Re-Placing an Article

There are times that publishers will kill an article or, more often, turn down a pitch that you swear is perfect. You might send the idea out again to similar publications, but eventually you might find that you run out of "more of the same." But you may not be ready to retire the idea. here are some ways you can take a fresh look at where to send your query:

• Category Analogies You can get locked into thinking that a certain type of article has to go into a publication dedicated to that subject. But often, magazines with other focuses will still be interested. For example, an article on a parenting issue might have a home in a women's magazine with an appropriate demographic. A piece on a new audio technology for a home audiophile title might find a home in a men's magazine or something like Popular Science or Popular Mechanics.


• Change Focus Don't get stuck on your original focus. You can always consider changing the specific subject of a narrative, the problem or solution approach for a service piece, or the entry point of a think piece.


• Turn it Inside Out This is a more extreme version of changing focus. You might be able to take an article that you thought was one type and completely transform it into another. What you might have originally conceived as a reported article might actually work as a personal essay. Your experience, that was the center of an essay, might also spark ideas for bullet points in a service article. If you can't sell it one way, try another.


• The Consumer/Trade Shift You can get unnecessarily stuck if you think of yourself strictly as a "consumer" or "trade" writer. They often have different styles, but the gulf isn't that large. If something is old news for a trade, it might be the first time the consumer mag has heard of it. If the latter finds a topic too "inside baseball," the former might think it right up their ally (to mix the metaphors). Or you might find, as I have at times, that both trades and consumer pubs have similar tastes at times.

And here's the bonus: you don't have to use these techniques only to find a first home for a story. You can use them to get new spins and markets for work you've already done.