I’m not a talented writer. I’m not even steeped in writing qualifications. Yet my website is splattered with published features. How? In three words – pitch, ballsiness and research.

Pitch – Turtles inspired me to write. While out having coffee, I noticed a company advertising string bags as alternatives to plastic ones. Not very interesting in itself. But, paired with the emotive side that turtles suffer an untimely death by eating an upturned plastic one, I had an idea for a pitch.

Ballsiness – I’d never written a pitch so bought a book on how to write a good one. ‘I can try that’ I decided. I found a UK women’s magazine aimed at seniors and read it from cover to cover three times. I’d hit on a topical issue, the editor was interested!

Research – The editor guided me. She wanted more ideas for plastic bag alternatives and quotes from supermarkets on how they intended to eliminate them.  Internet searches gave me suggestions for bags. I emailed supermarkets’ media departments (found on their website) to obtain spokespeople.

The article was published. Beginner’s luck? Well, yes and no – I continued to work freelance for the magazine for two years.

Discovering our local county magazine in another cafe, I rang to see if they were looking for a writer. “Can you write an advertorial?” said the editor. Um, no, I thought. “Yes, absolutely,” I said. I researched how to write a good advertorial and got another two years’ worth of work.

Still an average writer but one with a ballsy approach, I noticed the UK Daily Mail published personal health stories. I had a few. The editor of the women’s section was interested in my pitch on acne. She gave me a word count and guidance on what to include. My feature was accepted. I’m still waiting to see it in print but I’ve learnt to be patient – it took two years once for a feature to appear!

Ideas come from my own life – health, hobbies, relationships and experiences. But also from observation and chatting to everyone!

From a casual conversation with a florist I uncovered her inspirational story. A stroke left her unable to read, write or work. She re-learnt everything, then did what she’d always wanted – work with flowers. The interview was published in a women’s magazine.

Yes, I’ve had my share of flops. Like dating, you don’t find a perfect match every time.

From what I’ve learnt:

The pitch is everything. Spend time on it. Read books on how to perfect it. Research the name of the relevant editor. Send to one well researched medium at a time.

Don’t just meet the deadline – beat it.

Get personal – cultivate an ongoing professional relationship with the editor after your first success.

Create an account on LinkedIn. Connect with editors.

Struggle to find an editor’s direct email? From a web search, find the general format of emails to that medium. It’s then possible to figure it out.

Media kits, found online as a PDF or as interactive web pages, break down readership and sometimes give an editorial calendar.

Wikipedia provides a “days of the year” list of famous births, deaths and historical events. Link your pitch to an anniversary date.

On Facebook, ‘follow’ and ‘like’ as many publications as you can find. While not advertising for feature writers, they often request funny or topical fillers – all paid. Excellent practice for writing to a tight word count.

Aiming for print media? Magazines sometimes offer a cheap 3 month trial membership. Good Housekeeping (UK and USA) offers good deals on this.

Beauty salons stock glossy magazines for customers. Study the features for free. Photograph the editorial page for the commissioning editor’s name.

If you’re going to be bold and ballsy, stay interested in life, perfect your pitch, target right and write tight.

BIO – Abby Williams is a UK published freelance writer. She still feels like a newbie writer, but one now with some experience. Her goal is to remain interested in life, people and latest trends so she can help solve readers’ problems, entertain and enlighten. That way, she feels she will always have something to write about. www.abbywilliamsfreelancewriting.com

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