How to Write and Sell Articles to Websites and Magazines

I remember it as if it was yesterday. I sweated blood to get my first article idea, and of course I sent it off to the biggest women's magazine in the country.

There was no way it was going to be accepted, but I was still disappointed when it came back just days after I'd sent it.

I can remember the day things changed, and I wrote what would become my first accepted article.

I've long had a love of cats, and in the UK at the time there was a cat magazine with a circulation of around 25,000 readers. I submitted a short 500 word piece to them... and received an acceptance letter just days later.

I remember receiving that envelope. Not a thick one with a manuscript inside, but a thin one that could only contain a letter of acceptance. I got the princely sum of £12.50 for that article, but I was so delighted with my success I sat down and spent the rest of the day writing more articles.

Days later I notched up my second acceptance, and I've never looked back. I've had disappointments, of course, but by and large I've done very well.

You can too.

Read my growing group of writing lenses and benefit from my years of experience. Hey, I'm beginning to sound old now...

Visit Online Freelance Writing Jobs and find out how to get a foot in the door of paid online writing, and check out Online Content Copywriting Jobs to discover a whole world of online writing jobs YOU can apply for today.

What's that saying - the longest journey starts with a single step? Writing is very much like that. But the sooner you start your own journey towards publication, the sooner you'll get there. And when you do, nothing else beats it.

I am now writing e-books, articles and blogs for clients worldwide, and have never been happier. That's what happens when you hone your skills and make the most of them.

Want to get published and paid for it? Lots of people do - but not all of them are prepared to put the work in that is required to see it happen. That is a shame because it's not as hard to get published as you might think. You just need to make sure you go about it in the right way.

This is what you need to do.

1. Aim low to start with. Don't aim for the huge mass market women's weeklies. They have a lot of competition and beginners are better off to go elsewhere and leave those markets for later.

2. Don't dismiss the internet. There are plenty of websites that will pay for submissions. Do some research to see if there are any you like the look of.

3. Query your ideas before writing the article. This will save you wasting time writing something that doesn't have a solid market.

4. Stick to what you know. There will be plenty of time to branch out later on, but for now you need to make things as easy as possible for yourself.

5. Don't put money first. It's good that you want to get paid for your work, but don't be blinded by dollar signs all the time. Refer back to step one if you need any clarification!

6. Present your work in a professional manner. Find out how the market you want to submit to likes articles to be presented to them and follow it to the letter.

7. Finally, make sure you get your facts right. This refers to every single part of every submission you ever make. Not only should the article be factually correct, but you should also make sure you are sending it to the correct person - and in the correct manner. Do they accept email submissions? Find out before you attach it and email it off.

There is plenty more to writing and selling articles, of course, but if you bear the above seven points in mind you will be off to a roaring start.

Introduction:
I wrote this book to help the thousands of struggling writers out there who are trying to get that all important first acceptance under their belts. This book (if you follow the advice given) will speed up your progress and steer you away from making the common mistakes that prevent many people from getting published.

Because the fact is, there's no great mystery to succeeding at article writing. You can do it if you follow the four step blueprint provided within this book. All that is required is to follow it step by step, apply the principles to your own work, and read it often to make sure you are staying on track.

The one thing I cannot provide you with is perseverance. You need to be able to keep going regardless of how many rejection slips you get. You may be a quick learner and only get a few. You may take longer to really get to grips with the principles in this book, and acquire enough slips to paper the loo with. No matter. Perseverance will always get you from A to B, whatever the distance between the two points is. Always remember that.

And enjoy the journey. My journey took nine months (and was probably a good deal more painful than the average pregnancy and birth), but I learned such a lot along the way. Yes the rejections were disappointing, but I learned the lessons they brought, and I got there in the end.

And let me tell you, when you finally succeed, and you start to realise the rewards that being a published writer can bring, you'll realise all the hard work and effort (and yes, even the disappointments) is worth it.

So... let's begin to find out more about how to write and sell articles.

The complete four step blueprint is available to buy here.

You can't beat a bit of self promotion to get your writing career started.

Part of being a successful writer is getting into the habit of promoting your skills by letting people know you are there - whether that's by having your own website, querying editors with ideas for articles, or applying for jobs you've found on online job boards (look for my Online Freelance Writing Jobs lens in the LensRoll on the right to see how and where to find these jobs right now!).

The good news is, this part gets easier the longer you do it. The trick is getting started!

That's why I've launched a brand new lens called "How to Build a Marketing Blog that Boosts Your Business". It reveals the reasons why you should set up your own blog now if you want to promote yourself as a writer.

There's plenty there to help you get started, and I'll be developing it over time as well, so make sure you bookmark it! I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear your feedback.