Becoming An Industry Guru – Articles

Say Something Interesting

You’ve been through the features lists and a subject has caught your eye for an issue about two or three months away. What now? Don’t rush to phone the editor just yet. First, make sure you (or one of your company’s experts) will be able to come up with a topic relevant to that feature, and write an article which will say something new and interesting about it, and sustain that interest for maybe 1,500 words.

So, you have a topic for an article, you have someone who can write about it intelligently and interestingly, and you should have reasonable time in which to write it. On to the next stage:

Placing Articles

Phone your target editor. In a businesslike way, explain who you are and what your company does – hopefully you might be able to slip him a pleasant ‘thank you’ for using your last press release. Then refer to the name and date of his feature, and ask if he’d be interested in an article looking at Aspects x, y and z of that subject, because your company has someone with good in-depth knowledge of them.

This can prompt one of several initial reactions. One, of course, is ‘Sorry, but...’ (we already have enough contributors, or we have someone writing about that already, or we aren’t going to cover Aspects x, y and z in this feature, or whatever). Disappointing, but it’s nothing personal, so try again another time.

However, let’s assume that the editor shows some degree of interest. If so, you will be facing one of two basic situations. Either the editor knows what he wants, or he’s open to suggestions. You won’t be left in doubt for very long about which situation you are dealing with.

Give The Editor What He Wants

The knowing editor may briskly tell you that he’d be interested in an article covering Aspects a, b and c, but not x, y and z. Be honest! If you know you can’t come up to scratch on Aspects a, b and c, admit it and retire gracefully. Whatever you do, don’t say yes to abc and then submit an article based on xyz in the hope that the editor will relent and accept it. He will be very annoyed indeed and, if you’ve also submitted it too late for him to commission another piece to fill the space in his magazine. he will possibly refuse to have anything more to do with you, ever.

Synopses

An editor who hasn’t finalised a plan for the feature, and is open to suggestions, may say that Aspect x sounds quite interesting and could you submit a synopsis of what you propose to write.

Here, your answer must be yes. If he’s never seen an article (as opposed to a press release) from you before, how does he know what sort of writer you are? A nice crisp synopsis of about 50-100 words, setting out the case your article will make, the main points you will cover, and possibly the qualifications of the author, will go a long way towards creating confidence in the editorial mind.

The other value of a synopsis is that, once it has been accepted by the editor, it acts as a large chunk of the vital brief for the article.

Keep To The Brief

Whatever type of editor you are dealing with, the negotiation should if possible result in a clear brief for the article that is understood and agreed by all parties, and to which the writer must adhere. Last-minute arguments about whether or not the article you’ve submitted has been written to the brief can get quite acrimonious; do try to avoid them.

The brief for the article should include:

a list of the basic topics to be covered (and possibly those not to be covered)
whether the article may be by-lined with the author’s name
whether the article must be ‘generic’, i.e. not pushing your company and its products and services
the number of words required
whether pictures are wanted, and how many
the deadline date for submission of copy.

One last thing on article briefings. Unless you have one already, ask the editor to send you a copy of the magazine so that you can get a feel for its layout and style. Do they use shortish or longish titles? Witty titles? By-lines? Introductions? Cross-heads in the main body of the article? Are the articles generally rather academic or ‘not exactly rocket science’? The editor will normally be very happy to send you a copy and, because such a request is one of the marks of a professional writer, you may boost his confidence in you and thus score a nice little Brownie point with him for the future.

So we have a topic we know lots about, an editor willing to take an article about it, a briefing, a deadline date and a copy of the magazine we’re writing for. Now sharpen your pencil, because it’s time for the creative bit...