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Non-Fiction Writers Workshop
by Carolyn Dekat
Feasibility Studies
We've worked to put together a market list. Now it's time to answer another question:
"How feasible is it to write the article you intend to promise in your query?"
That question is easy enough if you don't promise much. However to sell the idea to an editor, a query can't be vague. It must specify slant and include enough facts, quotes and/or anecdotes to grab the editor's attention.
Now is the time to determine what you can provide in the final manuscript as well as some information that will make the query sell.
Remember, the most profitable course of action is to efficiently gather just enough material to flesh out the query and at the same time develop a source list to use in the actual writing of the article.
There are three steps to accomplishing a feasibility study. Some of this information overlaps just a bit with the lesson we did last week on studying a magazine. Remember, there's no right or wrong way to do this!
Find the method that works best for you as an individual.
Review Material in Print
At this point you have narrowed the subject of your article, asked "Who would read this and why?" and "Which publications would such people buy?" Those steps led to the preparation of your market list of publications most likely to buy your article.
In addition to the publications on your market list, you will need to review the broader publishing field for articles similar to or the same as yours. To do this you will need to check the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and other subject indexes at your local library. Topics that are not covered routinely in periodicals generally have a three-year interval before editors will consider that topic again, so you'll be looking through indexes that reveal the material covered over the past three years.
List the articles closest to your subject with the most similar first.
Then cross-check newspaper indexes for the past three years for the same information. You want to determine:
- Where the article is appeared and how closely the material resembles the information you plan to present. Naturally if the subject has been covered recently in your target publication, it will take a unique twist on the subject to sell there again. Compare your article with those published to determine if it is different enough to attract the editor's attention. If it is essentially the same, eliminate that publication from your marketing list for now, or come up with a unique slant.
- Where you can go to gather facts for your query and identify sources--people, articles and books--for later use while writing your article.
Source List
From your review of material in print, you will collect some sources to consult. You don't have to thoroughly read every source you come up with now. Choose those closest to what you must know or that may contain information that will get the query written. Later, you'll come back to get the information you need to round out the article.
To know how much you can promise in the query, develop a source list. Use paper, index cards, a data base, whatever method suits you to organize the information. You'll want to record:
The fact/quote/anecdote
The source
Any other potential sources listed in the document
Remember, now is not the time to delve deeply into the sources. You are simply determining if there is enough material out there, and what is available to offer in your query. Your source list will guide you back to further information to flesh out the article.
Analyzing Your Target Publication
So that you can adapt the material at hand about your subject to the top publication on your market list, you study the publications on your market list, starting at the top. Your goal is to see what the editor of that publication buys, then offer the same basic preferences in the treatment of your subject. You can do this by reading the last few issues of the magazine from cover to cover.
To recap you are looking to:
- Determine the article theme and main points that support it. Note length, use of illustrations and where it is located in the magazine.
Note how the writer carries the theme through the piece. What key words are repeated?
- Note point of view. Is the article in first, second or third person? How does this affect the strength of the article?
- Study the use of facts, quotes and anecdotes and the ratio between them.
- Pick out all the direct references and quotations. For facts not clearly identified by source, think about where you might find the material.
- Zero in on the quotes. Why is each one used? How does it carry the theme? How does it affect the pacing of the article?
- What is the lead like? What makes it work?
- Determine how the transition paragraph builds a bridge between the lead and body of the article.
- Read the first sentence in each paragraph to find the chain the author uses to pull the reader through the article. Pay special attention to transition words and phrases that are used to link the paragraphs together.
- Determine the structure of the article. Does the piece develop chronologically, point-by-point, build on questions raised?
- Study the conclusion. Does it echo the lead? It should reinforce the direction the article has taken. How does it do that?
- Lastly look at the title. Titles are often changed or rewritten by editors, but note how the title describes or hints at the article to come. How does it catch reader attention?
- Compare the article to the entry for the publication in Writer's Market. How did the writer slant the topic to appeal to the audience? What would you guess made the editor buy this piece?
There you have it! You know what to offer the editors, and you're ready to mail off those queries.
If we were being professionals, we wouldn't start on an article until we got the nod from an editor. But we're working up to being professionals and I think most of us here would feel more comfortable with a good draft of an article on paper. We'll head off in that direction next!
© 1998 Carolyn Dekat
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