Magazine articles

[SHRED]

I am just starting to write articles for a kayak magazine.

What would you recommend I use regarding writing/editing software and books to learn how to write effectively?
Being a newbie to writing I would like to ease the burden on my editor.
LOL!

[Killarney]

1. I would just use Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word has a spell-checker and word-counter and that's all you need. If your editor is going to accept your articles via email, Word is most likely the format he/she wants anyway.

I would definitely pick up a few books on grammar & self-editing from the library, too. I have a couple that I've loved, but they were for novel writing. Self-editing will be a bit different for articles.

[Rockerdem]

2. Doe one need an agent to be taken seriously for the better mags?

I have a killer idea, but dont have an agent. Are they mandatory? I wish that someone here would start an "agent" thread. Im too new to be allowed to do it.

[RagingInMiami]

3. You don't need an agent

All you need are writing samples.

[Rockerdem]

4. Thank you, & . . .

One more thing. So many new writers complain that it is tough to get going. They're the same ones that can pound out 2,500 words per day on message boards for free, some of it very humorous and creative.

[tjdee]

5. But you can't really say "I write on message boards....hire me!"

That's the thing.

For mags you don't need an agent, but you do need to have writing samples. It's a catch 22. Need writing samples to get published, need to get published to have writing samples.

[mykytyn]

6. Try some of the better web magazines

Try submitting work to some of the better online magazines.
The Surfaceonline.org is a pretty good one (well I edit it so I would say that).
Most don't pay but you can at least have a notable addition to your writing CV.

www.surfaceonline.org is a Scottish based international arts and commentary magazine with an audience of about 850,000 per issue - with a large number of agents and publishing house workers on the mailing list. It is not for profit - with no advertising and a policy of looking for new artists and writers doing radical interesting work.
It is at least a stepping stone.

Tom Cochrane

[indigobusiness]

7. What a splashdown! Good first post.

Welcome to DU. I will send you something.

I look forward to your ideas and advice here.

[kainah]

8. learn how to craft a query letter

Most magazines don't want to see an article, they want to see a well-crafted query letter. In one page, tell them the title -- very important -- how you will approach the subject and give them the first one-two paragraphs. Then a quickie summary of your qualifications for doing it. If you don't have writing credentials for doing it, tell them what you have. If they like the idea, they'll ask to see it on spec. Then you write it, and hopefully they buy it.

Query letters are the key to mag writing. I'm sure if you searched the web, you'd find some samples. It's hard to write all you need in a one-page query. If you can do that well, most editors will have faith that you can handle the article.

Edited to add: I wrote magazine articles for about 5 years -- until I got tired of such short bites & went to a booklength project -- and never, not once did an editor ask to see a writing sample from me. The query letter was your writing sample. And I wrote for some pretty major magazines, like American Heritage and some big travel mags.