Affordable Market Resources for International Writers

by Hasmita Chander

The variety and number of English publications around the world translate to endless opportunities for writers in the English language. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find out which publications of one's interest exist in other countries, or the latest market information about a publication. To get copies of all the publications one wishes to write for is not always possible, either because it would be too expensive, or difficult to buy due to foreign exchange problems, or both.

Happily, there are ways to get around this. Here are some of them:

Invest in writer's market books

First, you need to know what publications exist in other countries. The best way to get this information is through 'market' books, which are updated and published every year. While not every country with an English-speaking population has one, the major Anglophone countries do, and these represent a huge number of publications that you can write for. These books are a worthwhile investment for the serious writer. As a fellow-writer told me when I was hesitating to buy one long ago, "You'll earn back the cost of the book when you sell even one article." I did!

• The Writer's Handbook, edited by Barry Turner, is a market guide for UK-publications. It offers a listing of useful websites, literary agents, and all kinds of markets for writers including magazines, newspapers, television and radio, and book publishers.
  
  
• Writer's Market, edited by Kirsten Holm, is an American market information book, published by Writer's Digest Books. In addition to the book, they also have an online version at http://www.writersmarket.com. Writer's Market contains market listings of magazines, book publishers, literary agents, contests, and awards for writers. They also list several Canadian markets. Writer's Digest Books also offer other market books like the Poet's Market, Song Writer's Market, and more.
  
  
• The Australian Writer's Marketplace, by Rhonda Whitton, is a market guide book for Australian publishers. For details about the contents go to http://www.qwc.asn.au/shop. The book costs (Aus) $49.95 plus shipping.
  
  
• The Canadian Writer's Market, by Sandra B. Tooze, is the market guide to Canadian publishers published every two years or so.

Subscribe to periodicals

While market books offer an enormous chunk of information, sometimes publications' listings don't reach the market book publisher on time and these listings are left out. New publications appear during the year and some go out of business. Weekly, fortnightly, or monthly newsletters and magazines keep you updated on the latest. There are several such newsletters, some free and some that ask for a nominal subscription amount. Here are a few worth subscribing to:

• Writers Weekly, USA, edited by Angela Hoy, is a free weekly newsletter distributed by email. It includes markets, job opportunities, and articles on "selling the written word." Subscribe at http://www.writersweekly.com and get a free e-book, 'How to Be a Freelance Writer' (with markets).
  
  
• Writing for DOLLARS!, USA, edited by Dan Case, is a free fortnightly newsletter with articles and three markets (low, medium and high pay). To subscribe, send a blank message to wfd-subscribe@topica.com or visit http://www.writingfordollars.com.
  
  
• Worldwide Freelance Writer, Hong Kong, edited by Gary McLaren, is a free newsletter with articles and international markets. To subscribe, visit http://www.worldwidefreelance.com and get the free e-book, "25 Women's Interest Writing Markets". (Editor's note: The free e-book may vary.)
  
  
• Freelance Market News, UK, edited by Angela Cox, is a 16-page newsletter with mainly UK and a few international markets. It lists UK contest information, an article, and editorial changes. Subscription is £29 for 11 issues. Contact: The Association of Freelance Writers, Sevendale House, 7 Dale Street, Manchester M1 1JB

Look up guidelines databases

You can find free databases of guidelines online. While the positive side is that you get a lot of markets in one place, the downside is that they may not be updated recently. They are worth a look for reference, though. Some such sites are:

• Writing for Dollars (http://www.writingfordollars.com/guidelines.cfm) has about 650 guidelines.
  
  
• Absolute Write (http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/markets_online.htm) has a long list of online markets, as well as a free markets newsletter and a more detailed paid-subscription newsletter.
  
  
• Writers Write (http://www.writerswrite.com/guidelines/) has a searchable guidelines database with about 590 markets, though quite a few are outdated.
  
  
• Worldwide Freelance Writer (http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/markets.htm) has a growing database of international markets arranged by region; some information is available free but they also have a paid section with more information.

For more information on sources of guidelines and guideline databases, see Writing-World.com's Guidelines links.

Request free samples

From different sources of market information, you now know which magazines you want to write for. But you know the oft-repeated statement in most guidelines: 'Read several copies of our magazine before submitting...' Buying even a single copy of every magazine you want to write for can be quite expensive. Luckily, several publications offer a free copy of the magazine to prospective writers or subscribers. Keep an eye open for such offers and make use of them. Some ask for an envelope and postage stamps. Since you're writing from a different country, enclose IRCs of equivalent value instead of stamps.

Trial offers of certain magazines will send you a few issues and then request payment for the subscription to which you can reply asking them to cancel subscription. You can find many such offers in the market guide books.

(For more information on finding sample magazines, see Moira Allen's Finding Sample Magazines - Without Breaking the Bank at http://www.writing-world.com/basics/samples.shtml)

Look at Web sites

A majority of the publications today have a Web site. While some offer just information about the publication (often including writers' guidelines), others publish part or all of the content of their print versions on the site. This is one of the best ways to study a publication--it's free (except for the cost of your Internet time) and you can save the sections you want to concentrate on for offline reading.

Network!

Request friends or even friends' relatives who go abroad to get a few copies of the publications you're interested to write for. You can then pay them in your own currency, so there's no problem of foreign exchange. If you've friends in that country, request them to send you magazines in exchange for IRCs or anything they'd like from your country. I once asked a friend in the US to send me the latest Writer's Market; in return I mailed her a set of special Indian paper stationery that she was delighted with.

Browse libraries

Many of the big libraries subscribe to popular international magazines. If the ones you want to write for are available, nothing like it, but if they're not, you could try asking the library to subscribe. If it's a magazine on a subject that interests a wide range of people, they just might oblige.

Join a writers' list

There are numerous lists on the Internet for writers. You can get guidelines, market information and other insider info from such lists, that you can't get from anywhere else. If you're interested in a particular genre or country, you could search for the appropriate list on Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com) or Topica (http://www.topica.com)--the two popular list providers. For more lists and information, see http://www.writing-world.com/links/critique.shtml.

Make airport stop-overs productive

If you travel out of the country, don't miss the bookstore at the airports even if (especially if) you're there only for a stop-over of an hour or two. Most shops let you browse, so you can find magazines that you could possibly write for and see the kind of content they have. By browsing through them, you eliminate the error of buying a magazine targeting a different readership than what you write for.

If you're keen on a few magazines, buy them, read them on your flight, and make notes. By the end of your journey, you might have ideas ready to query the editors!

As you can see, the Internet has made the world a smaller and more accessible place. You can happily sit in your balcony in Singapore and write for a publication in Alaska, and discuss your novel-in-progress by email with your writing partner in Australia!

Writing for a country outside one's own was something unthinkable for most writers a few years ago and is still not something many writers venture to do, but knowing where and how to get the necessary information--affordably--makes writing for international markets thrilling and immensely satisfying.

Subscribe to our Free Monthly Newsletter!