Being a parent, grandparent and now great-grandparent, has honed my niche as a writer. My children, grandchildren, and great grandson have been awesome food-for-story fodder which has also increased my earning power.

The parenting market booms with magazines, both digital and print, blogs, and parenting anthologies. Parenthood, in all its myriad forms, single parents, same sex couples, interracial couples, etc. have one essential commonality. Parents want the best life for their children and ultimately want to mesh it together to groom the best life as a family.

Parents don’t want to feel alone, either. They have insecurities and fears, especially now during a pandemic that has caused so many of us sleepless, fretful days and nights.

After published personal essays and nonfiction articles in paying parenting magazines such as Scary Mommy, Parent Co., Guardian Angel Magazine, and Brain, Child Magazine, I have garnered nine tips to breaking into parenting markets that pay.

Become familiar with the parenting magazine you submit to. 

Get to know the readership and the demographics. Are they young, affluent baby boomers living in the Midwest or are they hip urban New York couples? What are their interests, their lifestyle, and their values? You may feel your parenting story or article resonates with everyone, but it might not if your views about parenting or relationships are more liberal than those of a conservative or religious parenting magazine. Note the ads. Advertisers are highly strategic in market identification.

Write for regional magazines.

See what the parenting magazines are in your hometown. Google regional magazines and find their writers guidelines. When writing for regional magazines be willing to up your chances of publication by interviewing local sources. If you are writing about autism seek a local parenting support group for parents of children with autism to get their point of view. Parents crave takeaway value in terms of resources and links.

Think numbers. 

Parents are busy and wear many hats especially with many parents homeschooling as a result of the pandemic. Think about writing an article with lists or a quick fix such as, “Ten Online Educational Tools to Use During Homeschooling,” or “Five Quick and Easy Lunchtime Meals for a School Week on Zoom” or because COVID-19 has robbed some of us of our peace, an article such as, “ Eight Mantras for Parents and Children to Create Inner Calm Amidst COVID.”

Keep your tone conversational.

Write as if you are talking to a friend. Readers are seeking like minds.

Don’t shy away from uncomfortable topics.

Stories about dealing with pandemic depression or an unraveled marriage healed through online counseling are timely and sorely needed by many. Address how you talked about race relations and politics with your children. Parents relate and seek answers on how to address emotionally charged topics. Search for parenting magazines that showcase the voices of writers who are courageous enough to tell those difficult stories.

Recycle your parenting story for other magazines. 

Take the same story you wrote about preschoolers and write a different version of it for teens or young adults. Change the gender in an article you wrote titled, “Raising Self-confident Daughters, ” to “Building Self-confidence in Boys.”

Always give parents a takeaway. 

Takeaway can be anything from words of hope to concrete resources. Links, addresses, and names matter. Make your piece worth the time spent reading it, and consider it a way to improve someone’s quality of life.

Create track of paying parenting magazine sites. 

Note when a new editor comes or leaves or writing/submission guidelines are updated. Some may offer blog submissions or alter an editorial theme. Submissions may change from email to an online submission app. Once you’ve targeted magazines you deem your favorites, stay abreast of their business practices.

Listen. 

Being encircled by children and parents, even on Zoom, is the gift that keeps on giving. You will amass a lifetime of memories and writing prompts.

Bio: Jeanine DeHoney is a freelance writer who has had her writing published in several magazines, online blogs and anthologies which include, Chicken Soup for the Soul. She is currently a blogger at WOW-Women on Writing.