By Lis Garrett
Keywords: fillers, consumer magazines, print, submission
Aspiring writers crave seeing their words on the shiny pages of consumer magazines. After toiling over long feature articles, submitting them on speculation and watching the rejection slips pile up, disappointment can creep in. Luckily, one area in print media is relatively easy to break into.
Fillers. You know them, the little ditties in the sidebar that offer "Seven Ways to Organize Your Undergarments," or "Warning Signs Your Significant Other is Unfaithful." Fillers are short quips that whisper in the reader's ear, dangling a juicy carrot of quick information in an easy-to-read format. Magazine publishers like fillers because they break up a full page of printed text and draw the reader in.
With a small investment of time, a little research and a dash of creativity, you can start selling fillers to trade and consumer magazines and make a respectable amount of cash for your effort.
Start by browsing through consumer magazines, especially women's and teen magazines. Magazines are nice to have on hand for reference, but save money by borrowing off-the-rack copies from your local library.
Organize your potential markets by purchasing index cards and creating a file for each magazine with the names, addresses, departments and the corresponding editors who regularly use fillers.
Keep a small notepad and pen handy at all times to record ideas for fillers as they occur to you. Did you see that motorcyclist barely escape a collision? "Keeping your Teen Safe on a Motorcycle," might be the title of a potential submission. Moreover, with the rising cost of groceries, "Ten Tasty Menus on a Budget" will have publishers vying for your article. Ideas are everywhere, so record them before you forget.
Set a goal to write five fillers a week, one for each weekday, then hold on to them over the weekend. Reread them before sending them off on Monday. Waiting a few days after writing allows you to proofread with fresh eyes and make any needed changes. There's no need to send a query letter with your filler, but be sure to include a brief statement as to why your filler is right for that consumer magazine. Mail them out, and begin writing your next filler.
Tracking your submission is the key to knowing what you've sent out and to where. Additionally, keeping track of each submission will let you know when you can resubmit it to a different market if you don't hear back from the first editor. Save your submission in a file on your computer, and remember to make a note detailing to where and when you sent the filler. When you look through the files, you can sort them by date, resubmitting the ones that are at least four months old to a new magazine. Be sure to add your new submission notes for tracking purposes. When a filler sells, move it from your "Submissions" folder to a "Sold" folder.
Send your fillers to only one market at a time. Occasionally, editors will keep a filler on file for a few months before offering to purchase it.
If you want your filler returned, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with your submission. However, busy editors may appreciate a notice at the bottom of the filler telling them it is a disposable submission and that they may throw it away.
Follow the guidelines of the publication carefully when you're e-mailing fillers. If they want you to include the filler in the body of the email, don't attach it as a document. Type on a clean sheet of paper and double-space your text when mailing out submissions. Run your spellchecker and then proofread again before you ever send out a filler.
Consider writing one or two more fillers per day once writing fillers becomes routine. The more you send off, the better your chances are for maintaining a high number of acceptances. That first sale will happen if you are persistent.
Glenda Taylor is a freelance writer living in central Kansas.
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