction for them to take when it comes to their writing projects.

The Clients You Keep

Most of your clients are clueless!

Most freelancers I know deal with small businesses, those companies headed up by a sole proprietor who is swamped with many other tasks and simply cannot handle everything himself. There may be others who work for him (or her), but generally these businesses are thinly staffed, streamlined to the point where important communications work is outsourced. This is where you come in.

Small business people understand that they need to have a strong web presence in order to gain and retain customers, but some if not all of their communications work is handled by third parties. It has been my experience that I’ll usually deal with a publicist or advertising pro, but rarely do these organizations have an in-house specialist who creates or updates content for their website or handles press releases, articles, and other writing collateral.

The initial query I get from these people usually addresses a problem they have – such as, needing press releases on a regular basis, a mini-site created in advance of an important product launch, or articles developed including white papers to bolster their site. They know what they need, but they aren’t always sure how to get there. Or, they are holding onto misconceptions about what approach works best when it comes to their writing campaign.

And this is where you — as a white knight – come in to save their business!

Okay, maybe not to the point where you produce such dramatic results, but through your wisdom and experience you provide helpful tips which saves the company time and money as well as strengthens your position with them for the long haul. Personally, I would rather have several long term loyal clients than a lot of short term customers – I get tired of marketing myself over and over again!

Show Your Smarts

Let’s take a look at three sample projects that you can clue your customers in on:

Problem: Client wants to distribute press releases every week over the next three months to spotlight twelve products that they sell.

Solution: The newsworthy angle of the project is suspect, so you come up with a new approach: you uncover which products have been recently rolled out or updated, featuring those only in each press release. Instead of twelve releases you end up doing five or six, which is less money for you but more beneficial to the company who would simply be wasting their money.  Your grateful contact thanks you for your honesty and is receptive to your plans to build a mini-site for promotional purposes.

Problem: Article marketing is still the rage, which has given your client the idea that you should write 20-50 articles and submit these to an article directory while at the same time having the articles posted to the company’s website.

Solution: You understand that when it comes to duplicate content, search engines including Google will not count additional placements of the same article published elsewhere. So, you recommend that a certain amount of smartly linked articles be submitted to a top notch directory (such as EzineArticles.com) with the rest of the pages added to the company’s website. In addition, you advise your client to post company news via Twitter, securing the company’s brand name in the process while getting valuable traffic through it and Facebook.

Problem: Your client wants to launch an all new product via their website and wants you to work on related content.

Solution: You advise the client that mentioning the new product on the main website is appropriate, but since this will be a stand alone product that it should also have a website of its own. You add two new pages to the main website and then roll out a detailed eight to twelve page information microsite separately, with links between the two websites of course.

Anticipating Customer Needs

In each sample case, the client didn’t think that they had a problem or they didn’t fully understand what options were available to them. Because you took the time to uncover what your client really needed, you were able to provide a more suitable project for them each time.

And that is what freelancing is all about – not only meeting needs, but anticipating them too.