Best source to publish articles?

[tony_gunter]

Is there a market left for publishing articles any more? Looks like most of the ACW magazines have folded or have gone digital. Does anyone pay for articles, or compensate with exposure?

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era, out of the McCormick Civil War Institute, at Shenandoah University, doesn't pay. You'll get two copies. I generally do not work for free, & that includes my writing. The best luck I've had for cash are contests, grants, & fellowships, but I don't do Civil War pieces for those. Check out alternative routes in the history field. What can you apply to? I heard NARA offers fellowships & is a dream to visit.

There's a search bar at "Submittable," a database containing all kinds of magazines looking, topics & contests, & you can also submit directly to publishers via that. Watch out for "submission fees" and straight out scammers, but that goes for anything. Also, your local newspaper or town magazines, if you have those, could be an outlet. If your state conducts annual writing contests, say through arts or museums orgs., those can be lucrative, esp. for "exposure." The nonfiction category includes history.

Last, look into all the online resources like the AHA. They offer $100, enough for a week of lattes. You can maybe get something scholarly run in a no-pay academic journal, then later pitch an idea to an agent about a longer adaptation of your subject to a wider audience. Ask Grok & it'll list like 10 mags that pay, like JSTOR Daily, Scout Life. Keep hunting! With a wooden stake....

Good luck

Team up with someone called "Buffy."

 

[CWdiaryPA]

Team up with someone called "Buffy."

Never saw that show. Guess I've missed out

 

[CWdiaryPA]

Writing used to pay better back around the turn of the century. Thanks to economic circumstances (consumers are tapped out with less disposable income), the pay, if any, is pittance. I had a two part article (6 pages) and the magazine only paid me $250 for both of them. I swore it would be the last time I wrote for them and they used to pay $350-500 for an article (their membership is down and so is revenue). Hence we see the collapse of magazines like Blue & Gray, North & South, etc. The book publishing industry is also struggling to stay afloat. Many younger people learn via cellphone and don't crack open a book like us. Brick 'n mortar bookstores struggle against internet sales. BTW, last book I bought was from some shop I never heard of before in Wales so I suppose it goes both ways.

Fiction writers (esp. sci-fi) generally do better and only a few big name authors can make a living. Shocked to learned Eric Wittenberg barely covers expenses (and I thought I was the only one). One thing Ted Savas suggested to me is that writers must be on social media. Develop a following and connect with potential readers type of thing. Sound advice if you don't mind divulging things about yourself or insights to the general public.

Yes, & that's a central question you'll be quizzed on by any agent, your "platform." What kind of numbers you have across all social media. Basically we are writers AND promoters. I mean, there's the option to hire your own publicist to saturate whichever market you're trying for. Takes a lot of energy, time, cash. Not that I'd know. I just sit in a darkened, cold room, staring at the pen & a blank sheet of paper.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Yes, & that's a central question you'll be quizzed on by any agent, your "platform." What kind of numbers you have across all social media. Basically we are writers AND promoters. I mean, there's the option to hire your own publicist to saturate whichever market you're trying for. Takes a lot of energy, time, cash. Not that I'd know. I just sit in a darkened, cold room, staring at the pen & a blank sheet of paper.

With your stake and silver bullet!

 

[gary]

Silver being harder than lead doesn't take well to rifling. It'll work fine in a shotgun with a barrel meant for steel shot. Wood stakes are more "green" and recyclable. They'll eventually return to the earth.