Next, you come home. What happens? Do you have kids? Great! A wealth of gay romance article ideas. You could write about a gay twist on childcare agencies, potty training, decoding teenage slang, teaching table manners you´re getting the idea now, right? Run with it!
Write at least one page of general topics that interest you in gay romance writing, then weed out the most interesting ones. Narrow it down to three or four. Then write those three or four topics on top of brand new pages. Now fill up those pages with specific article angles. Just write. Dont edit yourself. Dont judge. Just write whatever pops into your head. If you need motivation, play it like a game of Scattergories. Set a timer for ten minutes. See how many ideas you can jot down before the timer sounds.
Keep in mind that there are markets for almost any conceivable topic. Dont limit yourself to the headlines youd read in Vogue and Good Housekeeping. Between newspapers, consumer magazines, trade magazines, e-zines, tabloids, literary journals, and more, youre bound to find an appropriate publication for your Big Gay Romance Novel Idea.
You want to know more about these markets? Keep Reading!
Researching the Markets for publishers of gay fiction
First, you´ll need a few definitions:
Gay Consumer Magazines: These typically pay the best. These are the types of magazines you might find in a grocery store check-out line, convenience store, in your airplane seat pocket, or your doctors office. Types of consumer mags: mens, womens, special interest, inflight, teens, school/career, travel, health, ethnic/minority, political, entertainment, romance, religious, etc. This is the area most writers try to break into.
Gay Literary Magazines: These dont pay much, if at all. However, what they lack in moolah, they make up for in prestige. If youre looking to jump-start your career as a fiction writer or poet, your best chance at recognition may come in the form of one of these small publications. Often published by colleges and universities, their circulation is usually regional and low. They generally seek scholarly essays, intellectually challenging prose, poetry, and book reviews. Publishers will be impressed if you succeed in placing your work in one of the more prominent journals (Cimarron Review, Ploughshares, and Story, for example).
Gay Trade Journals: Pay varies greatly. Any publication that focuses on a particular occupation/industry falls into this category. This is where your expertise can shine. There are trade journals for almost every line of work, from art dealers to truck drivers. In general, your written eloquence is not as important as your research and timely knowledge for these publications.
Gay E-Zines: Pay varies greatly. Simply put, e-zines are simply magazines on the Internet. The only major difference is that articles for e-zines can usually run longer than print magazines. (No printing costs, so space isnt as important an issue for e-zine editors.) Most e-zines dont pay (except by means of a byline) but this trend is changing. The most popular sites pay quite well. Topics stretch as wide as your imagination.
Now that you know, learn how to contact your publisher of gay fiction!
To be continued in part 3....
Back to Trends In Gay Fiction
