And then there are magazines that exist somewhere out there in the world, which could be the perfect fit for your idea. But you just haven’t heard of them. Yet. Don’t worry, it isn’t all that tough to locate new publications. Apart from the numerous newsletters and websites I listed yesterday, here are some tips for finding magazines you never knew existed.

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Search Engines

If you’re like me (read: cheap), you probably won’t mind doing a little extra work to save some cash. And that’s all it takes, really. The willingness to spend a couple of minutes each day looking for new markets and potential new sources of income. Most magazines and publications now have their guidelines available online and you can easily locate them by plugging in a few keywords in the popular search engines. Search using combinations of keywords such as “writer’s guidelines” or “paying markets” or “writers wanted.” You’ll quickly be able to find hundreds of results, and the majority of your time will then be spent looking through these publications to see if they publish the kind of material you want to write, and how much they pay for submissions. If you’re looking for a certain kind of magazines, say fitness, search with a more specific string, such as “writer’s guidelines + fitness.”

Once you’ve run out of search phrases, look them up in other search engines. See www.allsearchengines.com for a full list. Since most search engines have different searching algorithms, you’ll find different results from each one.

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Magazine/Newspaper Lists

There are hundreds of websites that maintain extensive lists of the magazines and newspapers available throughout the world. By logging on to them and spending a few minutes on each, you’ll be able to locate numerous new magazines that may accept your freelance material. They’re frequently organized by location and categories, thereby refining your search for you. It would be wise to pick one and set out an alloted time. Once there, you’ll find they can be a maze. You just keep going deeper and deeper. The extensive listings will point you towards a publication’s website, from where you can further find submission guidelines, editor contact information and archives. Here’s my go-to list:

www.allyoucanread.com
www.newsdirectory.com
www.publist.com

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Give and Take

I’m a big fan of exchanges. That’s why writers will often write to me requesting a service, and I’ll ask them to pay, not in cash or check, but in old magazines, books, or e-books. In fact,  I often do book exchanges with writer friends in India and magazine exchanges with friends abroad. That not only keeps me updated on what’s being published around the globe, but also introduces me to new markets that I could possibly break into.

If your network is a little limited, which it may be if you’re just starting out, consider asking neighbors and relatives to let you borrow old copies of their magazines. Most of my friends have come to learn that giving me a magazine subscription on my birthday is always a fabulous idea.

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While You Were Waiting

There are two things that make a waiting room immediately recognizable: the bored looks on the occupants’ faces and a stack of magazines. These magazines will usually range from hugely popular ones such as TIME or Cosmopolitan to hugely technical or boring ones. But don’t let that stop you. Rummage through the whole pile, especially picking out titles that are unfamiliar to you. Read through various issues to see if there are topics that you might be interested in writing on. If so, ask the receptionist if she’ll let you borrow the magazines ore replace them with some of your own. Most likely, she’ll give you a weird look, say “take ‘em” and be happy to have you out of her office.

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