mb instructor Daina Hulet will be teaching some upcoming courses on writing for women's magazines, so I asked her to shed some light on what she'll be sharing with students that will lead them to publishing in the lady periodicals. Daina has over twenty years of experience as a staff editor and writer focusing on the areas of women's fashion, beauty, health, fitness and lifestyle for various magazines, newspapers and websites. She spent 10 years on the staff of Glamour magazine as the west coast editor, has worked as special publications editor for Teen.

One of the things I urge my students to do immediately after they've come up with a good story idea, is to do the research. Often beginning writers will come up with strong FOB or short service piece ideas based on personal experiences or a point of view. That's a good start, but unless you are an expert in your field, pitches need to be well researched, a include facts and even offer statistics for even the shortest 150-300 word pieces. To make sure that a pitch is saleable it should pass what I consider to be the ultimate acid test, "Why would the reader of the specific publication you're pitching want to spend her time (and money) to read your piece?"

In order to answer that question, you've got to build a story first. Find out what's new, newsworthy, or trendy, on the subject as it relates to the woman who reads the magazine as well as the specific section of the publication you're planning to pitch. The more you know about the subject, the easier it is to write the pitch-actually they almost write themselves. I even suggest doing some pre-interviews with an expert or two, to get even greater insight into your topic.

Even if it seems that you're collecting more material than you'll ever need as you do the initial background work for your pitch, another benefit is being able to give an editor more options on how you can approach the story, should she like the subject, but not your take on it. I've salvaged many a piece suggesting alternate spins while discussing story ideas with editors. And, should you get a flat rejection, your research may have sparked ideas for you to use to query other publications.

Want to learn more? Sign up for one of Daina's classes!