You write for WHO? thoughts on writing for Reader's Digest by Kathleen Gibson People--writers particularly--ask me how I get published in Reader's Digest. Most are too timid to approach what they feel is one of the most prestigious magazines in the business. So they just don't try. RD accepted the first personal essay I ever sent anywhere--all 5000 plus words. I was as green as a tomato hornworm, over forty, and too ignorant to know that new writers should never approach the throne the first time out. Obviously RD didn't know that either, because I've written for them periodically (once or twice a year) for several years now. (They chopped that thing in half, by the way!) I hear this from other writers: "RD is too big. Their editors would be too distant and impersonal to work with." After two of my articles were accepted, I was assigned an editor who is available at the drop of a keystroke, supportive, and always open to discuss new writing. Usually in a dozen words or less, mind you--he's no babysitter. Distant and impersonal? Once I commented to my editor that I appreciated the artwork on one of my articles. Shortly thereafter a larger print of the art appeared at my doorstep. And a friend who writes completely different types of articles for RD thinks of her editor almost as a mentor....an almost unheard of thing in today's publishing world. My editors at smaller publications take less time and care with my writing than those at RD. Writers don't like it that RD asks for all rights to original articles. Fair enough, but I worked that one out a long time ago: There's an ocean of words out there. If I can't find a few different ones to tell the same story with fresh appeal, I'm not a very good writer after all. I write to make a difference in people's lives, however small. I choose to write for RD because I want my words to get maximum exposure, and what publication could do that better? Writing for RD has opened surprising doors to for me, both professional and personal. In 2004 I took a trip to an impoverished part of India--to see if one small, ordinary person can make a little difference--as a direct result of one of my articles being published over there--reprinted from RD Canada. Since then, more of my RD writings have been published abroad. The most surprising fallout has been the request from India to make one of those articles into a movie. I declined. (I've since heard from the screenwriter, who springboarded the idea of that article into a proposal for a series of television spots highlighting the needs of mentally challenged people in his country. He sent me his first. Of course, I was delighted.) For those who are still wondering....my real secret to staying published in RD is this: Read the magazine every single month, every article. Write. Submit. Get rejected. Write. Submit. Get rejected. Write. Submit. Get accepted. Repeat. That's how. Bottom line? In spite of the colossal commercial enterprise RD has become, my experiences have thus far proven that behind the pages of the little magazine I've always loved are people who still care about the values that spawned it. Fellow writers, be not afraid. Muster excellence and approach RD. Those who never try are automatically rejected. Those who try, only sometimes. �2005, Kathleen Gibson P.S. My 2004 interview with editor Mridu Khullar of Writer's Crossing (www.writerscrossing.com) contains more in-depth information and encouragement for writers who may wish to know more about personal writing. Read that interview here . Reader's Digest articles, including links to two online You can read more about that trip to India at THE INDIA CONNECTION I'd be happy to answer any 'writerly' questions....email me at [email protected] |