The Renegade Writer Blog

Denise Schipani has worked on the editorial staff at Child, American Baby, Bridal Guide, Zest (an English health and fitness magazine), and All Woman, and now, as a freelancer, she writes for Redbook, Woman’s Day, Women’s Health, Family Circle, and more. We’re so excited that Denise has agreed to teach Writing for the Women’s Markets for the Renegade Writer site! Her course will focus on magazines ranging from the women’s pubs like Woman’s Day and Redbook to the health and parenting magazines that target women.

We asked Denise to share her insider’s secrets on this coveted market. If you want to get in on the action, please sign up for her course!

Q. How did you break into the women’s magazines, and what has your experience been like?

A. My story isn’t the traditional one of the freelancer-breaking-in since I came to freelancing after 15 years or so of being a magazine editor. My last job was as editor of All Woman, a custom magazine (no longer being published) for women. Before that, I was executive editor of Bridal Guide. While at both jobs, I freelanced “on the side” for many magazines, including Fitness, Marie Claire, Redbook, and others. I do think my position as an editor — already “in the fold” — helped me introduce myself as a potential writer. I’d meet fellow editors on press trips and press events, for example. While I still had to prove myself just as any freelancer might, being an editor already does seem to give you an edge.

Q. What are women’s magazine editors looking for in a writer? Do writers need to have a certain style, certain education or knowledge. etc.?

A. Depends on the magazine. Certainly, if you are in the trenches of early motherhood, you have a leg up on childless writers when it comes to working for the parenting books — not because these editors are biased against the childless (and certainly some childless writers write for, and edit, these magazines) [I write for Parenting and I have no kids! -Linda], but because many of them are looking for that “it happened to me” perspective. If you have specialized knowledge — let’s say you have a degree in nutrition, or are a certified personal trainer — you might be more attractive to an editor at a magazine that covers diet and exercise. When I was at the bridal magazine, I was always happy to hear from writers who were currently planning their own weddings, because I felt they might being a flavor of personal experience to their writing.

But far more important than specialized knowledge, women’s magazine editors are looking for a combination of experience and reporting skills, and a dash of style. Those should come across in your query or LOI [Letter of Introduction].

They are also looking for writers who can be flexible (let’s say you query a feature or column-length story; are you willing to rethink your idea as a shorter, FOB piece? Or retool the idea as a 10-things story?).

Style is a big thing they’re searching for, and it’s hard to quantify. Sure, if you can demonstrate through your clips or the way you present your query that you have a great, individual flair as a writer, that you’re clever and nimble as you write, editors will be pleased and impressed. However, you may not be given leave to write in that style — many women’s magazines have their own voice and style. Writers shouldn’t be surprised if their individual voice and style are what help get them a gig, yet that same voice and style are not what editors want in the finished product. Your style tells the editor that you can write — so presumably you can write the way they want you to.

Q. What do the women’s magazines typically pay?

A. It varies widely. The most I’ve earned from a top woman’s magazine is $2/word. I’ve heard some writers boast of more, and I also know from experience that many magazines are trying harder lately to nickel and dime writers, pushing down former $2/word rates to $1.75 or less, or slashing word count so that those nice, juicy paychecks are harder to come by.

Q. Do you have to have national clips or clips from women’s mags to break in (the old Catch-22!)?

A. In most cases, yes — at least, that’s what you’ll hear. But whenever there’s a rule, there are bound to be exceptions. I know writers who got their first clips from national women’s magazines. The stated rule that you have to have other national clips is one of many weeding-out tactics editors use. As a freelance writer, you have to use what you have in your arsenal to stand out from the pack, and the pack — thanks to the enduring popularity and allure of these magazines — is big. One strategy writers looking to break in to bigger women’s magazines use is to try smaller national magazines first (such as bridal magazines, say, which traditionally are more open to newbies) to gain clips. But again, a killer idea, presented perfectly, may just open a door. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there simply isn’t a science to these things. There are broad rules, and a zillion exceptions to each.

Q. Do you need to be a woman to write for the women’s magazines? Are men not encouraged, encouraged the same as women, or even in demand as writers?

A. This is another “depends” answer. Surely many of the parenting magazines would love to hear more from men/fathers. And good health writers are always sought out, men or women. I’m trying to think of categories of magazines or topics that are women only — I guess a piece on breastfeeding or intimate sexual stuff would look weird coming from a man, but who knows! My feeling is that few men target the women’s magazines, but they should, and it’s my guess that the (largely female) body of magazine editors would be quite happy to hear from more men.

Q. What’s your top tip for people looking to break into women’s magazines?

A. Study the magazines. Show you really get what they do — and what they don’t. Mimic their style in titles and deks. If they tend to title heavy health pieces in a solid, straightforward way, do that. If they take a lighter, clever, punny tone, try your hand at that.

Be sure that your story idea fits their demographic in age (a magazine like Family Circle may not be running kids’ health pieces any longer, or at least not baby-health pieces, but may be doing family health or stories about teens’ behavior, for example).

Stay in your comfort zone, too — I remember the editor of Cosmo saying she felt “uncomfortable” getting multiple story ideas from a writer she knew, a competent, good writer, but one who was just not in the demographic of Cosmo. Right or wrong, this made the editor feel… weirded out, I guess.

Q. What’s the most common mistake writers make when targeting women’s magazines?

A. Thinking too big. I don’t mean aiming high by targeting the biggest magazine on the stand, I mean coming up with ideas that are too big. Coming to, say, Good Housekeeping with an idea like, “How to Clean Your House” is the kiss of death, and that query’s getting a quick “delete.” You have to think smaller, tighter, more packaged, cleverer, and, as you’ll hear time and again from women’s mag editors, fresher.

Share This