Any advice about how to start writing for professional magazines?

[CoccinelleHeureuse]

I am not a professional writer (although I did manage a thesis and a couple of publications off the back of that) but have a good deal of expertise and experience in my professional role and would like to start writing professional practice articles. I think that I have quite a few good ideas, and a bit of time to put into learning how to do this well. There are several professional magazines that are popular in my line of work (special and inclusive education) but I am not sure how to go about getting started on writing something.

Does anyone do something similar? How did you get started without any contacts in this area? Are there websites, organisations or courses that can help? Any experiences, tips or places to find that information would be really helpful as a starting point :)

A colleague of mine does this. He is in marketing and has quite an online presence already though. Maybe approach the editors of these magazines and ask whether they would be interested in any short articles about subject X written by yourself, a known expert in the field. Big yourself up a bit. Worth a go.

Oh yes, I forgot - the writers on MN hang out in the 'Creative Writing' board so you could maybe ask for guidance on there.

Can you start publishing content yourself? Medium, Substack, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok etc?

I follow a mortician, a hospice nurse and stripper on Instagram because I find them talking about their work interesting even though I have no experience of any of those things.

Trouble with doing that is that it gets harvested by AI & others and you lose copyright control. If the OP wants to write professional articles in respected publications, that would be something to bear in mind.

Just find out the contact details of the editorial staff (usually not hard to find) and introduce yourself and your relevant knowledge in the area. Usually you would include a few ideas for content along with that. Attach any writing samples if they help your case or don’t include if you’re unsure.

Good luck!