In this series, I hope to give you some ideas for contributing articles to magazines and other places like major blogs, newswires or news platforms.
When time is short, you must only work on what matters. So, select the magazines and sites that already have a following, one who may be interested in your work.
As well, think of your friends in business who may have blogs or Instagram followings, and on top of this, add podcast guesting or local magazine columns.
One way to manage this is to have a master spreadsheet. I use Google Sheets for sorting out list of partners for marketing, places to post, and lists of niche bloggers.
I know it takes a long time to find these lists of niche blogs and magazine editors, so another idea is joining in with another author or two in your same field; for instance, biography writers or money writers. You could easily share the Google sheet… and update it regularly.
Pro writers need good organisation like a fish needs seawater under 30oC.
Media Newswires 101
If you are trying to get attention from the media prior to book launch, I would suggest subscribing to a place like Influencing AU, which has a ‘media pitch’ hub. You can do a simple release for free but results are limited, as you can see above.
Although it’s pricey to get instant access to all Australian journalists for pitching, perhaps four authors could join together to get one $990 subscription for six months at Media Net.
Another idea is to do ad-driven distribution with MediaNet because frankly, it’s tough to get noticed without major, specific online exposure or one-to-one editor contact. Putting out a news release alone is not enough.
How to Find Digital Magazines to Contribute Articles To
It’s essential to only focus on magazines and blogs that accept experts or commentators (and you are one), not on article banks. If you can find out the website’s Domain Authority, Alexa Rank or similar, then this is a key to how influential they are – and also how much that backlink is worth. (See Moz.com).
The other thing to remember is to read their “Writer Guidelines” or “Submissions” page and follow it. Editors dismiss writers who just send them an article that is not in their style and has no related topic (as listed in their magazine’s online menu).
10 Digital Magazines that Accept Writer Submissions
With this list, ChatGPT went straight for the top – which is not where to start as it is too hard to get accepted. Here are the bottom three of the ten digital magazines in the marketing field that accept writer submissions:
Marketing Land: Marketing Land is a digital magazine that covers the latest marketing news and trends. They accept pitches from freelance writers and contributors.
Digiday: Digiday is a digital magazine that covers the digital marketing industry. They accept pitches from freelance writers and contributors.
Campaign: Campaign is a digital magazine that covers advertising, marketing, and media. They accept pitches from freelance writers and contributors.
Women’s Topical Issues Websites
I wanted to know about three other websites like Women’s Agenda because that online magazine has very high writer submission standards. So I got ChatGPT to help out. I added the article submission links.
Here are three other websites like Women’s Agenda that are based in Australia – and one from the world:
- Mamamia: Mamamia is a women’s lifestyle website that covers a broad range of topics, including news, entertainment, beauty, fashion, and parenting. It was founded in 2007 and has grown to become one of Australia’s largest independent women’s websites. It pays for published articles.
- Broad Agenda: Broad Agenda is a feminist policy platform and media site that provides in-depth analysis of gender issues in Australia. It covers topics such as women’s leadership, economic security, and health and wellbeing.
- Daily Life: Daily Life is a women’s lifestyle and opinion website that covers a range of topics, including news, politics, relationships, work, and culture. It was launched in 2012 and is part of the Fairfax Media network. (YOU CAN’T EASILY WRITE HERE but you could get featured by a journo)
- Daily Life magazine is a different place, which takes in your creative essays about life – submit at the link.
How to Look for Niche Magazines to Write for
With ChatGPT, it doesn’t take your search words as literally as Google does. So when I asked the AI: “Australian blogs about money with “submission guidelines” in the website”, it went right ahead and looked for all money blogs that had a “write for us” or a “submissions” page. It found five in 30 seconds and it knew what I meant. BONZA!
Chat also noted: Please be sure to carefully read and follow each website’s submission guidelines before submitting any content. Like, how kind can you be?
I hope you enjoyed this Contributing Articles Guide — and have luck with publishing articles to enhance your author brand. Remember, you can always publish your articles on your LinkedIn profile (home) – start your own newsletter!
