The Prolific Parent

My first parenting clip

Back in 2005, I noticed a local parenting magazine ran a monthly feature called "Parent to Parent." I wrote up a fun column called "How I Became a Domestic Goddess," submitted it to the editor and was surprised when a friend told me she had seen it in the magazine a few months later. The publication didn't pay for that particular column at that point, but I had my first parenting clip. I was ecstatic.

From there, I brainstormed other ideas from articles, taken directly from my own experiences, because that is what I felt most comfortable writing about. This inspired me to write one of my first published parenting articles, "Meal Solutions for New Parents," which has since been rewritten and reprinted for other publications.

Like many aspiring parent writers, I also sent off a few article ideas via snail mail to the big parenting publications like Babytalk, Parents and Parenting. For the most part, I never got any responses back. However, I took some of those same queries and sent them out to a few local regional parenting publications, and within a few months, had made several sales. Eventually, I took a job as an associate editor at the regional parenting publication that gave me my first break, where I made a startling discovery—there was a lot more opportunity for publication in regional parenting magazines than I originally thought.

Regional parenting publications may have a much lower pay scale than the nationals, but most writers have a better shot of getting published in these magazines, and if they market themselves properly, they can generate a steady reprint income. But when I mention this fact to some of the writers I know, they have no idea of the amount of publishing opportunities out there in regional parenting pubs. It is possible to publish an article in Atlanta Parent, even if you don't live in the area. You just have to know how to find sources in that area and relevant tie-ins. Some editors don't even ask for that, and evergreen articles suit them just fine. These days, I'm writing more about social media safety for tweens than how to pacify a whining toddler, but I still haven't run out of ideas for the parenting market, and neither should you.

Read more about this topic:
Tap Into Your Family: Parenting Publications

Personalize Your Parenting (Writing)


Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who blogs at Renee’s Pages.