When I began my freelance writing career in 2007, I would never have believed I’d end up writing dozens of articles for hobbyist magazines. But today, my bylines include more than 20 special interest magazines for hobbies as diverse as gardening, gold prospecting, ham radios, four-wheel drive vehicles, classic cars, art and sculpture, wine tasting, hiking, brewing beer, living history re-enactments — even UFOs!

My bylines in hobby and leisure activity magazines include Garden Answers, Pacific Horticulture, Lost Treasure, Monitoring Times, Popular Communications, National Communications, VHF Communications, Off Road Adventures, Collectible Automobile, Open Minds, Renaissance, Sculpture, Videoscope, Walking New Zealand, Washington Tasting Room, New Writer, The Writer, Writers Forum, Writers News, and Zymurgy.

I’ve found hobbyist magazines among the easiest genres to break into. And I’ve found that once I’ve got my foot in the door with these publications, their editors have been highly receptive to repeat business.

Leisure activity magazines exist in a mind-boggling plethora of topics; trains, quilting, motorcycles, automobiles, cats and dogs, dolls, scale modeling, yachting, cycling, running (and nearly every other sport imaginable), camping, hiking, video games, arts & crafts, astronomy, military history, stamp collecting, coin collecting, rock & gem collecting, antique collecting, and every other pastime imaginable.

Next time you’re at your local Barnes & Noble or bookstore, thumb through the special interest and hobby publications. The sheer variety of these publications will blow your mind.

Where to Pitch Your Hobbyist Stories

Leisure activities represent a huge market in first world countries. So, make sure you pitch your stories to magazines published in developed countries that have wealth and where the people have leisure time for pursuing hobbies such as North America, the U.K, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.

You Don’t Have to Be an Expert

Writers do not need to be experts about their hobby or leisure activity, although it helps. While I’m not an active practitioner of many of the hobbies I write about, I certainly have an interest in them. To get published, you simply need to present a new development or angle about that hobby, or news and trends. Other hobbyist stories that sell well include personality profiles, experts and their views, or advice on how to pursue the hobby more effectively and save money.

I’ve consulted or quoted experts in some hobby fields in my articles when I’ve needed more information. Most authorities love to see their names in print and will happily give you quotes and advice for free. When I first broke into writing about military vehicles, I worked with a military vehicle enthusiast, who helped me ID the vehicles, and told me some of their history.

My article in Garden Answers Magazine, about the Elandan Bonsai Gardens in Port Orchard, Washington, was a profile piece about Daniel Robinson, a bonsai expert who created this magical garden.

How Do You Pitch Your Story Ideas to Hobby Magazines?

Hobby magazines are no different than any other magazine. Look at the masthead and identify who to property pitch, then submit a query in the standard query letter format. See the following piece from Writer’s Digest for more information on querying: http://www.writersmarket.com/assets/pdf/query_letter_clinic.pdf 

Create Pitch Lists

I’ve created extensive magazine “distribution lists” for every leisure activity genre that I’ve written in. Once you’ve developed your magazine distribution lists, you’ve got them forever, so you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you want to query a hobby story. All you need to do is add new magazines to your list as you discover them and remove the periodicals that have folded.

Writing for hobbyist and leisure activity publications is a great way to break into freelance writing. Aspiring writers should start by pitching story ideas about topics they’re familiar and comfortable with, then as experience grows, reach out to topics you’d like to better understand.

BIO – Freelancer Roy Stevenson has had more than one thousand published articles in two hundred regional, national, and international magazines, newspapers, trade journals, custom publications, specialty magazines, in-flights, on-boards, and online travel magazines. Roy produces a weekly newsletter for aspiring travel writers. It’s considered one of the most informative e-zines in the travel writing business. Subscribe here: http://www.pitchtravelwrite.com/pitchtravelwrite-ezine.html His PitchTravelWrite.com website was listed in Writer’s Digest magazine’s “101 Best Websites for Writers” list.