Mridu Khullar

Today, we’re going to try and sell reprints again, but this time with a twist. Instead of a bulk marketing effort, I want you to note down the name of each article in a spreadsheet if you haven’t already, and next to each one, write down three specialty markets for it. For instance, I once wrote a piece for a women’s magazine on the ladies’-only train in India. It’s a great women’s story, it’s also a very good general-interest piece. You know who else I sold it to? Trains magazine.

A piece on a unique project for breast cancer survivors, along with going to women’s interest magazines or newspapers, could also go to cancer research newsletters or magazines that deal exclusively with cancer topics. Similarly, that piece on taking one day at a time that you wrote for the parenting magazine could also be a great fit for a magazine for practicing Buddhists.

Go through your files, make a list of all the articles and essays to which you still own rights, and make a focused effort to sell them to new markets. Reprints are an incredibly easy way of earning more money, and successful writers earn thousands of dollars each year from this tiny effort. Build your inventory of new articles, but set out a few hours each week to market the undying potential of old ones.

How you do it is simple. Either you can send match a single article to a single publication and send that to the editor, or you find a local or regional publication, and send them a list of available topics you have on file. This works best when you have a range of articles on a single topic (say, wedding preparations) and the magazine is catering to a specific audience.

I received word last week that the “Western Nuns, Eastern Philosophies” story in the April issue has been picked up by a European edition or two. I’ll let you know when it’s published in your part of the world.

In the meantime, I got some experts to interpret dreams for the latest issue of the Indian version.

You only need to do some inner reflection to find out. And yes, some expert advice never hurts. So whether you’re being chased by aliens, or you pop off a tad too often in your dreams, they are all open to interpretation.