| The key to selling reprints to parenting publications is | | | | parents do to make sure their children stay healthy at |
| the creation of dynamite ideas followed through with | | | | camp? What are the traits of a safe camp? Change |
| professional writing. Here, I'm focusing only on finding | | | | to camping plus another topic like education or finance |
| those lucrative topics. | | | | to create unique articles. |
| Most topics in regional parenting publications are | | | | 3. Who do you know who has an unusual or |
| straightforward: finance, parenting tips, health, sports, | | | | remarkable story - something that affected children? |
| and education. The trick is to twist them in an unusual | | | | What did the parents learn? Write an article using the |
| way. | | | | anecdote as an introduction to the information you |
| 1. If you're a parent, what do you wish you knew about | | | | want to give. A great anecdote can sell a story. |
| a topic? Write down questions that you have as you | | | | 4. Visit online parenting forums and read the questions |
| go through the day. When I was driving the other day, I | | | | people ask. Use some of these as a basis for your |
| complained to myself about bad teenage drivers. Then | | | | article ideas. |
| I wondered, "What can parents do to encourage good | | | | 5. When you research a piece and talk to experts, |
| driving?" If you already know the answer to the | | | | look for what you don't know. "Joe says insurance is |
| question, it won't make a good article unless you're an | | | | important for families," won't make an article interesting. |
| expert on the subject. | | | | Too many people know that insurance is important. |
| 2. Take a generic topic and make it seasonal. Choose | | | | But a quote like, "Joe says disability insurance is the |
| a season about four months away, because the | | | | most neglected area of insurance, but it protects |
| lead-time for parenting publications is 2 to 6 months. | | | | young families from the biggest threat to their security," |
| Four months from now is April. What happens in April | | | | will make parents keep reading. |
| (or would be published in April) that I can combine with | | | | If you give editors timely articles that readers will want |
| a topic like health? In April, parenting publications start | | | | to read, you'll sell your work over and over again. |
| printing their summer guides to camps. What can | | | | |