Live blog! Breaking Into Major Magazines

This promises to be an informative, not to mention popular, workshop. As it's my first attempt at a live blog, I will do my best to hit the highlights! Panelists are Mary Kay Blakely, associate professor for magazine journalism, University of Missouri; Barbara Jones, deputy editor, More magazine; and Julia Kagan, health director, Ladies Home Journal. Alicia Shepard, ombudsman, National Public Radio, and author of "Woodward & Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate," is moderating. Be back in 5!

Something new! If you meet someone at a cocktail party three times, it's called a New York Friendship.

So we're starting off with a little role-playing, a fun way to communicate a key message: work your connections!!!

Make sure you read at least three past issues, know the voice of the magazine, and look at the different departments of the publication (this is courtesy of an in-the-know audience member...this place is crawling with in-the-knows!)

Barbara says look at the sections of the magazine to see if they take freelancers, especially those looking for "real" folks.

(The aforementioned in-the-know is Katherine Lanpher, New York-based writer/broadcaster/author. Met her last night. One word: dynamo.)

Some magazines pay a research fee when they ask for more information. How much, asks Jennifer L. Pozner (WIMN). Barbara says it's what they have available.

How passionate are you about a story? Are you willing to take a risk to get it published (i.e., going to a lower-paying publication). That will tell the magazine that they should take a risk on it.

Julia says often they want proposals, even from frequent contributors, because of all the eyes it has to go through on the masthead.

Alicia asks about waiting to hear back after presenting a story. Barbara notes we're in a changing landscape. The editor-in-chief is trying to make decisions, and they're fluid, plus it has to go through a train of editors. "We don't know if your proposal is going to survive the storm."

Barbara: An editor-in-chief of a magazine is no longer the EIC of a magazine; she's the EIC of a brand. That means less time for the publication. And when she has to read 100 pages a night, that adds up. IMPORTANT: If you become a pest, asking about your proposal over and over, the editor will get tired of you.

Question: What is the definition of a pest? Julia says if you haven't heard in a month, it's OK to send an e-mail. A nice, friendly, short e-mail. Do not harrass the nice editors. They feel guilty about not having more time!

Mary Kay: Don't think of yourself as a pest. Think of yourself as a person giving this editor an opportunity at compassion. Guilt is a powerful tool for a writer to use (just like motherhood).

Did you know? Do not make telephone pitches, so sayeth Julia. Alicia: Be warmly aggressive and professionally persistent.

Question: How do you protect yourself from having your ideas stolen? (And yes, it does happen, Barbara says). The more detailed the pitch, the more protected you are. There also could be multiple pitches on the same idea, so it may not be thievery.

(What do Ludacris and Kanye West have in common? Very accomplished moms who manage their careers. Who knew?)

Part II: Alicia's fake scenario proposal is accepted. What next? Julia says you get a contract. Look at if they pay on acceptance or publication...if it's the latter, it could take years (ew). Question: can you negotiate the payment? Julia says you can ask, but sometimes it's a policy written in blood.

Barbara: Be as clean as you can with contracts. You make the decisions about what you risk, and don't. If you have never written for the publication before, be safe for yourself but don't be a pain in the butt. Be reasonable about your demands, whether it's money or copyrights. Consider asking for 50 percent if you're waiting a long time for acceptance.

Mary Kay: Kill fees are unfortunately still with us in the freelance business. She asks if they're still doing North American rights? Contracts today want you to sign away rights to all publications, those existing and possibly in the future, in the universe! Don't be afraid to tweak contracts to protect your work (because who wants to see their byline in Alien Monthly in 2087? Not me.)

Alicia's fake story is accepted. Now it's fact-checking time. Julia wants all your notes, tapes, etc. Every fact has to have a source, preferably more than one, and those sources should be prepared to get a call from a fact checker. Question: Do the notes, etc., get returned. Julia says yes, but check with magazine. Katherine says some recent contracts wanted complete transcripts of tapes (double ew).

Barbara has regular writers who do their own transcription. That's gold, baby! Gold! She also has arranged for writers to have their tapes transcribed by someone else, but these are veteran contributors.

Question: Do magazines expect interviews to be recorded? Julia says it depends. If it's a prominent source, like Nancy Pelosi, tape it. She might be tough for a fact checker to track down.

Alicia asks what should be in the e-mail subject line? Julia gets 500 e-mails a week, and spends hours cleaning it out. Make sure your pitch does not get mistaken for a PR pitch. "Pitch from writer/and a strong interesting line here" (And yes, having JAWS in the subject line gets her attention!!)

Or "Katherine Lanpher send me" (but only if she did). Avoid Read Me, etc. You'll get pitched.

Wanna know how far ahead these women work? Julia is planned through March, so looking for stuff for next April. Same with Barbara. They're working on early next year editions now. (Wow.) But they do accommodate timely stories.

What do you do if you don't have an in-the-know to get you in the door at a magazine? Julia says look at the news holes in the magazine, and those features done regularly by outside contributors. Barbara says offering up an area of expertise and good writing can invite attention. Find a niche and master it. And good writing doesn't hurt. Mary Kay says offering a new view on an old subject (like diets) are great. Holiday stories are always good hooks, but get your pitch out early. Sell yourself. Funny, moving personal stories are enticing.

Key tip: Write a compelling first paragraph in your pitch. Having a niche or beat is also good, because they know you'll be an expert and can flesh out a story.

Q&A begins! Q: What are you looking for in a pitch? Julia: Strong voice. Barbara: If it's an essay, the essay.

Q: Can you pitch multiple stories along the same subject for different publications? Barbara: This happened recently (More published the same story, by the same writer, as a major weekly magazine), and now that writer is mud. Probably a good idea to stay with publication until the piece is done. But she doesn't think anything is wrong with pitching to multiple publications (and don't say that in your pitch!) Julia says most publishers would disagree with that. But if you get a positive response to a query, take it, and be honest with the other publications you've pitched. Bottom line: Get your foot in the door, however you can. (And you heard it from Barbara...white lies are occasionally OK).

www.fij.org help fund freelance journalists. Book proposals, stories, etc. Check them out!

Q: What stories are you missing, and what stories are you tired of? Barbara is good with Uganda for a while. Steer clear. Julia is done with hormones, but can handle lots of stress. Barbara is looking for a memoir, but your competition is stiff. And check out the small bits (opinions, rants, personal essay, etc.) at the front of her magazine. "We welcome voice. We want women's voices." Oh, and if you're younger than 40, you'll only have a shot at features where there's no photo. Sorry 20- and 30-somethings!

Responds Katherine: "More isn't for women 40 and under, but ha ha, everything else is!!"

Barbara adds that in the book world, youth is king. (And there's less fact-checking, says Katherine.)

Q: If a version of a story that has apperaed in a local paper or magazine, can it be resold? Julia would prefer it to be new, but a national version isn't out of the question.

Q: A freelancer asks about marketing yourself and managing your business? Mary Kay says freelancers spend about half their time marketing. Try and turn a few successful stories into a regular feature with that publication. Also pitch ideas that can be piggybacked into a book or screenplay or regular stories.

Q: What does it take to become a contributing editor? And when you pitch to two different places, how bad do you look if you have to back out of one agreement? Barbara says if two editors are fighting over your piece, that's good. Take the action and see what happens. In women's magazines, most contributing editors aren't getting any money for it. You'll get some assignments, though that may not be a contracted thing. And it's a way to keep a writer from going elsewhere, in some cases.