One of the reasons I think I lost a little direction with my nonfiction work is that I had formulated a list of target markets a few years back, and over the intervening time, I landed pieces in almost all of them. One has since closed shop, but I’ve been able to become a regular contributor to another (Bitch magazine, linked in sidebar) which has been a great experience. Making such a list was another great tip I picked up from my writing group, who also helped me think of where I should be aspiring.
But of course, once you’ve reached a peak, you have to keep climbing, and I never got around to making a new list of target markets. One of mine is the sole place I failed to access before, of course, but I’ve spent some time recently trying to decide where else I should aim for. I’d like to place more pieces in local markets, after my luck with Urbanite– in fact, I’d love to place a more substantial piece with them. I’m adding some journals where I hope to place poems, and today I made a trip to my favorite local bookstore, Atomic Books (link in sidebar also) and came home with a nice stack of possibilities.
So, to sum up, this resolution is to make a new list of target markets and then put serious effort towards checking them off.
Do you have a list of target markets? If not, you should think about it.
