Break in with Fillers: The Best Market for New Writers

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Break in with Fillers: The Best Market for New Writers

By Shelley Wake

Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new
area? You can't go past writing fillers. Fillers are one
of the most overlooked opportunities in the freelance
writing world and offer one of the best opportunities for
new writers.

Fillers Are In Demand

I've spoken to hundreds of editors and been told over and
over again that fillers are the one thing they never get
enough of. Most publications tend to publish more freelance
fillers than they do freelance articles. Yet, they often
receive 100 times more articles than fillers.

This is a gap in the freelance market that you can take
advantage of.

Fillers are a Great Place to Get Started

Many publications are careful about publishing feature
articles from writers they don't know. Even if your article
is good, an editor might decide not to publish you because
they don't know you as a writer. This is especially true if
you don't have a lot of experience or any clips.

But even without experience or clips, most editors will
consider a filler. In fact, many editors treat writing
fillers as the testing ground to see if a writer can be
relied on to write feature articles.

Here's what one editor had to say about fillers:

"One of the best ways to break in is to write fillers. It
gives me a chance to start to build a relationship with a
writer and see that I can trust them. Of all the freelancers
I work with, over half started out writing fillers."
Margaret, Magazine Editor

So not only can writing fillers get you some clips, it also
has the potential to turn into a long-term opportunity.
Consider fillers a stepping stone to much bigger things.

The Smart Way to Write on Spec

Fillers are almost always submitted on spec. This means that
you avoid the problem of having to query the publication and
sell yourself as a writer, because your filler is doing the
work for you and showing the editor your writing skill.

The big argument against writing on spec is that you spend
your time writing pieces that might never sell. Fillers reduce
problem because they are short and take less time to write. So
even if your filler doesn't sell, you haven't wasted as much
time as you would have on a longer feature article.

Fillers are also more flexible, with few publications having
set guidelines for fillers. This means that a filler will often
be suitable for more than market. So if it gets rejected once,
it's not a waste of time. You can just send it to a new market,
often without having to make any changes.

Fillers Rely on Information, Not Writer Qualifications

Fillers usually rely on information, not on the writer's
qualifications.This means that you don't have to sell
yourself when you submit fillers. Instead, the information you
put in the filler sells it for you.

This makes fillers a perfect option for writers lacking the
experience or clips to sell themselves to an editor.

You Can Write a Lot of Them

Since fillers are short, you can write a lot of them and submit
a lot of them. You could literally have hundreds of pieces out
in the market for consideration in a short time. And if you write
them well, you could have a lot of them published in a very short
time. That means you can build a list of clips fast.

And one other benefit is that magazines don't have as limited a
space for fillers as they do for feature articles. So if your filler
gets accepted, it's likely to get published fast. The same isn't
true for feature articles, where an accepted article will often be
scheduled for an issue a year or two away.

That's one more good reason why fillers are a great way to build
clips fast.

Once you've got the clips, then you have a few more options. Until
then, fillers are a great place to start.

And one final tip. Once you have the clips and start moving into
feature articles, don't forget about fillers. As you're researching
a feature, take note of interesting facts, trivia, or anecdotes you
come across. These can make fillers and be an added bonus, bringing
in some extra cash and some extra clips.

******
Shelley Wake is the author of "Getting Published Without Clips." This
practical no-nonsense guide shows writers exactly where to go and what
to do to break into freelance writing. Packed with inside information,
proven methods, hidden markets, and more, it has successfully launched
hundreds of freelance careers in record time.
http://www.writingstuff.com/fr02m.html
******