Writer's Digest Guide to Magazine Article Writing: A Practical Guide to Selling Your Pitches, Crafting Strong Articles, & Earning More Bylines

It has been a goal of mine for a couple of years to write articles for magazines. I have read many articles on the subject, several books from other authors and I even attended writers’ workshops on the topic.For years I have heard the industry terms such as “byline”, “lede” and “on spec” thrown around by so called experts with vague explanations of those words as if I was expected to have learned their meaning in pre-school.After readings Kerrie Flanagan’s book, “Guide to magazine article writing” it all makes sense. Those buzzwords, along with all the others that are the part of a freelance writer’s vocabulary, are no longer racing through my head as if they were a herd of feral cats. Flanagan has helped me tame those cats into one friendly orange feline who lays in my office window and comforts me as I enter this new world of writing.As I sat in my office reading Flanagan’s book, I did not experience the feeling of an author talking down to me with the arrogance that they are doing me a favor. Instead Flanagan’s words on the pages came across as if we are two equals, sitting at a restaurant, discussing freelance writing while Flanagan sips a glass of wine.I cannot say that if you skip all the other books on the topic of freelance writing and only read Flanagan’s book, that you will instantly understand everything. I can say that if you read her books first, it will be a good starting point on your journey as a freelance writer.

Quick turn around and I look forward to using this book as a helpful tool. Thank You!

Writing is as much of a tradition as it is an art form, and like most traditions, tricks of the trade are passed down from practitioner to apprentices. This book, informed by Flanagan’s 20 years of experience as a writer, introduces readers to the publishing industry.As the title implies, this work is specifically geared towards writing magazine articles. Flanagan describes how to organize one’s self towards the production of copy for magazines. This book provides a high-level overview of the entire process – from coming up with an idea to studying a topic, from signing legal contracts to setting long-term goals. References are provided for more in-depth exploration of a particular topic.Flanagan provides examples from her own writing and from others’ writing to illustrate her points and to keep the book light and interesting. The intended audience of this book consists of aspiring writers and writers who have already gained some experience but are desiring more. I recommend it as a helpful resource for those seeking to learn about writing outside of the traditional school environment.

This book contains everything that’s needed to get started writing. The samples are well done and the entire book will be a reference for a long time in the future.

I devoured this book within days of receiving it and have incorporated so many of the ideas within as I am a published writer and full time freelancer. From writing tight articles to pitching magazines and composing a stellar query, don't go another day without ordering this book if this is within your line of writing skills. Even as a published writer I came away with so much goodness!

This is a fantastic, well written and well thought out book. Ms. Flanagan provides invaluable tips, advice, and resources for those interesting in magazine feature writing. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a helpful and up to date guide on the feature writing process and lifestyle.

I have a shelf of books on freelance writing. This one jumped to one of my favorite top-five books.It's an excellent resource for anyone wanting to tackle the world of writing magazine articles.

As an owner of over 50 writing craft books, I bought this book with high expectations. I wanted to figure out how to break into writing for magazines and journals. What I found instead is an essay trying to be a book. Too much filler and not enough content. It tries to do too much and as a result it accomplishes too little.For example, Chapter 6 "Writing the Article" relies heavily on Strunk & White offering many tips on writing that are covered in far more depth and better in so many other places. I would think someone who wanted to write for magazines would already know their writing has to be stellar if not awe inspiring. As someone always trying to build my skill level, I expected a book on magazine writing to get to it with details on how to craft an amazing magazine article and then provide examples from articles that set new standards for this genre.Chapter 7 “Goal Setting” and Chapter 8 “Productivity, Organization and Creativity” are more of the same. There are other books that cover these topics much better.Throughout the book examples are offered from the author's personal work. Nothing wrong with showcasing your own work if you are a notable author but please. For instance, Costco Connections is mentioned in several places as an example of somewhere a writer can write for. I don't know about others, but our Costco Connections goes straight into the trash.I did find a couple of nuggets. Chapter 3 "Studying the Magazine" (as another reviewer noted) is helpful along with Chapter 4 “Writing an Effective Query Letter”. But as I said earlier most of the book is too general to be of much use. In fact, although I have never done it before, I am so disappointed with this book I am considering returning it to Amazon.

An essential guide for the writer of magazine article.

This book contains all the information and helps a novice or professional writer needs from "why write for magazines" to "Paying markets" and everything in between. A standard on a writer's bookshelf.

This is a very helpful book. It is very clearly written.

Good book plenty of info on how to get magazine articles published.

I did not find this book helpful and I wish I hadn't paid attention to the other reviews that mainly said it was helpful. After purchasing many books in the same vein I have come to the conclusion that I am better off deconstructing published articles for myself and seeing how they work. Information on magazines can be found readily online and they generally have information on how to make a query. You really do learn more by reading published articles than trying to get inside knowledge through a book that tries to provide guidance. I am glad I didn't pay a great deal of money for it.