The acceptance rate for many freelance writers is between 25% and 40%.

In my own experience though, I’ve had an almost 75% acceptance rate.

Oh, really?

Yes. But, it hasn’t happened overnight. From trial and error, I’ve picked up a few tricks that seem to make all the difference.

If you follow the 20 Commandments listed below, you should be able to turn your queries into paying assignments.

Here’s a suggested plan-of-attack!

1.       Keep your query letter concise. Briefly introduce yourself and your article idea. Mention which upcoming issue your article will suit their editorial calendar.

2.      Always include 2 - 4 relevant credits and a link to your online portfolio; don’t make the Editor do the spadework!

Avoid attaching large files (e.g. massive PDFs) with your introductory query. You’ll choke their inbox! If you don’t have a website, ask if/when you can send over the PDF files.

3.     Read several previous issues of the publication to get a sense of its tone and style.  

4.     Keep to the Editor’s original assignment spec; if you need to change anything, speak with him or her immediately. This assignment spec outlines the topic, scope and direction for your article.

5.     Meet your deadline. If there is a problem, call the Editor immediately. 

If you miss your deadline, you will probably not get paid, and you will certainly not get another commission.

6.     Submit articles in the correct format, such as Microsoft Word. Don’t expect that they have MAC, Quark or WordPerfect. Ask the editor if you don’t know which format is required.

Be proactive in the best possible way.

7.     Avoid over formatting the document. Keep it as plain as possible and you’ll save their production team having to re-edit your work.

If they provide you with a template, use it!

8.       Send graphics in the required file format, e.g. TIFF files with 300dpi.

9.      Whenever possible, send relevant art, charts, screen shots, tables and other graphics (with their sources) to accompany your story.

10.  Include a list of sources used in the article, with names, company affiliations and e-mail addresses.  

11.  Proofread and spellcheck copy before submission. Then do it again!

12.  Always keep your audience in mind when writing. Avoid jargon. Spell out acronyms on first reference. 

13.  Avoid promoting products and/or services in which you have a stake.

If you have a relationship with a vendor, say it to the Editor before starting.

14.  Identify any sources (e.g. analysts, executives) that you mention. Don’t just say: “The CEO announced that…“. Mention his/her name upfront.  

15.  Spell out acronyms when first mentioned, e.g. that the UML is the Unified Modelling Language.

16.  Define uncommon or little-used terms, e.g. virtualization; otherwise, only the technologies will know what you mean.

17.  Double-check the spelling of individuals and companies, and use the name preferred by the company.

Check how to present company names, e.g. in PeopleSoft the S is capitalized. In addition, the correct term for the web portal is Yahoo! Inc – note the exclamation mark after Yahoo.

18.  Avoid clichés, buzzwords and figure-of-speeches. It dilutes the impact of your writing.

19.  Don’t indulge in hyperbole — i.e. listing superlative product features.

20.  Send the article to the correct email address. This may sound obvious, but…

As I specialize in writing for business and IT publications, the emphasis here is on technology related publications. 

However, I’m sure that if you follow the steps outlined above, you will improve your relationship with Editors — which is the first step in winning new business

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“Copyright free articles for your website”

You can print, publish, distribute, and post all articles on Klariti.com providing you include the byline with each article.

These free articles are available for you, providing you follow these guidelines.

2. Links back to our site.

3. Each article must be published in full. However, you can make minor edits, where necessary. Please contact us beforehand; there is usually no problem.

We hope that you enjoy these copyright free reprints, as they are an ideal way to boost the content of your website, educate your staff, and increase the quality of your products and services.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Ivan

ivanwalsh.blogspot.com

Submitting articles to publications is a surefire way to increase traffic to your site. It will also raise your profile as a writer and lead to new business leads and freelance assignments.

Every Wednesday, I send out 5 articles to different magazines and publications. It’s hard to determine which are the most effective, but one thing I know – when I stop submitting the articles, my site traffic goes down!

So, here are a few tips when submitting articles:

1.    Make sure you have the full rights to publish the material. DO NOT submit material if you have already assigned exclusive publication rights to another person or organization.

2.    Avoid promotional type articles. Don’t try to disguise the real source. If the editor receives a product review this is not balanced, they will be suspicious and reject it.

3.    Write your article on a topic that relates to the main readership. Don’t write an article that you think they SHOULD be interested in. I know this sounds obvious…

4.    Don’t criticize a product without backing up your opinion with facts, quotes or research.

5.    Use graphics to enhance your article. GIF or JPEGs are the best for web publications. Learn how to reduce their size, if possible. Try to stay under 15K.

Finally, confirm if you retain ownership of the material.

Many publications do not require exclusivity, which means that you can also publish the article on your own site. Be warned, some publications wont let you do this!

PS - Ask if you can also grant others the right to publish your article.

Take a look at what these sites offer:

• www.findarticles.com
• www.articlecity.com
• www.ideamarketers.com

Regards,

Ivan

Filtered HTML is a type of HTML where the Word-specific functions have been removed from your document.  

This is very useful when you want to create a webpage with ‘clean’ code as web pages created from Word don’t always work correctly when viewed in non-Microsoft browsers.

The reason for this is that when you save a file as HTML, the web page cannot display features which are designed specifically for Word, such as ‘frames’ and ‘text boxes’. Web pages can’t represent these, though you can create workarounds if you understand the underlying HTML code.

To convert a Word file into Filtered HTML, follow these steps:

1. Open your Word file and click File, Save As. 

2. In the Save as type box, click Web Page, Filtered.
   

3. Click Save.
   FYI: if you save the file as filtered HTML and then reopen it in Word, its format and appearance may be slightly different as the Word specific-functionality was deleted when you saved it as Filtered HTML.For this reason, save into Filtered HTML only after you’re finished the document and don’t plan on making any more changes.  
   Otherwise you’ll need to maintain two files:1 x of the original Word document and
   1 x with the Filtered HTML web page

FYI: Another option is to save your document as a Single File Webpage.

How does this work?

When you do File, save as Single File Webpage, it saves everything, including text and graphics, into a single web page.

This lets you publish your entire site as a single ‘hold-all’ HTML file. This is ideal when you want to email your entire web site to a colleague or customer. Internet Explorer 4.0 (and later) supports MHTML. Firefox and other browsers may not be so sympathetic.

Purists may not approve of the quality of its code, but Microsoft Word lets you save your documents into HTML and, for the most part, the end result is fine. If you want to convert your document into HTML you can choose from three different options, each of which has its own advantages.

To get started, from the File menu, click Save As and then select the file type you want to use:

• Single file web page – one large web page with the images embedded into the page.

• Web Page – like above except the images are held in a separate folder.

• Web Page, Filtered – web page which has removed the Word-specific features.

• The third option—Web Page, Filtered—allows you to significantly reduce the size of web pages created in Microsoft Word.