Newbie looking for advice! :)

[iarose]

Hi I have been working as a freelance web copywriter/editor since having my two babies (having worked in business publishing for ten years before that - as an in-house editor/writer/content manager). But I'd love to branch out into short features on children & parenting issues. Obviously I have no experience in this field, so I understand I cannot just email the mainstream mags and expect them to take any notice of me when there's all you guys out there with years of training/experience under your belt!
But I wondered are there any websites/ezines/magazines out there which take unpaid articles that you could recommend to me as a starting point? Obviously am happy to write for free to start with as I am 100% new to this area and I know you can't even get off the starting blocks without clippings.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks IARose

Hi there iarose,
I've done some bits and pieces for parenting magazines in the past, and think you're in danger of underselling yourself by offering your services for free - it could mean that you're not taken seriously. Although you haven't worked in this field you do have over a decade of writing and editing which is no mean feat.

I think it's best to contact all the parenting magazines - the ones I can think of are pregnancy and birth, I'm pregnant, Prima baby, mother and baby and junior, but am sure there are more, with a covering letter detailing your experience and desire to move into this field. You could also include say half a dozen feature ideas with quite detailed synopses and perhaps a sample piece you've written (an opinion piece or a column maybe). Although they're unlikley to accept features sent in on spec, it would give a features editor a good idea of your capabilities and writing style.

Not sure about websites, apart from ivillage which does take short features and has a big parenting section.

Good luck!

Writers Forum magazine has had some useful information on this - see if you can get some back issues.

thanks for the tips. Maybe I will go ahead and contact the mags on spec as you suggest fionagib. But I wondered if anywhere online would take freebie articles to at least give me some clippings to show?? I read a few past posts from editors on here saying they'd bin anything on spec from anyone who didn't have a great background/track record in journalism...

I'd love to know about this too, Iarose, but it sounds like you have a huge advantage with your background, I bet some would be happy to accept you on spec. I've just finished my cw MA (2 DAYS AGO!)and am desperate to get some kind of career going. Having mostly been at home with kids, studying and doing odd bits of part time work, I haven't got much of a cv. I did send a piece to Junior once, and the features editor said he really liked it, couldn't place it at that time but to feel free to send anything else. I took it as a good sign that I heard anything at all, but haven't pursued it as yet. 3rd baby due in january so free lance writing from home would be a dream job, I hadn't thought of doing free things online to get clippings. If I find any out will happily pass them on. Good luck

thanks carrotcake and good luck to you too. if I get anything accepted online I will post a link for you. which uni did you do your CW MA with ? :-)

I've found this site quite useful for links and advice. Plus the magazine itself is good as well for people interested in CW:
mslexia

Sorry Iarose, got behind with this thread. I did it at UEA, which was handy as it's my local uni and I went to art school here. Everyone else was applying all over the country and luckily I got in or I wouldn't have been able to do one at all. Didn't feel like I could uproot kids and dp's job to do an MA! At the moment I'm loooking through the UEA volunteers website to see if there's any places writing for local magazines a couple of hours a week but I'm still interested in doing stuff online, especially when Baby's born In January. Keep in touch.

Pudding, yes, Mslexia is quite useful for contacts, I've subscribed to them for a while now, and submitted for the cw but no luck yet!