Land just one assignment for Every Day With Rachael Ray, and you’re well on your way to establishing a relationship with the editors there. Sixty percent of the book is freelance written and editors regularly assign ideas to their trusted stable of writers. A couple of sections are particularly friendly to newbies — just make sure your pitch fits the pub’s lively tone, and soon, your byline could be traveling to the mag’s 1.7 million-plus readers.

Reading the magazine is “like your best friend is helping you cook dinner or helping plan your trip,” explained executive lifestyle editor Sonal Dutt. “So I think what sets us apart from anybody else is that we do have a real person that our reader can relate to, can see on their television and can feel like she’s there with you, guiding you through the process.”

For more info, read How To Pitch: Every Day With Rachael Ray.
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Before Pretty Little Liars was an award-winning hit on ABC with its own spin-off,  it was the brainchild of YA writer Sara Shepard. The prolific scribe managed to publish over 20 books in eight years and get two of her series optioned as TV shows. In the latest installment of Mediabistro’s So What Do You Do?, Shepard tells how her series ended up on the screen and what she thinks of the TV incarnations of Pretty Little Liars and Lying Game. 

“Pretty Little Liars I’m really satisfied with. Pretty Little Liars more sticks to what the books are,” she said. “[The TV writers] take their own liberties, and sometimes their ideas are just great. Sometimes I’m like, “Oh, why didn’t I think of that?” So that’s always really fun. But, I mean, it’s just pretty amazing to see it on TV at all. Even if it wouldn’t have lasted a season, it still would have been this pretty incredible thing.”

For more, read So What Do You Do, Sara Shepard, Author of Pretty Little Liars?

The FADER prides itself on being first on the scene when it comes to up-and-coming artists and music trends. Among the musicians who got their first mag covers at The FADER include Kanye West, MIA, The Strokes, Drake, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean and more. The magazine also holds the distinction of being the first publication to be distributed as a PDF through iTunes.

“We’re always interested in hearing more ideas from outside of our immediate field of vision. If you live outside of New York City and something unusual is happening local to you, that is what’s exciting,” said editor-in-chief Matthew Schnipper. “We’re interested in what we wouldn’t know about otherwise.”

For more, read How To Pitch: The FADER.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Over 70 percent of Wired is freelance written, and, once you’ve scored a byline, you’re well on your way to landing more assignments. Senior editor Sarah Fallon urges writers to think of Wired‘s coverage as a continuum: “Science leads to technologies. Technologies spawn businesses and whole industries. Businesses flourish and end up influencing and changing culture,” she said.

Based in San Francisco, Wired has a laid-back but focused West Coast feel and a sensibility that welcomes everyone from the worldly generalist to the Vine junkie. There’s plenty of room for freelancers, too, so long as you’re pitching fresh meat. “We want to cover stories that you wouldn’t find in any other magazine,” Fallon explained. “If you’re going to pitch something mainstream, make sure you have a unique angle.”

For more info, read How To Pitch: Wired.
The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.Land $1.50 a Word (and Up) at Wired

Environmentally savvy freelancers can snag bylines at one of the oldest continuously published mags in the country: Audubon. The pub gets 90 percent of its content from freelancers, and editors are very open to working with new writers.

The advocacy magazine promotes the mission of saving birds, wildlife and habitat and serves as the flagship publication of the National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental groups in the country. Audubon is the only pure nature magazine on the market, but it aspires to the reach and commercial success of National Geographic, while still maintaining its commitment to the thought-provoking, long-form type journalism of The Atlantic and The New Yorker.

For more, read How To Pitch: Audubon.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Editors at Latina love getting thoughtful pitches. The mag has a small staff and relies on outside contributors for a whopping 80 percent of its content. Although the pub often assigns articles out to freelancers, executive editor Damarys Ocaña says she would “love to get really informed, specific pitches… that would make my life a lot easier.”

Ocaña is always looking for great writers who know Latin culture and are familiar with the publication. But do the writers, themselves, have to be Latin? “No, definitely not,” said Ocaña. “We have plenty of freelancers who aren’t.”

For more info, read How To Pitch: Latina.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

As Sara Horowitz, founder of the Freelancer’s Union, once said, “One of the challenges for all freelancers, though, is it can be feast or famine.” Sometimes you could be raking in the assignments; at others, editors could be strangely silent when you want to hear from them the most.

In the latest Mediabistro feature, magazine veterans give tips on how to foster your relationships with editors to keep the assignments, and the paychecks, rolling in.

Read more in 6 Tips for Landing Repeat Writing Assignments.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Prevention is known for being on the cutting edge of breakthrough science and alternative and complementary medicine, and its commitment to quality reporting is known as the Prevention Pledge: “The reader can count on the recommendations that they find in the magazine to be checked very, very thoroughly for accuracy,” said executive editor Siobhan O’Connor.

No sections are closed to freelance pitches at this health-minded pub, and those writers with a knack for translating science into accessible prose are good candidates for the mag. Even if your pitch doesn’t get the green light, you may be on your way to landing assignments from the editors. Plus, the pay isn’t shabby either.

For more info, read How To Pitch: Prevention.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Tyler Brûlé, founder of Monocle, first got the idea for his global pub from observing consumers at airports. “It was frequently Wallpaper* and The Economist. I decided to merge elements of the two but refine the package,” the journo/entrepreneur/publisher told Mediabistro.

Although the pub’s staffers are likely to be seen reading The Financial Times and The International Herald Tribune, editor Andrew Tuck says Monocle has its own definition of what’s newsworthy. “We think that a lot of news organizations, especially [those committed to] daily or weekly news, tend to run around in a herd,” he said.

Monocle also strives to take care of its writers. “If a writer goes on a story for us, they will have a water-tight itinerary, they will travel with a reasonable airline, and they have my mobile number and know that if they want to give me a ring at midnight if anything has gone wrong, that’s what I’m here for,” said Tuck.

Got an idea that’s perfect for the pub? Read more in How To Pitch: Monocle. [Mediabistro AvantGuild subscription required]

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

The 110-year-old Redbook is getting more than just a redesign. “I think it’s better to call it a complete re-imagination of the brand or a total brand reset,” said editor-in-chief Jill Herzig. “There are redesigns and there are redesigns, and this one not only changed how the magazine looks, but how it’s focused.”

With the change in focus comes new opportunity for freelancers. The women’s glossy is beefing up its fashion and beauty coverage, so editors are on the lookout for new writers who can cover those topics. The sections that cover personal finance, health and entertaining are also ripe for pitching, and the whole book is sprinkled with intimate personal essays.

Get more info at How To Pitch: Redbook. [Mediabistro AvantGuild subscription required]