What Big Magazines Want

Aching to get into a major magazine like Time, Cosmopolitan or AARP?

The easiest way is to start writing briefs on timely, controversial or fun topics, then submit them to magazines on your media list.

When editors are creating a particular issue of the magazine and place a story onto a page, they sometimes end up with a hole on the page because the story isn’t long enough.

So they turn to their file of “briefs.” These are short little items that Publicity Hounds have submitted, and many of them can be used as fillers. An editor who finds a compelling brief that ties into the topic of the larger article might use it.

Or, an editor might want content on a certain topic but doesn’t have the space for a long article. That’s when a brief on the same topic comes in handy.

Briefs can include frequently asked questions and answers, a list of definitions on a certain topic, a list of trends, “9 tips on how on how to….” or even a little quiz (my favorite!).

You can also submit the same brief to non-competing publications simultaneously.

– Joan