Tips for Getting Personal and Professional Bylines
To deal with the sudden isolation brought on by coronavirus stay-at-home policies, people have turned to a wide range of activities to keep occupied. From assembling 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles to conquering a complicated recipe to binge-watching a new TV series, quarantined families report tackling projects and submitting to diversions for which they never before seemed to have enough time.
Another project that many report doing during this unprecedented lockdown is writing. Some do daily journaling to deal with their anxieties. Others decide to get started on that book they always wanted to write. And then there are those who are bursting with story ideas, but don’t know what to do with them.
For accomplished authors with an agent and writing contracts, it’s been a good time to get a lot of work done. For new writers who want to get published for the first time, it’s a time filled with questions and doubts. These issues may bog you down or even stop you in your tracks. But you can’t allow fear of not getting it right to keep you from even beginning to put your thoughts on paper. If you’re suffering from writer’s doubt, consider the wise words of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor:
“A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.”
Getting Started
The first rule for any wordsmith is simple: Writers write! Whether you’re just jotting notes or applying stream-of-conscious practices to your writing attempts, you’ve got to get your pen to paper or your fingers to the keyboard at all costs. You’ll never get published if you have nothing to show. Ideas that stay in your head may as well be written in invisible ink where no one can see them.
As you get into the writing process and find your groove, the next step is to decide where you would like to get published, where your words are needed and where, realistically, you may be able to get published. The first step is a solitary activity, ideal for the quarantined writer. The second may involve other people who guide you to the places where you can successfully get published. Suggestions for help include:
- Friends and family who can already get published
- Your boss or business contacts
- Local newspaper reporters and editors
- Owners of blogs you read
One caveat: beware of going down the rabbit hole of the internet. You can spend days sifting through websites telling you how to get published, where to get published and even how to write. You can end up with carpal tunnel syndrome and a sore back before you ever write your first sentence. Limit your online searching to maybe 30 minutes a day or to two or three really helpful websites. And remember: Writers write!
Where to Get Published Today
Blogs are the perfect medium for both first-time and accomplished writers. If you own or work for a business that has a blog, get published online through that ready-made medium. Blogs rely on search engine optimization (SEO) to get readers. And this is a perfect time to pen blog articles that meet relevant, trending SEO guidelines. For example, you can write about:
- What you’re doing during quarantine
- How you’ve adapted to new work-at-home situations
- Whether your family is cooperating with your need for work space
- What your business is doing to stay afloat despite the economic challenges
- How your business is supporting the community during the crisis
- How you’re dealing with grief when COVID-19 strikes close to home
If your company isn’t in the blogging business — although the practice benefits every business — look for companies that may appreciate a free blog post for their websites. Just make sure to request a byline with a link back to your site. Then you can add the link to your portfolio of published work, which will help you can get published for money. Consider contacting:
- Mental health professionals — pitch them an article about managing stress or fear during the pandemic, for example
- Financial planners — research and write a blog post about how best to use their stimulus money
- Doctors, dentists and clinics — ask if they’re interested in a piece about virtual appointments
- Daycare centers and companies that cater to children’s products and services — pitch an article about how to stay on track with at-home school assignments
- Trades that provide homeowner services — write an article about how to make a bookcase or turn an old door into a desk
- Rehab facilities — try writing advice on staying sober during these stressful times
The Time to Write Is Now
You get the idea. The list is endless. Sure, it may not be what you dreamed about for your first foray into publishing. But blogging is a viable and accessible vehicle for wannabe writers to get published for the first time … and second time and third time. Who knows? It may even lead to a paid gig writing for the business who accepted your piece. And you may find enough of an audience that appreciates your voice to become an influencer in that industry.
Just like any other skill, writing chops improve with practice. If you’ve always wanted to see your writing published, there’s no better time than now and no better avenue today than the internet. If you think a topic is interesting or valuable, chances are someone else does too. And if you’re still wondering what to write about, consider the sage advice of Ben Franklin:
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.”
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.