Consider Your Alternatives

by Nicole Knight

Hoping that your byline will one day appear in the pages of a newsstand glossy? You could query and query Vanity Fair, trusting that someday -- or some year -- an editor will bite. Or you could consider your alternatives and build up a cache of clips right now.

I mean the hundreds of weekly newspapers that cover the local scene in cities from San Francisco to Orlando. These weeklies won't make you famous, and the pay is meager at best. But in them you'll find editors who'll buy your writing -- and even encourage your creativity. And, who knows, maybe these clips will be the key to those higher-paying markets.

What They Want
"We're extremely local," explains Alison True, editor of the Chicago Reader, a weekly with a circulation over 135,000. National, even statewide news rarely interests her. But don't confuse local news with hard news. You won't, for example, find a story about the mayor's press conference in a weekly. But if the mayor's daughter is fresh out of the Betty Ford Center and is counseling teens at a methadone clinic -- there's a topic a weekly might love.

Besides news and features, weeklies also print reviews, profiles, essays, and exposés -- as long as there's a local angle. True's greatest need: full-length magazine-style features.

On the other hand, Thomas Spencer, editor of the Birmingham Weekly (circ. 30,000), needs reviews of books, movies, music, theater, and local art exhibits. His full-time staffers write the news and feature stories. Find out what your local weekly needs by giving them a call. Weekly editors -- unlike magazine editors -- don't mind talking with you.

How to Break in
Most weeklies are wide open to beginning writers. "We aren't as particular as the dailies about requiring previous experience," Spencer says. His suggestions: "First, find out if the paper accepts freelancers and what kind they accept. Then, send clips that fit the mold of that paper."

No clips? You'll probably be asked to write on spec. While spec writing has its risks, True confirms that she regularly publishes unknown writers.

Both she and Spencer prefer a manuscript instead of a query, especially if they don't know you. But before you start writing, call to see if the topic has been covered or is in the works.

What They Pay
"We don't pay much," says Spencer. At the Birmingham Weekly, theater and movie reviews (700-1,000 words) pay $40. News and features pay 10 cents a word. Larger weeklies are more lucrative. The rate at the Chicago Reader ranges from a minimum of $50 (the shortest calendar stories) up to $2,000 (one of the better cover features).

Where They Are
The Association for Alternative Weeklies http://aan.org/ lists and offers links to over 100 local newsweeklies on its web site. But not all weeklies have a web site. Check your neighborhood coffeehouse, bookstore or newsstand for the paper version.

Is It Worth It?
Spencer calls weeklies an excellent place for unpublished writers to start out. Also consider them if you're looking to break out of your niche. If you've been pegged as, say, a health writer, a weekly is just the market for that book review you've been hankering to write.

How Do I Know All of This?
I published my first ten articles in the OC Weekly, in Orange County, California. Once I'd written a few pieces, the weekly editors started calling me with assignments. I used those clips to land my next job -- at a regional travel magazine that paid 50 cents a word.

So don't give up on Vanity Fair. Just consider your alternatives in the meantime.

Other Alternative Resources
Utne Reader http://www.utne.com

--NK
©1999 Nicole Knight
Published in the Writer's Guidelines Database. Reprinted here with author's permission.