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Breaking Into and Succeeding as A Syndicated Columnist
How to Syndicate Columns or Articles
How to Become A Permanent Syndicated Columnist

You might have been thinking to break into the publishing world as a syndicated columnist, but don't feel confident. If these are your questions, you have come to the right place at the right time.

I think I can write pretty well, but I’m definitely not a pundit or an experienced journalist. Can I still become a syndicated columnist?

Sure you can.

While a journalism background can help you learn good source-checking habits and will familiarize yourself with the way a newsroom works, it's not the only way you can learn those things. You learned in school that you need to cite more than one source for your research, for instance, and newsroom dynamics can be learned on the fly. You don't need to have a journalism degree to get where you're going.

In fact, you don't even have to set foot in a newsroom. You're aiming to be a syndicated columnist, not a journalist per se. Your proposed career is more like that of a freelance writer, putting together manuscripts at home, which you'll submit to editors in hopes of making a sale.

You definitely want to be familiar with how a newspaper is put together and how other columnists write--"All columnists should have a basis in journalistic methods," says Jeremy Wagstaff, technology columnist for Wall Street Journal Asia, but with careful attention to detail you can learn that from the finished newspaper as well as you could from inside the newsroom.

As for not being a pundit, don't worry. Everyone has his or her own areas of passion and expertise. Every celebrity columnist, political pundit, and vocal expert started where you are, and they got to where they are today by identifying those topics they could reliably keep writing about, developing their writing skills, and seeking out opportunities to put those skills to gainful employment.

That's what they did, that's what you're going to do, and that's what this book aims to help you do.

I own a blog, but I'm not a professional writer nor a columnist. Can I still become a syndicated columnist?

Of course you can. And your existing blog is going to help you do it. In fact, it's already been helping you. If you've been updating your blog frequently with interesting posts on a focused topic, that's a huge amount of column-writing practice you've been putting in.

Granted, the columns you'll be submitting to editors and writing every week for the papers will no doubt need to be "tighter" than your typical blog post, which usually 600 words is the very top limit. However, it's just a matter of practice. The best thing you can do right now is begin to consciously apply good column-writing practice to your next blog updates.

Another thing your blog may already have helped you do is develop an audience. You might even have fans. And while having a blog in and of itself won't impress newspaper editors or syndication agents, having a blog with a guaranteed audience will certainly make their ears perk up. A guaranteed audience is exactly what a newspaper wants to see; it means that your column will be sure to gain them readers.

A popular blog also demonstrates that you can update reliably and write well enough to entertain that guaranteed audience. The editor may not have time to go out and review your recent blog posts, but he or she will understand that you must be doing something right to have developed a readership.

So that blog of yours is by no means a waste of time. Focus now on raising its quality level even higher and increasing the size of your audience--we discuss techniques for doing that in Section Four--and read on for tips to help you develop a commercial, syndication-worthy weekly column.

I don’t have a degree in writing or journalism. Can I still aspire to be a syndicated columnist?

Well, why ever not? It worked for sports columnist Tom Wright (see Success Profile). He says, "I waffled back and forth on my degree so much I never ended up majoring in journalism. I have a social science degree with a minor in coaching and an emphasis in international studies. Go figure. Experience and passion took me where I wanted to go."

Experience and passion: that's what it takes. A diploma need not ever go into it. The skills you need to develop in order to write a professional-quality column come from writing, reading, and more writing, usually in that order! Write every day to develop your own unique style and to practice coming up with new ideas for future columns.

Read everything you can get your hands on--especially those columns which you admire most--and analyze what you read:

· What works?
· What doesn't work?
· What surprised you about each writer's choices?
· How is each piece structured for maximum effect?

Then write some more with the specific intent to put into practice those things you've learned from your reading.

I don’t have a published book yet. What are my chances of getting a column into syndication?

About as good as anyone else's. Most people who get their columns syndicated don't have a book yet. Although sometimes a book's sales numbers help the author land a column-writing gig, usually it's the syndicated column that helps land them the columnist a book deal.

Look at Erma Bombeck's career: her books were all spin-offs from her column. Look at Michelle Malkin: same process. Their columns, and the size of the audience reading them, proved to publishers that there was a market for the columnists' books.

So don't worry about not having a book published yet. Work on writing your column and pitching it to editors--read on for the tips, tricks, and how-to that will help you give it your best shot--and let the book deal take care of itself later when your column is being read by tens of thousands across the country.

I don’t know any editors who work in print publications. How can I get my column published?

Same way you'd get your short stories published if you were inclined to write fiction. You write the best columns you can, and then you take a handful of them, bundle them up with a query letter, and submit the whole package to the editors of newspapers you hope to see yourself in print in. Networking helps in that it's nice when the editor knows your name, but ultimately you stand or fall based on the quality of your writing.

Same goes for the syndication services you might pitch your column to, or the hundreds of other papers whose newsrooms you've never set foot in and yet to whom you might additionally pitch your work (this process is called self-syndication). So please don't think you're permanently on the wrong side of the convention room door from a career as a syndicated columnist. The only thing you're on the wrong side of is the process of marketing your writing; with a well-written body of work and plenty of perseverance, anyone can get on the right side of that door.

Print publications are dying as Web-based publications flourish. Isn’t the profession of the syndicated columnist obsolete?

Not in the least. For one thing, it's a bit overly alarmist to say that print publications are "dying." Freelance writer John Scalzi (see Success Profile) is extremely skeptical of the doomsayers prematurely writing obituaries for print media. "Books have been around for centuries. Newspapers and magazine in one form or another have been around for centuries as well.... Nothing ever goes away. The print medium is changing, but it's not likely to go away--nor are columnists going away, although some have already migrated online. Print will still need content, and people will be happy to provide it."

That's where you, as a new columnist, come in. Print publications need content; you need someone to publish yours. And one advantage print has over most digital publications is that right now the Web is overwhelmingly a self-publishing medium: if you're writing online, it's usually because you're blogging or posting content to a free-to-read web site. Most of the time there are no acquisition editors guarding those "Upload" buttons. But content published in a newspaper have gone through an editor before being published.

To get a column in the paper, you have to submit sample columns to someone, either the paper itself or a syndication service. Someone other than you has to vouch for its quality and marketability. What that means is, print content tends to have more authority and enjoy more implicit trust than most digital content does. If you want to expand your column into new markets, you impress editors much more by pointing to previous publications in print than by citing your personal blog.

So, no, being a syndicated columnist, even one who is syndicated exclusively in print, is by no means an obsolete profession. Print isn't going away anytime soon. Digital media complements it; it won't replace it.

Everybody reads news on the Internet now. But are there reputable Web-based syndicated columnists? Is Web-based syndication even a legitimate and reputable option?

Sure it is. Web-based publication, especially in the case of newspapers, is a natural development as more and more publishers realize the opportunity the Internet presents. Most columnists currently in print are also on the Internet, because the newspaper that publishes them has built an online version.

There are also ways to syndicate online, some for pay as with print syndicates, and some for free via web feeds, a relatively new collection of standards for serving the readership of a regularly updated text feature. And almost every writer has a web site of his or her own, usually with a weblog, or "blog," the method of journaling online that has become so popular in the last few years.

In fact, it's getting downright necessary for you, as a writer, to enter the Internet arena and create yourself a presence there. It gives your fans a place to find you, find each other, and find out--via your "What's New?" page, naturally--what you're going to be up to next.

Now, how much money can you make?

It is hard to tell how much you would earn as a syndicated columnist. However, based on an educated guesstimate, you can expect to earn anywhere from USD 50 per article per publication, which can translate to a six-figure income annually provided there are hundreds of publications that publish your column.

Need we say more?
This eGuide provides insightful information, advices and tips for anyone who is contemplating to break into as a syndicated columnist with confidence. Numerous hard-to-find resources are included to help you locate pertinent information.

About the Authors

Jennie S. Bev is THE fashion, image and fun careers expert, whose reputation has been acknowledged by prestigious media internationally. She has been profiled and mentioned in Entrepreneur, Teen People, Canadian Business, Home Business, Dong (France), San Francisco Chronicle, The Independent, Daily Southtown, The Arizona Republic, Femina (Asia), and Dewi (Asia).

Editor-in-Chief Jennie S. Bev was named EPPIE Award finalist in Non-Fiction How To category for excellence in electronic publishing. She has published over 60 books and 1,000 articles in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Southeast Asia. She is also a college professor based in San Francisco Bay Area.

Co-author Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little is an accomplished author, freelance writer, and web designer from the New Orleans area. She graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School and went from there to the University of Washington to pursue B.A. in English.

Her fiction and essays have been published in a diverse handful of literary and New Age magazines, including PanGaia. An aspiring novelist, she has been an annual participant in National Novel-Writing Month since 2002. She now resides in Colorado.

This 118-page instantly downloadable StyleCareer.com eGuide Breaking Into and Succeeding as A Syndicated Columnist brings you valuable insider tips, advice and suggestions not available elsewhere to help you embark on this highly lucrative career path.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Myths, the Realities, and the Basics
The Myth of Journalism Expertise
I think I can write pretty well, but I’m definitely not a pundit or an experienced journalist.
Can I still become a syndicated columnist?
The Myth of Professional Cachet
I own a blog, but I'm not a professional writer nor a columnist.
Can I still become a syndicated columnist?
The Myth of Diplomas
I don’t have a degree in writing or journalism.
Can I still aspire to be a syndicated columnist?
The Myth of Celebrity Status
I don’t have a published book yet. What are my chances of getting a column into syndication?
The Myth of Connections
I don’t know any editors who work in print publications.
How can I get my column published?
The Myth of Impending Doom
Print publications are dying as Web-based publications flourish.
Isn’t the profession of the syndicated columnist obsolete?
The Myth of Unworthy Internet
Everybody reads news on the Internet now.
But are there reputable Web-based syndicated columnists?
Is Web-based syndication even a legitimate and reputable option?

Publications Industry in a Nutshell
Classifications of Publications
Consumer Publications
Trade Magazines
Academic Journals
Newspapers and Newspaper Supplements/Inserts
Statistics
Magazines Industry
Newspaper Industry
Trade Publications Industry
Academic Journal Industry
Current Trends
Positive Notes for Syndicated Columns and Columnists

What is A Syndicated Columnist?
Popular Definition
Conventional Methods to Get Syndicated
Other Possibilities to Get Syndicated
Societal Roles
A Day in the Life of A Syndicated Columnist
Permission to Be Stylishly Biased
The Task of Making It Yours
The Size of Your Audience and How You Influence Them
Usurped by the Internet?

Syndicated Column in a Nutshell
Still A Viable Career after All These Years
Choosing Your Focus
Paths to Become A Syndicated Columnist
Self-Publication
Self-Syndication
Syndication Services/Agencies
Overseas Syndication

Tips for Starting A Blog "Column"
Domain Name Dos and Don'ts
Spin A Sticky Web
High Quality Content
Often Updated
Minimal Down-Time
Ease of Use
RSS Enabled
Uses XHTML and CSS
Nice to Look at
Tips and Tricks For Writing For the Web
Be Kind to Your Readers' Eyes
Best Use of Links
Search Engine Optimization
Tips for Pitching to Editors
Tips For Pitching to the Syndication Services

Successful Online and Offline Promos
Online Presence
Offline Life
Top Syndicated Columnists in the Business

Being Successful
Popularity: How To Keep It and Why
Cement That Brand Name
Positioning in the Midst of Information Overload
You've Got A Book in You
Publicizing
Collaborating with Others
TV Appearances
Importance of Creating A Blog as Publicity Tool
Wisdom from Syndicated Columnists
Keeping the Ideas Coming
Dealing With Feedback
Putting It Together
Trade and Professional Organizations

Success Profiles

This eGuide literally saves you hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent on professional workshops and training and hundreds of hours of research. It will help you break into the career of your dream faster without having to repeat the same mistakes that most newcomers do.

We have also included resources on the following:

How to start a simple column right here, right now
How to attract editors and syndication services
How to self-syndicate your column and how much to charge
List of syndication agencies
Assistant to self-syndicate your column

You can have this exclusive eGuide right away by instant download for only $42.95, which you will earn many times over with your first paid job. This special low discount price is reserved for today, Sunday, May 11, 2008 only. (Regular price: $32.95)

Breaking Into and Succeeding
as A Syndicated Columnist
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