Article Marketing for Authors: How to Submit to Print Publications
In my previous post I covered how to submit articles online, which is something many marketers have done for years. But you can take your article marketing efforts a step further by also submitting articles to print publications.
Publishing articles in newspapers, trade newsletters and magazines can be an excellent way to attract a new audience of book readers. Many smaller publications will reprint your article along with your bio and website link. Even though you may not be directly promoting your book in your article, readers will visit your site or investigate your book if they like what you have to say.
Trade magazines and neighborhood newspapers are an excellent place to start since they are often in need of writers. Consumer magazines can also be a source for your articles, although the popular magazines that you find on the checkout stands of grocery stores are the most difficult to break in to. It is best to start with smaller or regional publications.
I have personally had tremendous success by submitting my articles to various trade association newsletters, smaller business magazines, and newspapers. In most cases you won’t even know the article was printed because you’ve already granted permission and editors are too busy to follow up. You will only know the article ran if you happen to see it yourself or hear from a reader—or notice a nice spike in book sales!
To get started, visit your local bookstore to find smaller magazines or conduct searches on Google. You can also search sites like www.newspapers.com, or http://newsdirectory.com. Locate contact information for the editor in the publication masthead or website. Many websites offer writer’s guidelines where the editor will indicate whether she accepts submissions via e-mail and what kinds of articles the publication accepts. The most important item to note here is that you are submitting an article for reprint. The larger publications rarely accept reprints and in the journalism world, this is an important distinction.
Use the following format to submit your articles via email. Be sure to simply paste the article content into the body of the email since editors may not be willing to open attachments.
Resumes That Rock
By Edna Entrepreneur
Word count: 975
<insert article body>
<insert author bio>
*This article may be reprinted provided the author bio is included. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Edna Entrepreneur
<insert contact information>