Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2022

By Bloomsbury Publishing

The latest edition of the bestselling guide to all you need to know about how to get published, is packed full of advice, inspiration and practical information. The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook has been guiding writers and illustrators on the best way to present their work, how to navigate the world of publishing and ways to improve their chances of success, for over 110 years.

It is equally relevant for writers of novels and non-fiction, poems and scripts and for those writing for children, YA and adults and covers works in print, digital and audio formats. If you want to find a literary or illustration agent or publisher, would like to self-publish or crowdfund your creative idea then this Yearbook will help you. As well as sections on publishers and agents, newspapers and magazines, illustration and photography, theatre and screen, there is a wealth of detail on the legal and financial aspects of being a writer or illustrator.

New articles for 2022:
Peter James Becoming a bestselling author: my writing story
Femi Kayode Shelf space: a debut writer's journey to claim his place
Sam Missingham Building your author brand
Jonathan Myerson Audio dramatist or novelist?
Ed Needham Setting up and editing a new magazine
Ingrid Persaud The winning touch: the impact of winning an award
Cathy Rentzenbrink Reading as a writer
Sallyanne Sweeney What a debut novelist should expect from an agent
David Wightman Getting books to market: how books are sold
Jonathan and Louise Ford Managing your finances: a guide for writers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jul 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781472982827

Book preview

Other Writers’ and Artists’ titles

Writers’ & Artists’ Guides to . . . Series

Self-publishing

Writing for Children and YA by Linda Strachan

Getting Published by Alysoun Owen

How to Hook an Agent by James Rennoldson

How to Write by William Ryan

The Organised Writer: How to stay on top of all your projects and never miss a deadline by Antony Johnston

‘Antony has uncovered a secret I wish I’d learned twenty years ago; writing benefits way less from inspiration than from sound process.’ Merlin Mann

‘I’m a messy-brained writer. The Organised Writer helped me to tidy-up, and improved my working life on a daily basis.’ Kieron Gillen

The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabularly and Literary Terms

NEW in July 2021

Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2022

‘It’s rare to find a book that’s as useful as it is inspiring . . . essential reading.’ M. G. Leonard

You can buy copies of all these titles from your local bookseller or online at www.writersandartists.co.uk/shop

Special offer

Visit www.writersandartists.co.uk before 30 June 2022 and enter the promotional code WAYB22 to receive an exclusive 10% discount on our editorial services.

A note from the Editor

The Editor welcomes readers to this edition of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook

There is some good news for booklovers, and publishers, from the last year: in 2020 we saw a very significant rise in sales (units and revenue) of consumer or general interest digital and audiobooks, and some more modest increase in print sales too. At times of unexpected incarceration it seems people took solace in the written word. All genres of books, fiction and non-fiction for all ages, sold in greater numbers than in the previous few years. The trend looks set to continue in the immediate term, as Tom Tivnan’s article News, views and trends: review of the publishing year indicates.

Having readers with an appetite for stories is good news for writers, and this Yearbook brings advice from successfully published authors to encourage you as you craft your own narratives. It provides testimonies that span from the very established and international bestselling writer at the top of his game, Peter James (see Becoming a bestselling author: my writing story), to the debut writer Femi Kayode, whose article Shelf space: a debut writer’s journey to claim his space charts how the first in his series of novels came to be published. Are you unsure whether your idea is ripe for a novel or for other treatment? In Audio dramatist or novelist? award-winning writer of novels, film scripts and radio dramas, Jonathan Myerson helps you decide. Ingrid Persaud illustrates how winning a literary prize can help get you and your work noticed (see The winning touch: the impact of winning a prize) and Sam Missingham, in Building your author brand provides tips on how else you might get attention from readers, particularly if you are trying to self-publish.

If finding an agent to represent you is what you are hoping for, then take a look at what Sallyanne Sweeney says in What a debut novelist should expect from an agent. Carina Martin, in Becoming a successful copywriter, suggests how else you might employ your professional creative skills and Ed Needham proves that it is possible to be ambitious and successful in his Setting up and editing a new magazine. Ed’s magazine, Strong Words, is a must for all bibliophiles and, as Cathy Rentzenbrink eloquently reminds us in her essay Reading as a writer, the best writers are readers first.

It is helpful to learn about how the publishing industry operates; sales manager David Wightman provides his insights into selling books in Getting books to market: how books are sold. If you need support with the financial and legal aspects of being a writer or artist, turn to the last two sections of this Yearbook. We have a new piece on Author-Publisher contracts, a completely rewritten article on National Insurance contributions by Sarah Bradford and comprehensive guidance from Jonathan and Louise Ford on Managing your finances: a guide for writers.

Alongside all these news articles are a wide range of updated essays, collectively offering practical advice for poets, novelists, screenwriters, dramatists, and authors of non-fiction books and magazine articles. Whether you seek a publisher or literary agent or want to take the do-it-yourself route, the entries across each section of this book list who you need to contact.

Happy writing, happy book buying and happy reading.

Alysoun Owen, Editor

All articles, listings and other material in this yearbook are reviewed and updated every year in consultation with the bodies, organisations, companies and individuals that we select for inclusion. To the best of our knowledge the websites, emails and other contact details are correct at the time of going to press.

Short story competition

The annual Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition offers published and aspiring writers the chance to win a place on an Arvon residential writing course (worth £850). In addition, the winner’s story will be published on the Writers & Artists website.

To enter the competition, submit a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words, on any theme by 11 February 2022 to [e-mail]. For full details, terms and conditions, and to find out more about how to submit your entry, visit www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions.

runs creative writing courses and retreats from three writing houses in the UK, each in a beautiful rural location. Published writers lead week-long or short residential courses. Covering a diverse range of genres, from poetry and fiction to screenwriting and non-fiction, Arvon courses have provided inspiration to thousands of people at all stages of their writing lives. You can find out more and book a course online at www.arvon.org.

More than a book

The Writers & Artists website (www.writersandartists.co.uk) has relaunched. It offers more free content and resources than ever before.

Here you will find hundreds of articles on the writing and publishing process, regular writing competitions, and a community space to share your work or ask questions about the entire creative process. Brand new features, such as being able to annotate and bookmark pages, can be accessed by creating your free user account. As a registered member of the Writers & Artists community, you will receive – straight to your dashboard – exclusive discounts on books, events and editing services and regular content to match your particular interests.

You can find details of our range of editing services as well as our writing courses and workshops (face-to-face and online), including Manuscript Submission Masterclasses and one-day How to Get Published events.

Our Listings subscription offers you access to the entire database of contacts in the latest edition this Yearbook, as well as hundreds of additional online-only entries.

Whatever your needs, we hope that Writers & Artists resources, whether delivered in an ebook, print, online or at our events, will provide you with the information, advice and inspiration you are looking for.

Contents

A note from the Editor

More than a book

Newspapers and magazines

Getting started

Writing for online and print – Suzanne Elliott

Life’s a pitch: how to get your ideas into print – Mike Unwin

Setting up and editing a new magazine – Ed Needham

Listings

National newspapers UK and Ireland

Regional newspapers UK and Ireland

Magazines UK and Ireland

Syndicates, news and press agencies

Books

The publishing process

How to get published

News, views and trends: review of the publishing year – Tom Tivnan

The mathematics of publishing – Scott Pack

Getting books to market: how books are sold – David Wightman

Crowdfunding your novel – Alice Jolly

Managing a successful writing career – Tony Bradman

Debut success with an indie publisher – Wyl Menmuir

Defining genre fiction – Maxim Jakubowski

On mentoring – Jill Dawson

Listings

Book publishers UK and Ireland

Book publishers overseas

Audio publishers

Book packagers

Inspiring writers

Becoming a bestselling author: my writing story – Peter James

First chapters: how to grab your reader’s attention – Emma Flint

Keeping the writing dream alive – S.J. Watson

Advice to a new writer – Rachel Joyce

Reading as a writer – Cathy Rentzenbrink

Real people write books – Samantha Shannon

Shelf space: a debut writer’s journey to claim his place – Femi Kayode

The winning touch: the impact of winning an award – Ingrid Persaud

The ‘how to’ of writing how-to books – Kate Harrison

Finding my agent – Martina Cole

Notes from a successful children’s author – J.K. Rowling

Writing advice

Changing lanes: writing across genres and forms – Mark Illis

Turning to crime: writing thrillers – Kimberley Chambers

Writing character-led novels – Kerry Hudson

Writing romantic fiction – Raffaella Barker

Ever wanted to write a saga? – Di Redmond

Writing speculative fiction – Claire North

Breaking into comics – Antony Johnston

Writing a romcom – Rachel Winters

Writing historical fiction: lessons learned – Tim Pears

Writing popular history books – Tom Holland

Blurring facts with fiction: memoir and biography – Nell Stevens

Ghostwriting – Gillian Stern

Becoming a successful copywriter – Carina Martin

Making facts your mission: the pleasure of writing non-fiction – Jane Robinson

How to become a travel writer – Jonathan Lorie

Writing about science for the general reader – Suzanne O’Sullivan

So you want to write about nature ... – Melissa Harrison

Writing for the health and wellness market – Anita Bean

Writing sports books – Frances Jessop

Poetry

How to become a poet – Andrew McMillan

Poems for the page and on stage – Raymond Antrobus

Notes from a passionate poet – Benjamin Zephaniah

Getting your poetry out there – Neil Astley

Listings

Poetry organisations

Screen and audio

Successful screenwriting – Anna Symon

Adapting books for stage and screen – Ana Garanito

Writing series for television – Russell Lewis

Podcasting: how to get creative and make money – Sam Delaney

Audio dramatist or novelist? – Jonathan Myerson

Should I make an audiobook? – James Peak

Writing for videogames: a guide for the curious – Chris Bateman

Listings

Television and radio

Theatre

How to get your play published and performed – Temi Wilkey

Writing about theatre: reviews, interviews and more – Mark Fisher

Listings

Theatre producers

Literary agents

What a debut novelist should expect from an agent – Sallyanne Sweeney

What does a literary agent do? – James Rennoldson

Putting together your submission – Hellie Ogden

Advice from an ‘accidental’ agent – Clare Grist Taylor

Cross-format representation: what a literary agent can do for you – Sarah Such

How to submit a non-fiction proposal – Andrew Lownie

A day in the life of a literary agent – Charlotte Seymour

Listings

Literary agents UK and Ireland

Literary agents overseas

Art and illustration

Freelancing for beginners – Fig Taylor

Illustrating non-fiction books – Frances Moffatt

How to make a living: money matters – Alison Branagan

Listings

Art agents and commercial art studios

Card and stationery publishers that accept illustrations and photographs

Societies, prizes and festivals

Festival fun: your guide to why, how and what – Adam Hamdy

Developing talent: support and opportunities for writers – Helen Chaloner

Listings

Society of Authors

WGGB (Writers’ Guild of Great Britain)

Alliance of Independent Authors

Societies, associations and clubs

Prizes and awards

Opportunities for under-represented writers

Prize winners

Festivals and conferences for writers, artists and readers

Self-publishing

Self-publishing online: the emerging template for sales success – Harry Bingham

Going solo: self-publishing in the digital age – Dean Crawford

Getting your book stocked in a high-street bookshop – Sheila O’Reilly

What do self-publishing providers offer? – Jeremy Thompson

In praise of fanfic – Hari Patience

Building your author brand – Sam Missingham

Making waves online – Simon Appleby

Listings

Book sites, blogs and podcasts

Editorial services and self-publishing providers

Resources for writers

Editing your work

Writing an award-winning blog – Julia Mitchell

Indexing – Society of Indexers

ISBNs: what you need to know

Public Lending Right

A matter of style: A mini A-Z of literary terms

Who’s who in publishing

Glossary of publishing terms

Software for writers

Listings

Libraries

Writers’ retreats and creative writing courses

Law and copyright

UK copyright law and publishing rights – Lynette Owen

A legal lexicon

Author-Publisher contracts

Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd

Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society

DACS (Design and Artists Copyright Society)

Publishers’ Licensing Services

Money, tax and benefits

Managing your finances: a guide for writers – Jonathan and Louise Ford

National Insurance contributions – Sarah Bradford

Indexes

Subject indexes

General index

Listings index

During the preparation of this edition of the Yearbook , the impacts of the 2020-21 coronavirus were still being felt. Some of the articles allude to this. The lockdowns and associated social distancing and uncertainties have necessarily impacted on live events such as literary festivals, award ceremonies, poetry and theatre performances, face-to-face creative writing courses, and much more besides. Wehave included updated listings for these as we do every year in consultation with the companies and organisations themselves, though are aware that many will not be going ahead in their usual form. Please do check online for the different ways organisations, societies and other groups will be supporting writers and illustrators over the coming months and be aware that some of the information in this year’s Yearbook will be subject to greater change than usual.

Newspapers and magazines

Getting started

Most of the titles included in the newspapers and magazines section of this Yearbook offer opportunities to the writer. To help you get started, see the guidelines below.

Study the market

• It is an editor’s job to know what readers want, and to see that they get it. Thus, freelance contributions must be tailored to fit a specific market; subject, theme, treatment, length must meet the editor’s requirements.

• Before sending in a pitch, an article or feature, always look at the editorial requirements of the magazine: the subjects covered by the publication as well as the approach, treatment, style and typical length of pieces.

Check with the editor first

• Before submitting material to any newspaper or magazine it is advisable to first contact the relevant editor. A quick telephone call or email will establish the name of the relevant commissioning editor.

• It is not advisable to send illustrations ‘on spec’; check with the editor first.

Understand how the market works

• It is worth considering using an agent to syndicate material. Most agents operate on an international basis and are aware of current market requirements. See here.

• The larger newspapers and magazines buy many of their stories, and the smaller papers buy general articles, through well-known syndicates.

• For the supply of news, most of the larger UK and overseas newspapers depend on their own staff and press agencies. The most important overseas newspapers have permanent representatives in the UK who keep them supplied with news and articles. While many overseas newspapers and magazines have a London office, it is usual for freelance contributions to be submitted to the headquarters’ editorial office overseas.

Payment

• Many newspapers and magazines are reluctant to state a standard rate, since the value of a contribution may be dependent not upon length but upon the standing of the writer or the information supplied. Many other periodicals prefer to state ‘by negotiation’ or ‘by arrangement’, rather than giving precise payment information.

Writing for online and print

Experienced freelance journalist Suzanne Elliott has sound advice on how to work successfully as a writer across different platforms in the age of fake news, social media and new technology.

Not long ago journalists were split into digital or print specialists, with a certain snottiness reserved for the online usurpers. But that attitude has changed and writing for online is no longer considered the poor cousin of print journalism. There is now far more content and staff crossover. Magazines, in particular, have embraced a more fluid relationship between the two platforms, with many pulling everything under a single ‘content’ umbrella.

Having worked in print and online, in newsrooms, for fashion magazines, creative agencies and press agencies, I’ve ridden the wave of a shifting media world over the last 20 years. Having lived through the eye of the storm, it’s been fascinating watching the shift, as the internet changed how we consumed news and, as a consequence, how journalists write.

While this changing environment has proved challenging for traditional news outlets, it does provide exciting opportunities for freelancers and I hope these tips I’ve picked up in my time as a freelance journalist will make it easier for newcomers to exploit.

News writing

Despite the changing landscape, the ‘when, where, who, what, why’ formula still applies – whether you are writing for online or print, newspaper or magazine.

The inverted triangle method puts the most important detail – the five ‘Ws’ – in the first one or two sentences. The reader should be able to stop reading at this point and still have grasped the main points of the story. This journalism 101 may have been around since the printing press but, in a world where people consume news at a rapid pace, it has never been more appropriate. For example:

Two people have died after their car was involved in a collision with a lorry on the M25 near Leatherhead.

After this initial scene setting, you move on to the middle section that fleshes out the story, identifying victims, giving their ages, explaining how the accident happened.

The final third will include other relevant background information, quotes and perhaps a reference to a similar story.

Writing for online v print

While the foundations of journalism apply across all formats, there are some differences between writing for online and print. Online articles traditionally follow several other formats: news pieces; listicles (also popular in magazines); picture-led galleries (usually reserved for fashion, beauty and celebrity content); and short, blog-like articles.

Until recently, the emphasis had been to keep online articles short and, while that rule still applies to a lot of online content, more traditional long-form pieces of between 1,000 and 20,000 words are gaining popularity with publishers and readers.

Many of the regular, daily-updated and news-focused articles will be written in-house, so you will find that focusing on evergreen articles (content that is always relevant and does not date like news stories) can be a more successful route to catching an editor’s eye.

Comment or opinion (op-ed) pieces are common in both print and digital. Timely pieces differ from news articles as they enable a writer to express their own, often provocative or controversial, opinion on a topical subject. They are usually personal and conversational and, unlike a news piece, they entertain as well as stimulate conversation.

What is fake news?

An article no longer has to be a comment or opinion piece to merit discussion. The internet enables readers to give immediate feedback on features and news stories, not all of it positive.

Increasingly, the term ‘fake news’ has become an accusation aimed at journalists by people who don’t like what has been reported. It is also an increasing frustration for journalists trying to unearth the truth in a world full of false chatter. Fake news is nothing new, but in a ‘post-truth’ world, fuelled by social media and with some powerful politicians fixated on it, fake news has become a mainstream problem. Its impact on journalism is not to be underestimated. As it gains traction, fake news makes it difficult for journalists to cover high-profile news stories and undermines reports from reputable publications. Put simply, when we’re telling the truth the world is not listening. A study by Buzzfeed found the top 20 fake news stories about the 2016 US presidential election received more engagement on Facebook than the top 20 real news stories from 19 major media outlets.

Never assume anything that appears on social media – or even other news outlets – is true until you have verified the source yourself. After the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, several posts of fake victims went viral within hours of the attack. One of the photos used in a montage was of Jayden Parkinson who was murdered in 2013, while another showed a picture of a young boy who had been used as a model for a fashion line several years before. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, a story of a baby being thrown from a window and caught was published in many newspapers and websites, but a BBC investigation discovered that the incident probably never happened.

Journalists need to play their part in fighting fake news, not fuelling it. Real news will always take a while to filter through, even in a world where everything is so immediate. Taking time to fact-check in the middle of a frantic breaking news story requires confidence and conviction. But it’s better to be slow than to be wrong.

Style, accuracy and sources

Every publication has its own house style to ensure stylistic consistency and tone of voice. An editor may give you guidelines in the commission, but the best way to get a clear idea of style is to read the magazine, newspaper or website thoroughly.

Fact-check meticulously and don’t be tempted to fudge facts. Choose your words carefully – simply replacing one word for another can alter the meaning of a sentence completely.

Record all interviews and ensure your sources are reliable and trustworthy. Many a journalist has been tripped up by failing to check the credibility of a too-good-to-be-true scoop. In 2004, Piers Morgan was sacked as editor of the Daily Mirror after printing fake photos of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi, claiming he had fallen victim to a ‘calculated and malicious hoax’.

A working knowledge of libel laws is an absolute necessity for any journalist. Writing anything potentially libellous can, at best, end with the publication having to print an apology, and, at worse, land them and you in court.

The Defamation Act was updated in 2013 to include social media. You can defame someone by publishing material:

• in newspapers, magazines and other printed media;

• in radio and TV broadcasts;

• on the internet, including online forums, social media and blogs;

• by email.

Spreading ‘false’ news, through sloppiness and errors of judgement, is only going to further discredit journalism and fuel accusations of fake news in the mainstream media.

The rise of the internet has given a voice to citizen, or public, journalism. American journalist Courtney Radsch, author of Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) defines it as an ‘activist form of news gathering’ that is ‘driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism.’

Technology, including smart phones and social media, have enabled members of the public to report a breaking news story more quickly than journalists, particularly in countries where foreign media access is limited. Citizen journalism played a key role in the 2010 Arab Spring, the war in Syria – especially during the battle of Aleppo – and in the 2018 economic protests in Iran.

While citizen journalism plays a significant role in unfolding news stories, a degree of caution should be applied to reports from non-professional journalists, as citizen journalism by its very nature is subjective. This doesn’t devalue its worth, but its objectives and reference points should always be understood before taking it as verbatim.

Online journalism – the ins and outs

Flexibility and an open mind are important when working as a freelance journalist across different platforms. Working online involves embracing technology and usually means going beyond a traditional journalist’s job description. It is common to be asked to picture edit, sub-edit, promote articles on social channels such as Twitter and Facebook and, increasingly, video edit. A grasp of content management systems (CMS) is essential if you work online. No two systems are the same, but they are increasingly user-friendly.

Online headlines have to work extra hard. They not only have to grab a reader’s attention, they must contain the right keywords to make it more visible to a search engine. Most search queries are two to four words long and consist of proper names and keywords. Ensuring that your headline and copy are SEO or search engine optimisation-friendly without compromising the quality of your writing is an important skill for online journalists. The journalistic maxim ‘man bites dog’ – used to describe how unusual events are more likely to be reported as news – would need to be rewritten for online purposes using keywords and proper names to make it SEO-friendly, for example: ‘Hampshire man, 39, bites golden retriever on leg at Center Parcs’.

How to find a story

• Social media and news wires can be great sources of breaking news and a way of monitoring popular campaigns (e.g. #MeToo or the ice bucket challenge), but you certainly won’t have been the only journalist to have spotted a trending topic – so don’t rely too heavily on these.

• Social media can be helpful in other ways. Got a story and need case studies? Twitter and Facebook can be excellent ways to find people, under the hashtag #journorequest.

• Online journalist communities also offer excellent resources for freelancers to broaden their network, ask for contacts and stay up-to-date with the latest media news and jobs. Try JournoAnswers (www.facebook.com/groups/JournoAnwers) or the online reporters and editors group on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/groups/75711).

• Have something (a pen, a smartphone) to jot down any light-bulb story ideas. A seemingly irrelevant observation or off-hand remark can be the first germ of a far bigger idea.

• Sometimes a more interesting story is hidden within the story you are going after, or hidden within a seemingly unexceptionable press release.

• Think locally – read the local papers, talk to local people. Big news stories can be buried in bin collection disputes or fundraising efforts.

• Be curious and ask questions. People love talking about themselves, especially about something they are passionate about.

Pitching

While print and digital formats are more symbiotic that ever, they often still exist and are structured as two separate publications within an organisation. In a row with the Guardian in 2017 over commentator Katie Hopkins, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre distanced himself from MailOnline, declaring in an editorial that the online version was ‘a totally separate entity that has its own publisher, its own readership, different content and a very different world view’. It’s therefore important to find out who the editor, or section editor, is within each platform.

Do not approach publications with a one-size-fits-all pitch. Think about how you consume articles online and pitch those ideas accordingly.

The dos and don’ts of pitching

DO include your pitch within an email. No busy editor will want to download and then open a Word document, or equivalent.

DO explain who you are and why the piece you are pitching is relevant to the publication.

DO read the site you are pitching to thoroughly. Don’t skim through the home page and assume you’ve seen everything. How often do they publish? What kind of article formats do they publish (galleries, long-form, etc)? Look at the word count for each one.

DON’T send a pitch email on a Friday afternoon or first thing on a Monday.

DON’T jump on the news bandwagon assuming you’re the first person to think of a pitch.

DO flag up time-sensitive features and include a deadline if it is a news–related piece.

DON’T be precious about being edited. Even the most hard-nosed and experienced of journalists can bristle at an edit, but learning not to is an important skill.

DO get the tone of the publication right in the pitch. Pitching to a music website aimed at people in their 20s is different to pitching a long-form piece to a gardening print magazine with readers over 60.

DO keep the pitch short. Avoid going beyond four paragraphs; start with a brief sentence introducing yourself; then a sentence or two on the topic, why you want to write it, who you plan to interview, your suggested word count and any possible leads; finish with why you are the person to write it.

DO follow up the email within a few days if you have not heard back.

Tips for starting out

1. Start a blog

A blog can be an effective way to promote yourself and your writing. It is particularly useful if you’re a freelance journalist just starting out, as it allows you to establish yourself as an authority, on a subject and as a writer. A well-managed blog can help create writing opportunities and at the same time demonstrate your initiative and interests. It’s a great way to help find your voice as a writer and to sharpen your CMS and SEO skills.

2. Have a social media presence

A Twitter profile will not only give you visibility; used well, it can also give you credibility. Use your full name (not a cheeky nickname from school) for your handle. In your bio, include your email address, your job title, publications you’ve written for and any speciality areas you work in. Tweet regular, appropriate updates that signpost your interests, and don’t be afraid to let your personality come through.

And don’t ignore LinkedIn. As well as being an excellent resource for journalists looking for scoops and jobs, by showing an up-to-date CV and a list of your skills and areas of expertise, LinkedIn makes it easier for editors who are looking for freelancers to find you.

3. Explore other writing opportunities

Content marketing, writing for a brand who want to behave like publishers, is a path increasingly open to journalists and writers. While it may not fit with your dreams of being the next Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the essence of good editorial remains the same. Journalists know how to tell a good story; they know how to hook a reader with quality writing and present clear, compelling content – skills much in demand by brands.

4. Build relationships

One of the best pieces of advice I was given when I went freelance was to ‘batter my contacts’. Do not be shy to approach people you have a connection with – whether it’s a former colleague, someone you studied with, or an editor you met fleetingly at a party.

Do not assume they remember you, and keep your contact email formal, but people are far more likely to commission you if there is a trusted link there. Remember you are often a solution to someone’s fix – you are looking for the work and they need someone to do it.

The essential bookshelf for the budding journalist

As Stephen King says: ‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.’ Reading great journalists and writers can inspire, educate and galvanise.

• How to write – George Orwell, in Politics and the English Language (Horizon 1946)

Orwell’s advice to ‘Never use a long word when a short one will do’ rings in my head whenever I write.

• Bliss to be alive: the collected writings of Gavin Hills (Penguin 2000)

Hills was what the Independent described as one of the ‘serious boys of the Loaded generation’. His hugely engaging and vital pieces covered everything from civil war to football violence.

• On Writing: a memoir of the craft – Stephen King (New English Library 2001)

Read this and you’ll never look at an adverb the same way again.

• Scoop – Evelyn Waugh (Chapman & Hall 1938)

While journalism has changed a great deal since William Boot, the Daily Beast’s timid nature correspondent, was sent to cover a socialist insurrection in (fictional) Ishmaelia, so much of this biting satire still rings true.

• The Journalist and the Murderer – Janet Malcolm (Knopf 1990)

A fascinating exploration of journalism ethics and the strange relationship between a reporter and their subject – in this case a man accused of murdering his wife and daughters.

Suzanne Elliott is a freelance journalist who has worked for ITV News, Vogue International, RedBull.com, EuroNews, Men’s Fitness, Shortlist, Huffington Post, Glamour, Marie Claire, Konfekt and the National and has written editorial for companies including Iris Worldwide, Flash Pack, Global Radio, EE and Debenhams. For more information see https://muckrack.com/suzanne-elliott-7/portfolio or https://theviewfromtheuppercircle.com. Follow her on Twitter @CakeSuzette.

Life’s a pitch: how to get your ideas into print

Mike Unwin has lots of valuable advice for would-be freelance writers keen to see their work in print, and explains what magazine and newspaper editors are looking for in a pitch.

Dear Editor

I’m desperate to write for you. Please let me. I’m not yet sure what to write – and I hesitate to share my ideas, in case you don’t like them. But if you could just explain what you’re looking for I’m sure I could do the job. I know you’ve never heard of me, but I’m a great writer – all my friends say so – and I could certainly match what you usually publish. Other editors haven’t yet recognised my talent but you can change all that. Commission me and you won’t regret it.

What do you say?

Kind regards

A.D. Luded-Freelance

How does an aspiring freelance get into print? The answer, short of blackmail or nepotism, is via the ‘pitch’. This is a written proposal to a commissioning editor. Get it right and it can bag you a commission, complete with brief, fee and deadline. Get it wrong, and the first impression you make may well be your last.

Pitching is a notoriously tricky art. With editors’ inboxes already groaning, the odds are stacked against freelances, especially first-timers. The example above may be ridiculous but it nonetheless expresses the frustration felt by many freelances. How on earth do you break through?

Every freelance has a subjective take on this dilemma, depending on their field. Mine is travel and wildlife, so my advice is drawn from experience in this particular part of the industry. But the challenges are likely to be pretty similar whatever you write about. If there is a foolproof formula for success, I’ve yet to find it. What follows reflects 15 years of trial and error.

‘Some pitches are good, most are OK, but many are dire,’ says freelance commissioning editor Sue Bryant. You may never learn why your pitch succeeds or fails, but you can ensure that it always falls into the first of those three categories. The rest may just come down to luck.

Do your homework

First, before you write a word, familiarise yourself with your target publication. Trawl the website – or splash out on a paper copy. Establish how often it comes out: pitching a story about an imminent one-off event to a quarterly whose next edition won’t appear for three months is wasting the editor’s time. And check that nothing similar has already appeared. ‘My bugbear is when people pitch something we’ve recently covered,’ says Andrew Purvis, commissioning editor at Telegraph Travel.

Second, consider the readership. ‘This is where people most often go wrong,’ says Lyn Hughes, publisher of travel magazine Wanderlust. ‘It’s vitally important that you under-

stand who the readers are and what interests them.’ You don’t need demographics: the ads and letters pages speak volumes. Hughes describes how Wanderlust has received pitches for articles on golf – utterly irrelevant to readers interested in adventure travel and the natural world. Ignorance shows. ‘You can always tell if they’ve not thought about the magazine and the target audience,’ confirms Laura Griffiths-Jones of Travel Africa magazine, who would never entrust a fact-finding commission to a writer who can’t even be bothered to research the magazine.

Don’t cut corners. An all-purpose pitch to several publications simultaneously may save you time but will seldom get past the editor, who has a nose for the mail shot. Mistakes can be excruciating. ‘We see a lot of cut-and-pasting,’ says Hughes. ‘The giveaway is the different font.’

Finally, address your pitch to the right person. Larger publications may have different commissioning editors for different sections, including their website, and a misdirected pitch may disappear without trace. Heed protocol: copying in the commissioning editors of rival publications in your address line – a common mistake, according to Griffiths-Jones – will not endear you to the editor you’re addressing. And don’t pull rank. ‘Never go over the editor’s head and talk to the publisher,’ warns Bryant. ‘That used to make me furious.’

Most commissioning editors would rather not receive a pitch by phone: it can feel confrontational – and they will, in any case, seldom be able to say yes or no without investigating further. Social media is also seen by many as too throw-away for the initial pitch – although, if you establish a relationship, it may become useful further down the line.

Get to the point

Once you’ve worked out where to direct your pitch, your challenge is to make it stand out from all the others. First comes the subject line, which must convey the gist in as few words as possible. ‘You’ve almost got to put in as much effort on the subject line as in the pitch,’ stresses Hughes. Bear in mind that longer lines may half disappear on the screen of a smartphone. Thus ‘New snow leopard safari to Ladakh’ is more effective than ‘Proposal to write a travel feature about visiting the Himalayas in search of snow leopards’.

If the editor takes the bait, the pitch that follows must flesh out that subject line succinctly. ‘Ideally one paragraph, explaining what the story is,’ recommends Griffiths-Jones. I aim for one paragraph of no more than 100 words, sometimes adding a few brief supplementary details (see example opposite). It can help to think of your pitch as being like a ‘standfirst’: the introductory paragraph that a magazine often places above an article.

Your ‘angle’ is critical. In travel journalism this might be a new means of experiencing an old destination or a topical hook, such as a forthcoming movie. In reality, your angle may not be very original – in travel, as elsewhere, subjects are revisited and dusted down on rotation – but your job is to make it sound novel and convince the editor that you are the one to write it. ‘If I think: ‘‘So what? I could write that from my desk,’’ then it’s a nonstarter,’ warns Bryant.

A scattergun approach suggests lack of focus, so don’t cram too many ideas into one story and certainly don’t bundle several stories into one pitch. Settling on one idea can be difficult: in travel writing, almost any trip could yield multiple stories and it can feel risky to cram all your eggs into one basket. But editors are commissioning a story, not a destination. If torn, one compromise is to lead with a main angle but allow a little room for manoeuvre by including two or three brief subsidiary points that might suggest other angles should the main idea not appeal. Here’s an example:

New snow leopard safari to Ladakh

In January I join a new tour to Ladakh, India, in search of snow leopards. This endangered big cat recently starred on BBC’s Planet Earth and is one of the world’s most sought-after wildlife sightings. Confined to the high Himalayas, it has long been off the tourist agenda. This pioneering venture (www.snowleopardsafaris.com) now offers snow leopard tracking for the first time. Accommodation is in community home-stays, from where expert local trackers guide small groups in to the mountains. Tourism revenue helps fund community-based conservation. Highlights include:

– Tracking snow leopards

– Wolves, ibex, eagles and other wildlife

– Trekking in the high Himalayas

– The ancient Ladakh capital of Leh (3,500m)

– Buddhist culture: monasteries, festivals, village home-stays

– Snow leopard conservation project

Peak season Jan–April; could file story from end January.

If the editor doesn’t know you, some brief credentials might help: a simple sentence at the end explaining who you are, plus a sample or two of your work. Keep any attached files small: the editor won’t want PDFs clogging up their inbox. Any weblinks should be to articles relevant to your pitch. ‘Don’t just say ‘‘visit my website’’,’ warns Bryant. ‘It sounds really arrogant and I haven’t got time.’

Mind your language

Even the most perfectly structured pitch can founder on the detail. Typos happen, but this is one place where they mustn’t. Hughes describes how Wanderlust regularly receives pitches for stories about ‘Equador’ and ‘Columbia’. Remember, you are trying to persuade an editor to trust your ability with words. What will they think if you stumble at the first hurdle? Editors work to tight budgets and schedules so the last thing they want is more work. ‘If it’s riddled with errors, and they can’t construct a sentence or a paragraph correctly,’ asks Purvis, ‘why would I waste all that time – and budget – sorting it out?’

So double-check your pitch before sending. If in doubt, print it out: research shows that we all spot errors more easily on the printed page. To guard against embarrassing disasters, never insert the recipient’s address in your email until you’re ready to press ‘Send’.

Style is important too. In general, less is more: the pitch is not a place for purple prose. And try to avoid journalistic faux pas, such as opening with long subordinate clauses or overusing the passive voice. And avoid cluttering your pitch with clichés: ‘land of contrasts’ and ‘best-kept secret’ are travel industry horrors that spring to mind. Editors are writers too. It doesn’t take much for them to sniff out a weakness.

Me, me, me ...

Perhaps the worst error in pitching your story is to make yourself its subject. ‘Don’t make the pitch about you,’ insists Bryant, ‘unless you’re really famous or really funny.’ A travel editor is not generally looking for a Bruce Chatwin or Bill Bryson; they have no use for your hilarious anecdotes or journey of discovery. They want your writing to sell an experience that their readers can go out and buy. ‘We’re not interested in you,’ confirms Hughes. ‘We’re interested in our readers.’ That’s why any travel article will have at the end a fact box ‘call to action’, with all the details that the reader will need in order to replicate your experience.

Any hint of neediness is an instant deterrent. Your needs are not important, so don’t suggest that by publishing your work the editor will be helping launch your career. A particular bugbear for travel editors is ‘blagging’: securing a commission in order to get yourself a free trip. ‘I was recently offered a place on an Amazon River trip, but couldn’t find a sponsor for the flights to Lima,’ began one pitch that Bryant instantly rejected. Whilst a commission is a part of the equation that enables freelance travel writers to travel, the publication in question does not generally want to be caught up in the mechanics. You’re a freelance; that’s your lookout.

And beware how you present yourself. Editors talk to one another and reputations are quickly acquired. Social media can be a minefield: Bryant recalls discovering a long rant on Twitter from a writer she was considering commissioning that threatened to have a PR fired because the writer had not received a flight upgrade. ‘When you’re on the road on a commission,’ she stresses, ‘you are representing the publication and our advertisers.’

Editor empathies

If in doubt, try placing yourself in the shoes of the commissioning editor. Invariably they will be overburdened, against deadline and quite possibly battling some cost-cutting edict from on high. The last thing they’re looking for, usually, is unsolicited pitches from writers that they’ve never heard of. ‘Editors can be lazy,’ admits Bryant. ‘They don’t like surprises.’

What’s more, an editor’s job is not to showcase your writing but to publish material that trumps the competition. Ultimately all editorial decisions are commercial. ‘You’re going to be held accountable for spending the money,’ points out Purvis. Your job is to make their life easier by offering something that meets their needs.

Remember, too, that it was you who made the approach. An editor is under no obligation to justify their decision. Indeed – common courtesy aside – they are not even obliged to reply. The frustrating reality for freelances is that responses may be very slow and, at times, non-existent. Your pitch may never reach the front of the queue.

If you don’t hear back, do send a gentle reminder. I usually leave it a couple of weeks and if I still hear nothing after that, I drop it. But never express your frustration; swallow it and look elsewhere. Who knows? Your name or idea may have struck a chord. The editor may get back to you months later, when you least expect it. It has happened to me. Don’t burn your bridges.

And never give up. Somewhere out there is an article with your byline on it.

Mike Unwin is a freelance writer, editor and photographer who specialises in travel and wildlife. He worked for 14 years in book publishing before leaving to pursue a freelance career. Today he writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Telegraph, the Independent, BBC Wildlife, Wanderlust and Travel Africa. Among his 35 published books for both adults and children are Migration (Bloomsbury 2018), The Enigma of the Owl (Yale 2016), Swaziland (Bradt Travel Guides 2012) and Endangered Species (Aladdin Books 2000). His awards include BBC Wildlife Nature Travel writer of the year 2000, the British Guild of Travel Writers’ UK Travel Writer of the Year 2013 and Latin American Travel’s Newspaper Feature of the Year 2018. He was a finalist in the 2020 GTMA Global Travel Writer Award.

Setting up and editing a new magazine

Ed Needham shares his experience and outlines the essential steps, decisions and realities involved in publishing a new magazine as a solo operation, and gives practical advice on how to turn your concept into a successful venture in today’s changing digital industry.

I have spent much of my adult life working as a journalist and editor in magazines. I edited FHM in its million-selling heyday in the ’90s, and launched and edited that magazine in the United States. Also in the USA, I was the managing editor at Rolling Stone and editor-in-chief at Maxim, then the biggest men’s magazine in the world. I’ve established a successful online publishing and marketing company, and developed magazines for other companies. But, over the last decade or so, the magazine as a fact of life – a glossy, portable, affordable luxury, object of desire and trusted source of guidance – has fallen badly out of fashion, evicted from so many of the gaps it used to fill in people’s lives by the mobile phone. That one gadget has changed the fortunes of the industry calamitously. Readers and advertising have wandered off. Titles have closed. And by 2017 I found myself looking for a job, in a market where positions for top editors had become reserved for candidates with far more modest salary expectations than mine.

But a couple of interesting developments also emerged from the magazine industry’s change of life: 1) many of the special skills and physical processes that used to require an army of talent had been replaced by affordable software; 2) while legacy magazine publishers were struggling for sustenance at a diminishing waterhole, there was still plenty of margin for people operating in niche markets and who didn’t have a heavy payroll or central London floorspace to maintain. Perhaps I could publish my own magazine? And to keep the costs really low, perhaps I could do the whole thing on my own?

I found an envelope and did a few sums on the back of it. I produced a dummy – a trial issue – to see whether one person could write and edit an entire magazine (and then another one in short order – the revelation that Issue Two comes hard on the heels of Issue One routinely comes as a shock to people ‘having a go’ at magazines). I had it printed to see what it would look like, liked it, and in 2018 launched Strong Words, a magazine about books. It appears nine times a year, and each issue has reviews of over 100 titles, as well as interviews and features that send readers into an ecstasy of book-buying, trying authors, genres and categories of books they wouldn’t previously have dreamt of dabbling in. And it does so entertainingly – people like to be informed and amused by reviews, not lectured gravely on how important something is. There is no sad head-shaking nor acts of critical violence; if I find a book disappointing, I don’t cover it, but I think the days of the snooty, disdainful review to showcase the critic’s cleverness are nearly over. Strong Words is for people who want to read more, not less. So why waste valuable space urging people not to buy a book? Even though it requires my attention all seven days of the week, I’ve proved it can be done. At time of writing, I’ve just sent Issue 26 to the printer. And here are some of the things I’ve learned, if you’d like to have a go yourself.

1. Do some initial thought experiments

I was taught that the first question to ask when embarking on a new magazine project was ‘Who’s it for?’ But the people asking that question used to be big magazine companies whose starting point was identifying which market to shove themselves into next. Now I think you need to answer two different questions first: 1) ‘Why am I doing it?’ and 2) ‘Where’s the money coming from?’ If you can answer those two questions honestly, rather than as a delusional pipe dream, you’ll have sketched a foundation for your project. My answer to 1) was that I needed to earn a living – but with a view to eventually also applying my model to established magazines that might benefit from my approach to costs. My answer to 2) was initially the Bank of Ed Needham and then through subscriptions. Not advertising – at first, that’s another cost. But until you can answer those questions with confidence, you can’t go to the next square.

2. Who’s it for?

Identify your market. Why does anyone need your magazine? Bear in mind that the younger consumers can easily imagine reaching the end of their lives without ever once touching one. I chose a print product because I understand them, and they have a credibility that online doesn’t; it’s like the difference between a house and a picture of a house. Neither did I have the time to do print and online to an acceptable standard. I chose to write about books because the UK is the world’s bookiest nation (no other country publishes as many books per capita), yet there is no consistently reliable source for book buyers to find out what’s new.

There are the highbrow journals and the broadsheets, but all too often they make books feel like homework, whereas most people buy books for pleasure. The internet is a formidable marketing machine, but it rarely leaves a person thinking, ‘That’s the book for me.’ If anyone is going to appreciate the special magic of ink on paper, it’s book buyers. Books are a great untapped reservoir of the new and the useful, the funny and the gossipy, endless revelation about just how dysfunctional our planet and its population is. And that is the stuff of life – something people have a gluttonous appetite for.

3. The practicalities

If you haven’t made a magazine before, familiarise yourself with InDesign, the universal page-making software from Adobe, for which you pay a license fee. Work out how many pages you want – it should be a multiple of eight, plus four more for the cover. Make a flatplan, i.e. decide, before you start, what is going on every page and in what order. The only bit of the process I can’t do is design, so my original concept for Strong Words was to pay a designer friend to establish a template, which I could re-use with different content each issue, thus keeping design costs low. But I do still need a designer for a couple of weeks each issue.

You’re going to need content, which – unless you know people keen to work for nothing – you either have to produce yourself or pay for. And you’re going to need pictures, which you also either have to produce yourself or pay for. Helping yourself from the internet is not advisable. You might get away with it, or you might end up in court. I get my stock pictures from Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com), more specific images such as archive news images from Alamy (www.alamy.com), and I use press-approved images from the books I write about, where possible.

As for copy, I produce it all myself – it amounts to reading the equivalent of War and Peace each week (about 1,500 pages) and writing the equivalent of The Great Gatsby each issue (about 45,000 words). I cut the copy to fit, write the headlines, write the display copy (the various other bits, like captions) check the spellings and punctuation and prices. You need a cover – traditionally known as the most important page in a magazine. If you’re selling your publication in shops, you need a bar code; these are easy to buy (see www.axicon.com), but before that you need an ISSN number.…If I can get one, you can.

You may want to trademark your name; do it yourself at www.gov.uk/how-to-register-a-trade-mark/apply (apply in class 09 for digital, class 16 for print). Don’t pay a third party. And ignore the avalanche of scam letters that follow straight after.

4. Print it

I’d always thought this was the big barrier to a solo operation. You used to have to order the paper, and well in advance. If you wanted special paper, even more in advance. You usually had to buy quite a lot of it. It required middlemen. Now you can print a single copy. This was where I began to see what was possible: someone mentioned a business called Newspaper Club (www.newspaperclub.com) who print on newsprint, and so the first three issues of Strong Words came as a newspaper. You just upload your files, choose your paper quality, and pay.

My original marketing plan was to print loads and give them away … then everyone would faint with delight and subscribe on the spot. When I discovered that news-stands couldn’t cope with a tabloid newsprint magazine, because it didn’t fit their racks, I switched to a conventional A4 format, and used a company called Mixam (https://mixam.co.uk). NB: if you’re sending your magazine out by post, you need to know how much it’s going to weigh before you print it. Postage costs are brutal, so you want to keep them down but still ensure a decent paper stock. Printers’ websites enable you to calculate the weight of an issue. This is a nasty shock to any budget (… keep smelling salts handy). And don’t forget to factor in the weight of the envelope. Mixam provided great quality, but I needed specific delivery dates so now I use The Magazine Printing Company (magprint.co.uk), who also give stunning quality and invaluable customer service. Upload the files, approve them, send. It is mind-blowingly easy.

5. Distribution

I thought this would be a big barrier too, but no. I use a third-party company called Webscribe (www.webscribe.co.uk) to run the subscription fulfilment, so they take the money and send the issues out – I don’t have to handle credit cards and customer data, all that tricky stuff. If you want to sell in shops, third-party companies will look after that too; I used one called MMS (www.mmslondon.co.uk) and sold in independents and in WHSmith travel outlets at railways and airports (you have to pay an annual fee per outlet). When travel fell out of favour during lockdown, I switched to subscription only, and the poor Smith’s staff weren’t always sure where to rack Strong Words, so I’d sometimes find it shoved somewhere inappropriate like Gardening, so I’m not sure I’d go back.

And now for some difficult news. Congratulations for getting this far, but you have only reached the foot of the mountain, because the biggest challenge is…

6. Marketing

I think you can divide people into two groups: people who make things and people who sell things. Few excel at both. Persuading someone to buy your product is not a skill that emerges naturally from learning how to produce magazines. This is the main reason why people have business partners – to overcome this skill set schism. But those magazines aren’t going to sell themselves and, having made such a thing of beauty, it’s heartbreaking to see them not find new homes.

I wish I could reveal the golden key to marketing serenity, but it hasn’t been revealed to me yet. This is what I think I know. There are two steps: 1) make people aware of the magazine; 2) persuade them to subscribe. The tools at your disposal are: social media; conventional media (I find the former better for step one, the latter for step two); newsletters, podcasts, events, influential people (someone once recommended focusing on your 1,000 most influential customers first, rather than scatter-gunning your efforts in a frantic marketing orgy). Make sure everyone you have ever met knows what you are doing. Somehow make yourself a topic of conversation. Explain how your product helps people. Trade favours. Most of all, get on with it and find out what works for you, and spend as much time on selling as on making.

Your project may be an act of supreme folly or it may transform the media landscape, but if you don’t give it your everything, it WILL fail, and you will never find out. Looking forward to seeing you all on my subscription list soon. Good luck.

Ed Needham is an editor and journalist, and publisher of Strong Words magazine which he launched in 2018, published by his own company De Pentonville Media Ltd. His former roles include Editor, then Editor-in-Chief, of FHM in the UK and USA, 1997–2002, Managing Editor of Rolling Stone, 2002–04, Editor-in-Chief of Maxim, 2004–06, and founder and Editor-in-Chief of Coach magazine, 2015–16. For more information see www.strong-words.co.uk. Follow him on Twitter @Needham014.

National newspapers UK and Ireland

This section includes listings for national newspapers available in print, in both print and online, and as online-only news websites.

BBC News

email [e-mail]

website www.bbc.co.uk/news

Facebook www.facebook.com/bbcnews

Twitter @BBCNews

Director of BBC News Fran Unsworth

Online only. The website contains international and regional news coverage as well as entertainment, sport, science and political news. Founded 1997.

City AM Ltd

3rd Floor, Fountain House, 130 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 5DJ

tel [phone]

website www.cityam.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/cityam

Twitter @cityam

Editor Andy Silvester

Mon–Fri Free

Financial and business newspaper. Covers the latest economic, political and business news as well as comment, sport and lifestyle features. Founded 2006.

Comment & Features Editor Sascha O’Sullivan

Lifestyle Editor Steve Dinneen

Sports Editor Frank Dalleres

The Conservation

Shropshire House (4th Floor), Capper Street, London WC1E 6JA

email [e-mail]

website www.theconservation.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/theconservation

Twitter @ConversationUK

Executive Editor Stephen Khan

An online-only independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public. Founded 2011.

Business & Economy Editor Stephen Vass

Cities, Education & Young People Editor Grace Allen

Environment & Energy Editor Jack Marley

Health & Medicine Editor Clint Witchalls

Investigates Editor Josephine Lethbridge

News Editor