The first article I ever wrote shared how my husband and I co-owned a Correct Craft water ski boat with another couple. Due to the high price of the boat, co-ownership made the purchase possible. My article explained how well our arrangement worked, and outlined what readers should include in their contracts. I sold this article to the first magazine I submitted it to – The Water Skier. Subsequently, I sold reprints to The Correct Craft Tribune, Trailer Boats, Heartland Boating, and Lake Country Journal.

Another of my articles was based on improving our family dinner hour. During our meal, I went around the table, asking each person questions about their day. This how-to article sold to Wisconsin Woman, and was reprinted in Parish Family Digest, Living for the Whole Family, San Diego Family Magazine, and Charlotte Parent.

I have sold articles, personal essays, devotionals, poems, and stories to more than 60 magazines. Many have been reprint sales, and the two examples above are my most recurrent reprint sales to date.

When I do market research for the initial sale of a manuscript, I mainly concentrate on publications that buy first or one-time rights. After the article is published, I constantly watch for additional markets where I can submit these same articles.

Generating reprint sales involves little effort because the articles have already been written and published. All that’s needed is market research, looking for every possible market that’s not in direct competition with another. Thus, regional family magazines were great choices for my dinner article. For the co-ownership of a boat article, my sales included a water ski magazine, various boating magazines, and a recreational lifestyle magazine.

Selling an article once is profitable. But, continuing to sell the same article reaps substantial rewards.

Sue Carloni is a freelance writer who lives in Wisconsin. She has been published in more than 60 magazines. Her writing has appeared in such publications as Guideposts, Woman’s World, Mature Living, Living for the Whole Family, Christian Communicator, Fellowscript, Byline, Funds for Writers, Lutheran Digest, Teaching Tolerance, and Teachers of Vision. She writes for both children’s and adult publications in the religious and secular markets.