Freelance writers have to be motivated to reach for the brass ring. To some of us, that means publishing in a major magazine or national newspaper, a difficult achievement even with a substantial number of clips. A plethora of authors vie for the top spots, and once they’re in, they hold onto them. Fortunately, there is a back door to many of the major publications that offers a way to at least get your foot on the bottom rung of the ladder.

Vox, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Writer’s Chronicle, Good Housekeeping, and even The Boston Globe offer opportunities for writers to submit low word count essays or blog posts about personal experiences, your writing journey, and even career advice.

Writer’s Digest looks for 600-word essays for their 5 Minute Memoir about the writing life, and the payment is $300. The guidelines are specific, including the email subject line, so be sure to read them before you submit!

It can be difficult to pry open the door to Vox, as it’s one of the premier websites for explaining the news. Fortunately, they are looking for first-person narrative essays. They don’t have a word count listed, but they do provide sample essays that should offer a good go-by roadmap. According to the guidelines, they discuss pay after the piece is accepted.

If you’re really into puzzles, you might want to consider submitting an essay to The New York Times. Called Solver Stories, these essays should be a personal story that involves relationships or issues in which puzzles are interwoven. The word count is 800-1,200, and the payment is $200. Having just signed the contract for publication of my story, I can tell you that the time from submission to acceptance was less than one month.

Everyone has heard of Good Housekeeping magazine. It’s a big feather in the cap to get a piece published in its glossy pages. You might not be able to be on the front page of the magazine at first, but you can get your start by submitting a 500-word essay to their Blessings column which runs on the back page or, if you’ve overcome a significant medical problem, you could submit a health narrative.

The Boston Globe also offers writers two ways to get a start with the magazine. Its Perspective column runs 800-word opinionated pieces on timely local news topics, and Connections looks for 650-word first-person essays on relationships of any kind. They do offer payment, but the guidelines stipulate that fees vary depending upon the column and the story length.

Established writers who want to see their byline in The Writer’s Chronicle could shoot for a blog post in The Writer’s Notebook first, which has a lower word count of at least 1,000 words. If you’re offering career advice, the pay is $18 per 100 words. Other pieces are paid at $100 per post.

While the turnaround times for many of these can be lengthy, your patience could be rewarded with a byline in a nationally recognized newspaper, magazine, or website. Not only will publication considerably boost your CV, but you will have the opportunity to establish a relationship with the editor that accepted your piece. Then you’re one step closer to the front pages.

BIO – Rachel Carrington has been writing for over 35 years and has been published in both nonfiction and fiction. She also teaches fiction writing classes for Women on Writing. Find her on the web at www.rachelcarrington.com.