Publishing Credits
The first thing agents and editors look for in an author's bio is publishing credits. Book credits are best, of course, because they show that you've done the heavy lifting required for a book-length manuscript. But there are lots of opportunities to get your shorter works published, and these can add up to an impressive resume of credentials.
Nonfiction tends to be easier to break into than fiction for first-time authors. If you can turn a hobby or area of interest into a salable nonfiction book, that publishing credit will be a point in your favor when the time comes to market your novel.
Magazine Credits
Everyone's impressed when you get an article published in a national magazine like
The best place to start may be in your own geographical area. Most medium and large cities have at least a few publications — local business magazines, entertainment magazines, and the like — that are very specific in their coverage area and may be open to “contributing writers” who aren't on their staff. You probably won't make a lot of money submitting your articles to these periodicals, but you should be able to earn some clips for your credentials folder.
There are all kinds of magazines, each of them a potential market for your articles. Trade journals target highly specific audiences — meeting and event planners, for example, or coffee distributors, or chiefs of police, or youth soccer coaches. Can you turn one of your interests or hobbies into a bylined article for one of these publications? These types of magazines vary in their policies about accepting freelance articles, but it's worth doing some research to see if there's an opening for you.
Many small-circulation and literary magazines pay contributors only in copies; no money changes hands. Don't turn up your nose at these opportunities, especially if you're just beginning your writing career. They still count as publishing credits, and many authors have used these opportunities as springboards to more lucrative projects.
Some of the national magazines are open to freelance submissions as well. Often they reserve feature articles for their staff writers or for freelancers they've worked with before, but many have departments that are open to newcomers. Usually these are for shorter pieces, and pay rates run the spectrum from a very few dollars to several hundred — or even $1,000 or more. When you're just starting out, you might have to weigh the advantages of a published byline against the disadvantage of little or no pay.
Newspaper Credits
Daily and weekly newspapers can be gardens of opportunity for the freelancer. Many hire “stringers” to help cover local sports, review concerts or plays, or to submit periodic columns with a specific theme such as “The Outdoor Life.” Again, pay rates vary widely.
The amount of time and effort you have to put in for such work also will vary. You have to decide whether it's worth the hours and (probably) low pay to be able to tell a prospective agent or editor that you've been a weekly columnist for the Rochester, N.Y.,
National newspapers are much more difficult to break into, but you might be able to get a clip from a high-profile publication by writing a killer opinion piece. Letters to the editor, which are quite short (usually no more than 150 words), especially for newspapers like
Some newspapers have “community columnists” — people who don't work for the paper but who are leaders in the community. Often these guest columnists are invited to write a monthly column for, say, a year; then a new crop of guest columnists is brought in. Contact the opinion page editor at your local newspaper to see if this is a possibility for you.
Newsletter Credits
Newsletters can provide different kinds of opportunities for the aspiring writer. Most companies, even relatively small ones, have newsletters for their employees; while some of them are done in-house, some regularly hire freelancers. A few outsource everything, from the writing and editing to design and production. A gig with a strong newsletter can give you a boost when it comes time to pitch your book idea, especially if the main topic of the newsletter relates in some way to the topic of your book.
If you have the time and ambition, you can start your own newsletter. Most home computers include some variety of self-publishing software, but a newsletter doesn't have to be fancy. Choose a topic you're interested in — a social cause, for example, or a fascinating hobby — and build a subscriber base. If you can tell an agent or editor that you're the founder and writer of the “Thrill of Falling” newsletter for skydiving enthusiasts, with 300 subscribers in the Pacific Northwest, you're demonstrating that you have experience in writing and in marketing what you write.
Magazines and newspapers require the same kind of research you'll do for your book proposal. Offer the editor something so perfectly tailored to his publication's readership and style that he'd be crazy to pass it up, and you'll have the best odds of getting your article published.
Brochures, Fliers, and Reports
Many companies and organizations hire freelancers to write copy for promotional brochures, fliers for special offers or events, and even for their quarterly or annual reports to shareholders. Some of these projects are more involved than others, of course, but any kind of writing project will add to your experience, and a three-fold brochure is easy enough to include with your query letter as a sample of your work.
Web Sites
The Internet has made it easier than ever for aspiring writers to get their works into the public eye. Keep in mind that all Web-related publishing credits are not created equal; no agent or editor will be impressed if all your material has been published solely on your own homepage and the only people who read it are your second cousins in Osceola.
Posting articles on the Internet counts as publication, which means you can't sell first serial rights to a conventional publication for the same article. However, depending on the readership of the Web site, you might be able to convince a magazine to reprint your Internet article, and such reprints count as additional publishing credits when you market your book.
However, big numbers are impressive. If you publish a weekly blog (a Web log, or online journal) about your dogs, for example, and you can truthfully say you get an average of 100,000 unique visitors to your site each month, you have a selling point that will impress agents and editors. Not only does it demonstrate your writing ability, it gives you a platform to announce your newly published book to an interested audience. Starting your own Web site isn't difficult, and it's inexpensive if you learn to do it yourself. Readers will find your site if you provide valuable, interesting content, and you can build a following that can translate into book readership.
Many established authors have personal Web sites that serve as monthly newsletters to their readers. The content may include informative articles, free tips or advice, and announcements of new products, including books and magazine articles and where they can be found. Setting up your own Web site now can serve you well as you embark on your writing career.
