Aditya Shevade

Beginning Freelance Writing

There are a few good Linux magazines around the world which publish content submitted by the readers. I have been writing for a few myself. A lot of people emailed me and asked me the details – how to contact, how to propose your idea, how to get it approved. You could be a brilliant writer, the next Shakespeare perhaps, but they don’t know that. Unless you contact and present yourself and market your idea to them – they won’t know. So I figured, I might as well an article about the procedure. Heck, I do it almost once every month (write proposals and guide aspiring authors).

Where to Begin

I am focusing on Linux related topics and Linux based magazines in this article. To begin, you should target specific magazines. A plausible list of magazines is,

1. Linux for You
2. Linux Magazine
3. Ubuntu User
4. Linux Format
5. Linux Journal
6. LWN

Once you target a magazine, you should know what you want to write about. Ideas usually come to mind if you are passionate about a subject. There are a number of ways to inspire yourselves with ideas to write about. One of the frequent tools I use is StumbleUpon. Stumbling through Linux/Unix topic throws a bunch of ideas at you and you can, hopefully, get hang of the situation.

This approach may not work well with some magazines since they have a theme they follow for the months to come. Linux Journal, for example, has a list of topics they intend to cover in the upcoming issues for a year. Similar lists are available on websites of other magazines also. If you have no idea, or if you want to improve your chances or approval, you should probably start here and find something that interests you and think on that.

The Proposal – Initial Draft

Even though technical, these magazines require strong writing skills on your (author’s) part. They have editorial teams which edit your submissions but it’s always a good idea to improve your written communication and make the drafts as perfect as you possibly can.

If you have an idea of what you want to write about, it’s time to draft the initial proposal. Usually all the magazines require you to introduce yourself in a few lines. You should write your qualifications as a writer here and something that sets you apart from the average Linux user. Any experience you might have had with Linux, writing (technical writing experience would help), what makes you a unique person to write on the subject. This is a place to market yourself and sell yourself to the editors of the magazine.

After that, describe the topic you would like to write about. The general overview of the subject. Introduce the topic to the editors. Assume they know nothing about the topic and in a couple of lines, describe it to them. Then conclude the section with the target audience. What sells the idea? Why would people be interested in it?

Then you should clearly state what you wish to achieve from this article. Is it a review? Is it a case study? What would be the outcome of the article? Is it just an informative article or a do it yourself type of article? What should the readers expect from it?

These 2 paragraphs about the article should not be longer than a couple of lines each. After these 2 paragraphs, optionally introduce the topic at an abstract level and then write an outline of your article. Right from introduction to a conclusion. All the main points and sub-points included. Elaborate on each sub-point in a line or two.

Conclude the proposal with possible changes, improvements or additions, keep the topic open for discussion (from the editors). Make sure there are no spelling mistakes or typographical errors in the proposal. Make sure you format the proposal clearly. Different magazines may have different proposal formats which you should look into before submitting it. Clearly state the subject as ‘Article Proposal’ or the subject format that the magazine uses (you can find this information on the websites of the magazines).