Editors Don't Care Where You Live: Get Published and Get Paid Selling Reprints to Parenting Magazines

In 2006 or so, I started writing for regional parenting magazines. The success I've had since has been amazing! Here's what happened ...

1. I could not comprehend something a friend was doing (grocery shopping daily with small kids).  At that time I had 3 small kids of my own and had to stock up on food because grocery shopping with my kids while my husband was out of town quite frankly sucked.
2. I wrote out my thoughts (I'm a huge journaler) and they eventually turned into something resembling what I had seen in my local parenting magazine, Kansas City Parent.
3. I emailed my piece to KC Parent and they bought it for $25. I was thrilled! I was PUBLISHED and PAID!
4. Then I realized these magazines must be everywhere. I had traveled a little and had seen similar magazines with similar articles.
5. I didn't have internet at home, so I started to head to the library with or without small children whenever I could and borrowed the internet of friends during playdates. I searched online for other magazines in other cities and started emailing them my pieces.
6. I started selling articles!
7. I started writing more articles, usually based on things that I felt passionately about. My best-selling piece, Christmas Sanity (goes by several different titles at this point), sold close to $1,000 in reprints and is still selling (click link to see the others that have sold over $500 in reprints so far). It was written out of my struggle with continuing to travel for Christmas to see extended family on Christmas Day or stay home with my own little family.
8. I figured other writers might want to know what I had found out, so I wrote a book in 2009 about how to get published in regional parenting magazines NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE and sell each article as a REPRINT again and again. I compiled information from dozens of magazines in one spot to help myself with the submissions process.

This book has been compared to Writer's Market, only if you pick up a copy of that resource you'll see they only have a HANDFUL of parenting markets. I have dozens upon dozens of regional, national and online parenting and family markets!

I have updated my book almost annually and now I have over 180 publishing credits under my belt (list is here so you can check it out) and am still writing. It's a great business to be in because I can take a long break to do proofreading projects or write books or work on my direct sales businesses and then always come back to it. Even without writing any new pieces for many months, my reprints keep selling.

If you aren't sure yet, join my Facebook group! I never want to try to sell you something you don't need, so join in the group and check it out first! And happy writing!