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SUBMITTING FOR PAPER OR BYTES?
By C. Hope Clark
So you have this great list of publications that accept your
work via a quick click of a button on your keyboard. Is your
article destined for the web site or paper version of the
magazine?
Who cares, you say. Whether your article makes it onto
Sweet.com or into Sweet Magazine, the editors and readers are
all the same, right? Wrong for several reasons.
First and foremost, writing styles are different for online
and paper reading. Online customers read faster. They scan.
They want their information in quick sentences and short
paragraphs. Bullets and numbered lists catch an online reader’s
attention faster than any other format supplement. Electronic
reading lends itself to picture and text boxes, sidebars and
eye-catching tools that make reading more enjoyable.
Online readers click and move on in an instant if they run
across a boring sentence. They gather their information
online because they want the quick fix of information without
the delay of finding it on paper. Boring equates to inefficiency.
They choose this style of article on purpose because it suits
their lifestyle, feeds their needs and informs promptly.
Online readers are unforgiving. Dilute writing with passive
voice and even the uneducated move on. Grammar errors and
clichés chase online surfers away in a second. While style
and voice make an online article, the formalities of proper
writing still apply. Quality is still king. Without it you’re
the jester.
Make your point as soon as possible. The longer you bury the
lead, the sooner you’ll lose your reader. The finest hooks
are needed online. Embed them two paragraphs down and the
reader will never make it there. A good rule-of-thumb is that
any online story can be told in 800 words or less.
Paper publications need a more literary tone. When a reader
sits down to read a magazine, anthology or book, he plans to
study it. He takes his paper product and sits down at his desk,
in his recliner, in the passenger seat of a car on a trip,
waiting at the airport or laying in bed.
Flipping to another magazine takes more effort than clicking
to another web site, so you have more time and more chance to
hold the reader. You still must keep him occupied by writing
tight, writing in active prose and writing with a voice that
captures, such as attitude, humor or an easy conversational
tone, but he’ll give you more leeway in the number of words
it takes to reach your point.
He’s willing to hear more about the details and experience
the crescendo before reaching the climax of the story. If he
reads a magazine in a couple of seconds, he is disappointed
that he wasted his money. The paper version of a publication
needs more depth.
Stories of 2,000 to 5,000 words are not unusual in a magazine.
Your online stories would die miserable deaths at that length.
That’s why you often find two sets of guidelines for a
publication that prepares both an online and paper magazine.
Read these guidelines carefully.
Note the word count, style, voice and payment differences. If
the guidelines do not tell you how to write differently for
the web site versus the magazine, then do yourself a favor
and read the online version then get your hands on a paper
copy. Note how the articles are brief and more honed online?
Don’t submit and assume the editor will know which publication
you mean. While you may luck up and have the editor decide,
many publications have separate editors for online and paper.
They might not even see each other at work. Don’t risk the
future of your submission. Clearly note the purpose and
ultimate location of your query and write accordingly.
One of the best magazines I know of that differentiates
between its online and magazine preference is Entrepreneur
Magazine at www.entrepreneur.com
(look under Contact Us).
The submission rules are different. The voice is different.
The detail and depth of the articles are different. The
editors go on to explain that the online articles cover
topics that are timely and cannot wait for the lengthy
publishing period of a paper magazine.
Know who and what you are writing for before hitting send.
Save yourself the trauma of rejection and gain the respect
of an editor by knowing what type of writing matches best
with what she publishes – paper or bytes.
---
NOTE: This is Chapter 2 from JUST HIT SEND, the latest ebook
from the FundsforWriters library. 240+ markets that accept
your online submissions.
JUST HIT SEND, By C. Hope Clark
www.fundsforwriters.com/ebooks.htm
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