writing

Regional magazines sometimes feel like an exclusive club that you can’t get into unless you’re a local. But for the Chicago edition of Time Out, writers from beyond the Windy City are welcome to send in their stories, including music and concert reviews for its TOC website.

At over 3 million page views a month, the site isn’t a bad place for a beginner or a journalist passionate about his or her craft — not the money. And photo galleries are also a big deal on TimeOutChicago.com, so editor-in-chief Frank Sennett encourages budding photographers to look to the website to build up some credits.

Get editor contacts and advice on pitching features in How To Pitch: Time Out Chicago.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Author and journalist Susan Orlean (left) has written two nonfiction pieces that have been turned into films. She’ll discuss her new book, Rin Tin Tin, in Mediabistro’s first online Literary Festival & Workshops starting July 16. Other speakers include Rebecca Skloot, Jason Boog, and Jason Allen Ashlock. Register now.

The key to piquing editors’ interest is understanding their audience. For Afar, it’s globetrotting adventurers who spend an average of $4,100 annually on vacation and personal travel. But don’t think this is the Hawaiian-shirt-and-fanny-pack wearing group. Though they enjoy all of the earmarks of luxury, these folks like a real-life experience with their vacationing.

“We really feel like we bring more heart to travel and make it more meaningful and personal. There’s a real emphasis on giving readers a deeper dive, a sort of street-level view of a place,” editor-in-chief Julia Cosgrove explained.

Get contact info for editors and more guidelines in How To Pitch: Afar.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Want to see your byline next to those of Food Network stars? It is difficult, but not impossible.

Right now, about 5 to 10 percent of Food Network Magazine‘s content is freelance-generated, at most. ”We’re a hard pitch. I can probably count on one or two hands how many pitches we’ve accepted since we launched,” said deputy editor Tracy Saelinger. “That said, we welcome ideas from writers, but they just have to be newsy, quirky and fun. We get pitched lots of tired trends that feel like old news.”

Get more details in How To Pitch: Food Network Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Maxim has aged gracefully throughout the years, growing slightly more sophisticated while remaining tethered to its initial man-minded mission. And they are in search of freelancers who can channel the plain-spoken, witty best friend guiding you through the guy universe.

Although the easiest section of the magazine to break into is the front of the book, ambitious writers can pitch intriguing features, as well. But editor-in-chief Dan Bova cautions that successful long-form pitches frequently hinge on a writer being able to get special access to a source or bring a completely new angle to an issue.

“Whatever the subject is — poker, Mardi Gras, etc. — we’ve done it a million times before,” he said. “We’re looking for clever twists on the topic.”

Get more information on online opportunities and pay rates in How To Pitch: Maxim.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

The newspaper industry’s been facing some rough times in the digital era. But Dan Savage, editorial director of The Stranger and star of MTV’s Savage U, is optimistic. The syndicated columnist behind “Savage Love” has 21 years of experience under his belt and says the current changes the print world is facing aren’t uncommon.

“I actually think what’s happening to print media is kind of what happened to the theater 100 to 120 years ago,” said Savage in mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? interview. “There were lots of jobs in the theater. That all came apart. Radio and television, a new technology, came along and just decimated — destroyed really — the profession.”

Suddenly, says Savage, hopeful actors had to be willing to work for free for years — much like the position writers today find themselves in. “When I look around and listen to people in the journalism field complain about what newspaper and print jobs are like now, for me, it echoes the history of theater classes I took in the ’80s when they were talking about the coming of radio and television and what that did to live performance.”

Wanna know how you can get syndicated like Savage? Read the full interview.