by David Dewitt

Created on: April 23, 2009

Every writer has the desire to be a published writer and getting writing published is often easier than one might think. Writing for an online publisher such as Helium is a good place to start getting work noticed. However, many writers wish to move beyond just internet publishing and get into print elsewhere. The real question is how.

Pursuing the publishing dream can be both exhausting and frustrating. Writing articles, writing queries, sending manuscripts, and handling rejection. There are things every writer can do to make the process easier.

Save Everything

Save every piece of research from the articles published. Research can come in handy when looking to add new angles to existing articles or to create something entirely new from something that has been published.

Previous articles can be a source of incredible recycling. Using old articles to create new ones is a method writers have used for years. By selecting a segment of a previous article and adding some new material can easily develop something new to add to Helium. Be sure to use only a portion of the article and rewrite it to give it a fresh quality. When doing this be careful not to submit identical material. The Helium user agreement specifically asks that the material not be duplicated from an existing article.

Write High Quality Articles

Write every article with an absolute best effort and a pursuit of excellence. Writing sloppy articles for online publishing will do little to get work noticed. It will also develop poor writing habits that may cost future writing jobs. Write with the excellence in mind and give everything a best effort.

Seek Additional Publishing

Articles can be published again and again, as long as you retain the rights. Never give all rights to any publisher because you lose all rights to reprint the article again. One article might be able to lead to multiple published items. Be sure to know where you can republish previous work and what needs to be done to cite your work correctly.

Seek Lower level Publishing

Many writers have the wrong idea that they will be able to start their published writing with articles for major magazines. The reality is that this seldom ever happens. Writers should dream big but work small first. Submit feature length articles to larger venues but be willing to shoot for the smaller markets as well.

Write small pieces that could be used as sidebars or fillers. Send queries to local newspapers with articles that relate to the area you live in. Then shoot for regional publications and newspapers. Using a systematic approach to getting writing published often works better and is far more effective.

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