{"id":9415,"date":"2021-09-14T07:22:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T14:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/?p=9415"},"modified":"2021-09-14T13:30:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T20:30:25","slug":"how-i-got-paid-to-write-for-huffpost-cure-today-and-youme-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/uncategorized\/how-i-got-paid-to-write-for-huffpost-cure-today-and-youme-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Got Paid to Write for HuffPost, Cure Today, and You&Me Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Viney Kirpal<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I returned from hospital in January 2019, I was nearing 70. I stopped working 9 to 5 to focus on my health. After a 48-year-old career, this was a major decision because I\u2019m not one of those who can laze around for long. I had to find myself a meaningful vocation which I could pursue from home.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been an academic for 25 years, a corporate coach and trainer for another 15 years and had headed a non-profit since 2002. What next?<\/p>\n

As a 10-year-old, I\u2019d dreamt of becoming a writer.<\/strong> It seemed the perfect choice in my golden years. The idea of describing myself as a writer appeared glamorous!<\/p>\n

I\u2019d written before to meet professional requirements and published books and articles in refereed journals. My contributions as a freelancer had been desultory for lack of time. Now I wanted to freelance with fresh determination.<\/p>\n

I set up a schedule to write daily for four hours and loved every minute of my new profession. As more and more ideas came to me, I penned an article, even two in a day. Then, to my dismay, I discovered, there weren\u2019t many publications in English in my country (India) where I could gain a foothold, being a late-comer.<\/p>\n

I Googled and found hundreds of foreign magazines and websites for freelancers. Overjoyed, I planned to publish in them. That was easier said than done, but more of that later.<\/p>\n

As I scoured the internet for names of publications, I got invitations to subscribe to newsletters\/websites that assist aspiring writers. I signed for a few that I felt could help me understand the writers\u2019 market.<\/p>\n

Freedom with Writing (FWW) was one of them. It has proved invaluable in my journey as a writer.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s unique about FWW is it regularly emails lists of magazines seeking pitches. The information gave me a sense of the magazines which might accept my contributions. FWW briefly provided every magazine\u2019s submission goals, contact details, deadlines and payments offered.<\/p>\n

I began submitting my work to top magazines. Sometimes, there was stark silence. At other times, the editor politely wrote to say the essay wasn\u2019t a fit.<\/p>\n

Used to writing for the best international research journals, these rejections shocked me and undermined my confidence considerably. I wondered if my decision to write for American magazines was a misplaced one. But not being the kind to let go easily, I continued despite the blows to my pride and self worth.<\/p>\n

I scaled down my ambition and tried lesser paying publications. That too didn\u2019t work. Then I noticed a web magazine called, You & Me Magazine <\/em>listed in FWW. It seemed just apt for my essay, which was about having lived with two successive chronic diseases for years before I was cured. I was thrilled when it bought my article for $100!<\/p>\n

A month later, my first success seemed like a fluke as rejections bombed my inbox mercilessly.<\/p>\n

I was facing two major challenges. Sitting in India, I had access only to those articles which were available on the internet; I couldn\u2019t afford to subscribe to publications in rupees before I\u2019d earned anything substantial. The other was the cultural difference between the interests of readers here and there.<\/p>\n

It was obvious I\u2019d have to learn how to write for these publications. I enrolled for free online writing courses. The famous journalist, Amy Paturel\u2019s lessons on writing personal essays and award-winning novelist Jerry Jenkins\u2019 practical videos on editing \u201cferociously\u201d changed the way I wrote.<\/p>\n

Then in May 2020 came Jacob Jans\u2019 and Ian Chandler’s Writing Launch course for freelancers. I requested they permit me to attend for a free month, as I couldn\u2019t afford the fee. He agreed, and I poured over every lesson.<\/p>\n

I learnt the following lessons from the course, which I carry in my head every time I write:<\/p>\n

Ian Chandler’s pitch template<\/strong>, a brief, self-explanatory, 70-word email to query editors, is good to sell stories. Here\u2019s my pitch to One Village, a new digital platform for supporting cancer patients\/survivors which was seeking contributions, according to FWW:<\/p>\n

Hi X:<\/p>\n

Greetings and congratulations! My good wishes to you at the launch of a useful magazine.<\/p>\n

As a third-stage breast cancer survivor for the last 13 years, I want to pitch you a research-based personal essay on how I adopted food as medicine to complement the usual treatment of cancer and fight the disease. I will speak of my initial depression and despair when I discovered I had cancer, how I overcame those emotions, and gave food a chance to help me return to health. Readers will find the approach useful.<\/p>\n

Please let me know if the idea works for you.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a published writer undergoing certification in health-writing. My two recent health articles are available in\u00a0Reader\u2019s Digest<\/a>, \u201cHow Prepared Are you For your Doctor\u2019s Visit?\u201d and \u201cWhen God\u2019s Angels Fail\u201d in\u00a0You& Me<\/a>\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n

I thank you for your consideration and hope to hear from you early.<\/p>\n

Best wishes once again for the success of your magazine.<\/p>\n

Viney<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A week later, I received a contract from the editor, and was paid $150.<\/p>\n

My second learning<\/strong> from the course was to develop a niche and sub-niches. I opted for health and wellness writing and personal essays and sought certification from Michelle Guillemard, who tutored and mentored me under her Introductory Health Hub course. This has been a life-changing decision because health\/wellness and personal essays are niches unconstrained by cultural differences.<\/p>\n

The third lesson<\/strong> the Writing Launch course taught me was: Never write for publications that pay meager amounts. I negotiate and get the rate that my work deserves. I\u2019m delighted to say editors have been rather nice.<\/p>\n

The advice on earning a higher rate has to do it with placing a value on one\u2019s work, being professional, honoring deadlines, following submission guidelines, and always delivering quality.<\/p>\n

In February 2021, my essays found room in Cure Today and in May in HuffPost.com. They paid me between $200 and $500.<\/p>\n

Have I arrived at publishing in well-paying publications? No, I still face rejections for \u00a0different reasons, not necessarily because my pitch is not suitable for the publication. These are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. \n
        \n
      1. Editors have their own preferred set of established contributors to write for their publication and maintain standards and disallow unsolicited pitches..<\/li>\n
      2. Many publications are open only to nationals. I\u2019ve begun writing to them and seeking clarification before pitching them.<\/li>\n
      3. Editors are weighted under pitches. They could miss our pitch.<\/li>\n
      4. Editors admit their selections are often subjective.<\/li>\n
      5. The scene is very competitive.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. \n
            \n
          1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            It\u2019s futile to take rejections to heart.<\/p>\n

            Rejections spur me to work harder to get them published elsewhere. If I persist, I\u2019ll get the momentum I long for. Established writers have toiled for years to make a place; I\u2019m only a starter in comparison and can patiently wait my turn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            By Viney Kirpal When I returned from hospital in January 2019, I was nearing 70. I stopped working 9 to 5 to focus on my health. After a 48-year-old career, this was a major decision because I\u2019m not one of those who can laze around for long. I had to find myself a meaningful vocation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9415"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9418,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415\/revisions\/9418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}