How do you men actually read a ‘men’s magazine’ and just what is the market for male readers in 2010? Asking myself this question I gradually realised the nature of actually being a man has a lot to answer for here, as well as the ways in which so called ‘identity politics’ have fragmented and disrupted the very nature of masculinity and its once dominant presence in mass popular culture.

In these days of niche markets and sub-sub-cultures you most certainly have to be defined or targeted as a particular type of reader before you even pick up the latest copy of this or that, and on page after page your own desires and anxieties as that reader are satisfyingly relayed back to you. Or are they?  

Case study 1 – yours truly! – I am 31, white, largely middle/professional class in terms of job, flat, and the car I drive and to add insult to injury when I sift through the piles of magazines that seem to gather next to my loo or by the side of my sofa that identity is reinforced for me.

GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health and the occasional copy of Attitude or GT (the old title of Gay Times deemed to be just too ‘Gay’ these days!) give me back all that I seem to want out of life, love and happiness when it is branded, advertised and airbrushed. The reiteration and reinforcement of all that is stereotypically ‘me’ effortlessly sounds out page after page and it’s hard to resist the latest commodity that would either look great in my flat or even better on me.

I am also part of that demographic of men who are safe and appealing to the market because we buy, and there is nothing better than a savvy yet simultaneously seducible male consumer to keep the capitalist barometer going. I am also led into believing that I am unique, that this latest bottle of Tom Ford encapsulates who I am or that I really need a Paul Smith dressing gown and once again my role and my purpose is neatly contained and sustained for me. Phew, rant (almost) over but hopefully point conveyed!

But what of the men’s magazines that do not speak to me?  The ones I see arrogantly and seamlessly standing on the shelves of WH Smith’s but intentionally turn away from because they are too blatant, too laddish and let’s face it, just too degrading to women. The cheaply produced weekly ordeals in boobs, football and extreme injuries or activities in far-off (their words not mine!) uncivilised lands sell like hotcakes and the ways in which men are addressed could not be further away from the fashion and lifestyle-based stuff I consume.

But maybe that’s the key: the construction and aspiration for a ‘lifestyle’ or rather ‘lifestyles’ that can be viewed and manipulated from a distance. Men’s magazines (in fact all magazines) are just like pornography; they don’t answer back, they don’t laugh at you, they momentarily satisfy until the next desire comes along.

So what’s going on here? Not everyone draws out the same thing from the magazines that they buy and if they did the world would be incredibly banal, so looking again I tried to unpick what unites these very different sorts of men’s magazines and the place I got back to was not identity, not lifestyle but sex!

Thinking and looking – again the objectification of women and more blatantly men in the gay publications –  the assumption that readers are gendered and sexualised in a particular way seems to haunt each and every representation, article, photograph. Whilst social, economic and political roles and contexts have shifted we still as men, and probably more so as women, live with the problematic fact that ‘Sex Sells’!

Related posts:

1. Writing for women’s magazines
2. Travel writing: in-flight magazines
3. 11 Types of Articles to Write for Magazines

“I’m pretty much easy on subjects:  funny, light-hearted, twist-in-the-tale, thought provoking, crime, sci-fi, things along those lines. Nothing dark, heavy of graphically hideous! As for poets, as long as the poem fits on an A4 sheet, it should be fine,” says Vivienne. Unfortunately, they don’t accept writing for children at this time

There is a print and electronic version of the magazine which comes out bi-monthly. It’s published in the UK but accepts submissions from abroad. There is no payment for publication, but if you would like to showcase your writing, this may be an outlet for you.  Good luck!

Related posts:

1. Non-fiction market opportunities
2. Magazine ‘lead times’

The next edition is due out in July and Zainab is looking for writers from around the world.  This is currently unpaid work, but if the magazine takes off, the publishers hope to start paying contributors. You don’t have to be Iraqi, but you do have to be supportive of Iraqi efforts to redefine themselves in the public eye. There is more to Iraq than that shown through the lens of the Western media. If you would like to chat to her more or find out what she is looking for, drop her a line at mail@iciraq.com.

If you would like some advice on how to write a feature article or how to write a proposal, check out The Crafty Writer’s free non-fiction writing course.

Related posts:

1. Magazine ‘lead times’
2. Non-fiction market opportunities
3. The basics of feature writing 1

Occasionally poachers turn into gamekeepers, but few hold down both jobs at the same time. I’ve been a freelance journalist for 15 years, selling ideas to a variety of newspapers and magazines both in the UK and abroad. But for the last 10 years, I’ve combined my freelancing with a part-time job as a commissioning editor at a national newspaper.

So, to keep the countryside metaphor running, I see things from both sides of the fence. I understand and share the joys and tribulations of both freelances and editors. I know the frustration of spending hours, sometimes days on a pitch only to have it dismissed by an editor within seconds or, worse, get no response at all. Likewise, I know how tiresome it can be to wade through hundreds of pitches a week from freelances who seem never to have read your newspaper section.

There are no definitive rights and wrongs to successful pitching. Most of what you’re about to read is just my take on the subject: what I’ve found to be successful along with my own pet likes and dislikes. At the end of the day, commissioning editors are (mostly) human beings with different styles, opinions, backgrounds, prejudices and hang-ups. And the more you build up a relationship with them, the easier you’ll find it to tailor pitches to what they want.

 So here goes, in no particular order, my tips for successful pitching:

Know the publication that you’re pitching to inside out.

Make sure you’ve read the last half dozen issues cover to cover so that you’ve got a good handle on its style, feel, philosophy, and most importantly – the features that have already run.

Email your idea, don’t phone.

Most editors are busy, busy people. Assessing pitches is just one part of their job, and most editors like to do it at a time of their choosing – not when a freelance decides they have something to sell.

Pitch a headline, standfirst and summary paragraph.

There’s no need to load your email with much else, other than a few lines at the end about who you’ve written for in the past. Emails with large attachments like pics tend to find themselves deleted on arrival (often by automated spam filters).

Don’t pester.

Unless you’re pitching a news story that needs to run within the next couple of days, leave it a couple of days or even more before emailing or phoning to follow-up your email pitch. No-one likes a stalker.

Don’t overpromise.

If you want to build a long and (hopefully) profitable relationship with a commissioning editor, don’t pretend that you and your writing are something that you’re not. If your work doesn’t match the original pitch, your copy is headed for the spike and you can forget about pitching to that editor again.

Only once you’ve been commissioned should you ask about payment.

And don’t quibble about rates until you have established a track record with that editor.

Hit the deadline.

In my experience, the most successful freelances are not necessarily the best, most eloquent writers. They’re the ones who are professional and dependable. Reliability will improve your chances of more successful pitches.

Don’t hassle your editor.

Once you’ve filed your copy, don’t hassle for a publication date or a copy of the magazine to be sent to you and your granny. Like I said, editors have many things to juggle and you don’t want to get a reputation for being ‘high maintenance’.

Keep on keeping on.

Another trait of a successful freelance is persistence. If you don’t get a response (positive or otherwise) to your first pitch, try another idea, then another, then another. Hopefully with each knock-back you’ll be learning a little more about what the editor is looking for and refine your next pitches accordingly.

Don’t ask for ideas.

Don’t ask an editor “What sort of features are you looking for?” It’s your job to come up with the ideas! Editors aren’t in the business of providing employment for freelances. They’re in the business of filling big expanses of white space. Instead, make it easier for them by thinking of ways in which your feature idea could be packaged and illustrated by suggesting box-outs, panels, sidebars, pics and graphics.

Would you read it?

And always, always ask yourself the question: Is this a feature
that I would want to read myself?

Excellent advice Ian, and sorry I stalked you to get this article!

Related posts:

1. Screenwriting: the perfect pitch
2. Freelance writing for the internet
3. What to do when you don’t get paid

For some excellent tips on creating the perfect intro visit Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen’s article on Writing Great Leads in which she encourages you to shock, challenge or provoke your readers into reading on. Laurie, along with yours truly,  is one of the regular contributors to the Write On blog carnival.

Related posts:

1. 11 Types of Articles to Write for Magazines
2. Freelance writing markets
3. Do you write ‘publishable’ English?

I found this article on a blog carnival I participated in over on The Incurable Disease of Writing. Check it out for a great round-up of the best on the web.

And don’t forget that our free non-fiction writing course also offers you some ideas on what and how to write for magazines.

Related posts:

1. Book Review Carnival
2. Intros: hooking your reader
3. Travel writing: in-flight magazines

Reality check

So you love reading women’s magazines, and now you want to write for them. They’re a fun, easy read, so they must be fun and easy to write for. Well here’s the reality.

The rates for consumer magazines have barely gone up in the past 15 years, and the work required before you get a commission has rocketed. Yet there’s never been a better time to break into freelancing. So long as you’re savvy.

Three types of writers

I’ve noticed that there are three types of women who want to write for women’s magazines. The first camp has already worked in the media, but not as writers. Then there are the starry-eyed super-positive ones who see their names in the Mail On Sunday’s You magazine, or Sunday Times Style. And finally there are the insecure ones who have always wanted to do this, and wonder whether they’re up to it.

The first lot are already well prepared, and likely to succeed. Whether they’ve worked in PR or as makeup artists for magazines, they already know the territory: the importance of understanding the readership for each and every publication, as well its competition, how newspapers, the internet and magazines all relate to each other, and that it’s as much about knowing how to sell yourself, as the mechanics of putting a piece together.

If you’re a fresh 21 year old out of university, then embarking on a career with a naïve, starry-eyed approach works. But for the older woman, the brutal reality is, it doesn’t. However, if you’re thinking of writing having had one career, you’d like something flexible, and you’re not expecting to see your name in Sunday supplements and glossy titles immediately, then provided you put the time in to study the publications, and turn insecurity into willingness to learn, it’s a viable choice.

Do the research

Magazines depend on freelancers. But much of the work, especially finding case studies (the mainstay of women’s magazines), is labour intensive, and not cost effective. And before you get the go-ahead commission to write a piece, you’ll have to supply the research, packaged as an outline for the piece, complete with cover line, headline, and what’s known as a sell (two lines that sum up the piece in a snappy, compelling way).

If you start from the basis of what you know or need to know, whether that’s your IT knowledge or which eco nappies are best for your newborn, you won’t be wasting any time. If you have a huge network of mums, for example, then talking to mums and sourcing personal stories will be easy. But if you’re a single woman working for a bank, then finding interviews for a story on modern motherhood is going to be logistically difficult.

All that glitters

The easiest way to get into magazines, and for that matter newspapers, is to go for the least glamorous part of publications, not the big impressive features. Look for all those Me and My Holiday/Finances/Wardrobe, How To slots, and career/employment pages as a starting point. These are all written to a formula, and they are short – so you won’t have a nervous breakdown writing them.

From my experience of running courses, those bent on writing pieces about themselves for weekend supplements and top glossy titles, despite knowing that they are competing with top journalists for that work, give up.

Work your way up

But the women I’ve seen succeed in writing for women’s magazines are the ones who weren’t status hooked, and have been willing to start off with local papers, trade magazines (perhaps related to their own jobs), and lesser known consumer titles. That way they gather a track record and the confidence that gets them into bigger and better magazines. This is also the path most experienced journalists take anyway –from the bottom, moving up.

Related posts:

1. Women writers: new website
2. Understanding men’s magazines
3. Travel writing: in-flight magazines