Ten Ways to Get Cheap (and Free) Magazine Samples
1 - Join a reading or writing group. Ask members to bring in theiralready-read magazines and have an exchange. Do the same with interestgroups you belong to or know about - playgroups (parenting, home, cooking, family mags), business networking groups (entrepreneurs, home business, finances magazines), church (religious, devotional periodicals).
2 - Offer to take a friend to the doctor's office. Okay, that sounds goofy but I love taking my children to the orthodontist, pediatrician, and dentist offices so I can scan the table of contents and skim the articles in the parenting, children's, family, travel and money magazines. I bring a notepad and take plenty of notes. Find an article in an old magazine that would help your research? Ask the office to make a copy of it; offer to pay.
3 - Subscribe. Remember if you subscribe to a magazine that is for business purposes, you can deduct the cost of the subscriptions if you itemize your taxes. I am a food writer so I keep all receipts for food and writing magazines, and food and writing books to deduct as business expenses.
4 - Take up publishers on their free copy offers. It used to be that all magazines would let your send in a postcard and check the "bill me" square and you will end up with two or three issues before they cut you off for not paying. These days, we cannot even be inadvertently dishonest. I get mailings from magazines offering me one free issue. I will send in the postcard and usually have a bill to pay before I have read the free issue. I then can decide to subscribe or put the bill in the postage paid envelope and decline to pay.
5 - Look for the online issues of particular magazines. It is true that many use original content online (another good market to explore) but even the different content will show you what type of material the magazine is looking for.
6 - Read newspapers online. Do you want to write travel articles? Visit the major newspapers online. Most hire freelancers to cover a great deal of their special interest articles. Contact information for, in this example, the travel section editor will likely be available on the website.
7 - Send for the writer guidelines. Look in The Writer's Market. If you are looking for parenting magazines and find one that sounds about right to you but you have never seen, send for the writer guidelines and request a sample issue. Double check the listing of the magazine to see if there is a reduced price or you have to send a stamped envelope to receive a free copy.
8 - Go to the library. This is so obvious! Make a bi-weekly appointment to go to the library and review the magazines you want to write for. Make notes. Use the library's copier to photocopy the table of contents, or an article or two to review at home.
9 - If your public library does not carry the magazines you want to know about, travel to a college library. They are set up for your kind of research. While most require student identification to use the reference materials, you can read the periodicals unimpeded.
10 - Bookstores! Grab a pile of magazines, buy that over-priced latte and carefully review the magazines you have found to study (remember, if you spill on it, you buy it!)
Terms of use - This article may be used freely in online and print, newsletters and websites that do not charge a fee to readers. The resource box at the end must be included. The article may not be substantially edited but grammatical or typos can certainly be corrected. Thank you.
Pamela White is the publisher of Food Writing, an online newsletter and author of FabJob's guide to Become a Food Writer. Her newest book, Freelance Writing: Begin the Adventure is available at http://www.food-writing.com/pages/3/index.htm
MORE RESOURCES:
 Film School Rejects (blog) | 'Underworld 4' on the Way With 'Shield' Scribe Writing Moviefone According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, the task of writing the fourth film falls upon John Hlavin, best known as a writer and story editor ... Underworld 4 being scripted by John Hlavin |
Parting Shot: Writing In Alexander for Biletnikoff Award Kansas City Star By Mike dearmond - Posted on 20 November 2009 Danario Alexander is not a finalist for the award given annual to college football's best receiver. ... |
 Film School Rejects (blog) | Mike White Writing New Christmas Comedy Called Santa Wars Fused Film Paramount and Scott Rudin are teaming together for a new Christmas comedy that will feature battling Santas. ... School of Rock's Mike White Writing Holiday Comedy Santa Wars |
Analysis: Darwin vs. Genesis, a literary smackdown Toronto Star Genesis, it has to be said, is tough to beat as a piece of writing. It contains both the best of the wilderness, emerging over several generations from the ... |
Late mail on writing The Age He credits his mother for his love of reading and writing. She bore three sons in three years, and as her belly grew so did a line of Russian novels on her ... |
 New York Daily News | Martha Stewart pans Rachael Ray's cooking - and cooking writing New York Daily News Stewart told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden that Ray's approach to cooking - and cookbook writing - is "not good enough for me." In her first TV interview since ... |
Mpls. Teams Needs Help Writing Cinderella Story KSTP.com An inner-city youth football team that helped revitalize a Minneapolis park now needs the help of the community to write the ending to a true Cinderella ... |
 MTV.com | Lauren Conrad Is Writing A Book On Style MTV.com And when Conrad isn't busy writing books or working on the "LA Candy" movie, she is spending her time designing her clothing line, LC Lauren Conrad, ... Ex-'Hills' star Lauren Conrad is writing a style tips book. Chapter 1: Hire a ... Lauren Conrad is writing a style book Morning Round Up: Lauren Conrad to write a style book PLUS Leighton's latest ... |
Writing project gives Rainier students some new perspectives Longview Daily News Kirkpatrick's class, along with the other classes at Hudson Park Elementary School, have been working on a special writing project, learning to see stories ... |
Cassidy: Former Silicon Valley CEO settles into the writing life San Jose Mercury News Writing is not Raffel's first career. Way back in the 1990s, he started Upshot, a No surprise then that Ian Michaels, the startup executive protagonist of ... |
New Authors Publishing Options
All your publishing options are as follows:--Conventional publishing--Vanity or subsidy publishing--Print-on-demand publishing--Self-publish yourself--Get help with self-publishingLet's compare the publishing options.How to get in the publishing process and how long will it take to see your book printed?Conventional publishing optionIt is a very long and difficult process to get a publisher even if it is at all possible for a new author.
7 Devastating Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Writing engaging articles and energizing ad copy takes more than just typing out what you want to say. By correcting these major mistakes, your copy will soar to newfound heights.
2nd Installment on Autobiography
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in any person was "the human condition." Malraux was interested not so much in people's personality but, rather, in their "particular relationship with the world.
Keeping a Love Journal
Do you love someone very deeply? A spouse, son, daughter,or maybe a group of people. February 14 is Valentineâ??s Day.
The Spectre Hound
And a dreadful thing from the cliff did spring,and its wild bark thrill'd around,His eyes had the glow of the fires below,'twas the form of the spectre houndOne of the most chilling omens of death in English folklore is the large, spectral demon dog called Black Shuck. A death omen comes to collect souls and if you have the misfortune to see Black Shuck - expect death to come within a year.
Make Your Mark Upon Humanity
The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and humanity is the book, the song, the poem the artwork or invention that is locked away within your consciousness.All of us have this gift that needs to come out.
Freelance Feast or Famine?
Sometimes a freelance writing career can feel very much like "feast or famine".At the very beginning, it's almost all famine.
Aesop, Abraham Lincoln, and You
May I tell you about a writing technique shared by Aesop and Abe Lincoln?Let's look first at Aesop's timeless tale about the tortoise and the hare. It's the one that ends "slow and sure wins the race.
New York Code Orange Jaisini New Art Series
The creativity of Jaisini is not designed to be preaching or too critical. Paul Jaisini reached his level of mastership to know exactly that life is worth living to look in the future having no regrets about the past.
Starting a Freelance Writing Career (or Thoughts About Taking the Plunge)
Nike's ad has taken on new meaning for me of late; "Just do it!" runs through my mind like a mantra. Although my dreams have nothing to do with athletic shoes and little to do with athletics (unless you count the long list of ideas I have developed which revolve around my sons and their activities), I have spent a long time avoiding the one thing I've always wanted to do - write.
How to Have an Effective Reading Group
Writing leads to reading. Therefore, it's only fair to supply my readers with sufficient information on creating an effective reading group, since the last article was based on writing groups.
How To Write for the Web
The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing for print. The differences are slight but significant.
Should You Write a Book?
One morning, you open your inbox and find several e-mails that will boost your business. There is an invitation to speak at a local group comprised of your best prospects.
Put a Spin on Your Idea!
Eight or nine times out of ten, picking up and leafing through a magazine's or book's table of contents, you will find at least one or more articles or chapters that will catch your attention immediately. Never mind that that article or chapter's subject had been written about many times before.
To Write Successful Business & Academic Communications, Learn the Architecture of a Story
Human beings seem to be born with a gene for telling stories. Stories from our families, our communities, and the media form our worldview and shape our lives.
A Single Technique
Writing is hard work, and like all hard work, one tries to avoid it if possible. Yet writers feel the urge to write, the need to write, and the inspiration to write, but these are not what produces.
8 Advantages to Writing a Book as an Entrepreneur
As an aspiring or an established entrepreneur, you are an expert in something, but does the rest of the world know? You have a wealth of information, experience and knowledge that you can package into a book that will benefit others. This truly is the information age and people want to know what you know.
Writing Styles for Fiction: Which Voice to Use
I recently set up a website to promote a new suspense novel. Once it started receiving hits I began getting questions about why I chose to write in third person.
Gut Check: Quitting Your Full-time Job for Your Freelance Career
It's 6:00 p.m.
Why We Dont Write Our Books
In the ten years that I've taught people how to get on with their books, I've noticed a phenomenon that I'll call "Author's Block." Would-be writers can, indeed, sit down and work when pressed to it.
