I don’t own a copy of Writer’s Market (the book published by Writers Digest Books). No offense, but I already have access to more markets than the book provides without the additional cost. Here’s how.
By using the right combination of keywords and search techniques you can find new markets to query all day long. Here are some examples of useful searches.
Go to https://www.google.com. Type in exactly the following, quotes included:
“editorial calendar”
How many hits? 402,000! They won’t all be unique, nor all on target, but you will find enough markets to make this method a mainstay in your stable of ways to find work. So what did we find? Variety.com, Internet World, Post Magazine, Network Computing, Communications Engineering & Design, Crains New York Business, The Journal of Commerce, New Architect Magazine, Transform Magazine and many, many others. A seemingly countless array of publications – substantially more and most are more current than those found in Writer’s Market.
Want to narrow your search? Go to the link at the bottom of the search results page that says “Search within results”. Open that link and, in the search field at the top, type a representative keyword for the topic area you write for. Remember, it must be a word that will show up on the sites of publications that you would write for. In my case, a good word might be “technical” (no quotes). What do I get? Communications Convergence, MacTech, Technical Support magazine, IEEE Software, Design News, Rural Electric Magazine, JavaWorld and, again, many, many other publications. How many? Well there are 41,100 hits, and I’d bet you that at least 15%, or 6,165 hits, are unique, viable writer markets.
You can run searches for your keywords within the larger body of results or you can begin with a different conglomerate of findings by starting your search with:
“writer’s guidelines”
“writers’ guidelines”
“authors’ guidelines”
“contributor guidelines”
“contributor’s guidelines”
Leave out the quotes when searching for single words and use them when searching for phrases. Always use lower case as this will search for both small and large case appearances. You can try other search engines too, though Google is my current recommendation.
Is Writer’s Market the only book of its kind?
Oh, no my friends, it is only one of many. And though it may be among the cheapest, it is far from the most exhaustive.
So what else is there? Consider The Gebbie Press All-In-One Media Directory. The paper version (also available on CD) has over 22,000 listings of print and broadcast media. It’s currently available for $105.00 prepaid. That may sound steep, but figure this. If you’re a working writer looking for more work, wouldn’t even just one or two additional decent gigs pay for the resource and still leave you with a profit?
Are there other books like it? Sure. The Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media. That, however, is a much more expensive proposition.
BTW, I told the editor I was going to cover all this “and more”, so, in keeping with my promise, here’s a real topper! Surf to Web sites like https://barnesandnoble.enews.com, which lists the over 100,000 different publications that it sells subscriptions to by name. Find the publications you are looking for, then just look for the magazine’s Web site using Google. Now, find their writer guidelines or editorial calendar directly on their site and start querying!
David Geer holds a BA in Psychology from Lake Erie College. A computer technician by trade, David is now a full-time freelance writer. His specialties include technology (IT, wireless, Nanotechnology and general technology), features, research, PR writing, speeches, Web hosting, fitness, How to, general interest, psychology, music and creative writing. His clips include Laptop magazine, Computer Buyer’s Guide and Handbook, Wireless Business & Technology, Smart Computing, Hostingtech magazine, Geek.com, WritersWeekly.com and PR Fuel. David Geer’s editorial opinion has been solicited by Alex Lightman for Brave New Unwired World (Wiley). David is also a volunteer editor for Netscape’s Open Directory Project. His professional home on the Web can be found at https://geercom.com.