I know that a good idea when I see one. Then you must. Dump those time-tested ideas you're sending off to editors every other day, and find ideas that you get the assignment from time to time, every time.
How do you know if your brilliant idea will strike a chord and get the award will take place or query carefully crafted slush pile? Use the following checklist to find out if you have a winner or another stale idea that the editor was dismissed since he set foot in his editorial office.
Here are some questions that an editor will ask of each article idea:
What's new?
If you write for a magazine of pregnancy, it is likely that the publisher has already covered topics such as exercise and diet regulation. What are you going to tell you different? You can supply a single round of these topics? If so, you're in the door.
Think different. Instead of talking about issues of diet, the list twenty foods should be avoided during pregnancy. Be innovative. Come with topics you've never seen before described. There are negative feelings, unresolved problems or body changes that might not be so great that prospective mothers need to know more?
Will connect the reader?
This could be the most innovative, brilliant and shocking idea. However, it can lead to rejection if you are targeting the wrong market. Send an idea on how to get more live-in relationships broken a magazine in India, and do not expect anything but a waste. But to send a single magazine in England, and you can have a chance. The first thing that the publisher wants to know when laying eyes on your question is whether his players the value of your subject matter. If your readers do not have it, you will not be either.
Will keep my reader fascinated?
Picture this: I come home from a long day at work. As I relax on my couch, I could browse the channels on the remote or a magazine and browse the articles. My eyes rest on your part. Is your piece interesting and intriguing enough to make me stay with you, or I prefer to look at what's on TV?
And every publisher afraid that his faithful readers will ditch the magazine read something more interesting. And with the number of avenues of entertainment available today, it will not be a problem. In order to keep the reader (and editor), passionate about your idea, you propose something that will keep them wanting more. Your idea is virtue?
There is an element of surprise?
The more unexpected the better. Readers like surprises. For this reason, the editors not too much. Surprise does not always have to mean an anti-climax or a situation of irony. Surprises may be subtle, but effective. Add a little known statistic or a funny story in your article. Go out of your way to finding a surprising fact or figure. Do not go out of context though. There is nothing worse than getting sidetracked from the subject of the article.
What's in it for me?
What does the reader take home with her once she's closed the magazine and went his own way? Has he learned his lesson? Will he bring his experience? Will she be a better mother, daughter, wife or friend because of it? In each article you write, that question must be of utmost importance. What can give your reader?
Making an impact is very important. The idea is to not sell that article where the editor read through the query and no questions unanswered. You must give your reader something more. Anything you can think his way of working. Something to remember her as she rests her head on the pillow and fall asleep.
Regardless of the type of writer you are, your ideas are those that make you a success. A good technician can repair the holes in your writing, but may not realize your idea. This is something you can do.
Editors love writers who consistently come up with fresh ideas and innovative. To invade a dozen requests each day, many of which contain the same old angles are always looking for writers who can provide a unique touch.
Maintaining a steady flow of ideas coming, run through this checklist, and send them away. That's really all there is to it.
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