How to get on assignment lists and stay there.
How To Get On Assignment Lists... And Stay There By David Geer
Editors at print magazines are sometimes willing to add
freelance writers to assignment lists. What is an assignment
list? An assignment list is a list that goes out telling the
publication's regular freelance writers which story assignments
are available for an upcoming issue. For those lists that I've
seen, each assignment on the list generally includes the
following: the department the article will appear in, the
working title, the required Word count, and a description. The
description includes the breadth of coverage, the type of
article desired (maybe a product review for example), questions
that should be addressed and other information, perhaps
procedural in nature (i.e., how to acquire products for the
product review).
How to get onboard and hold on tight!
The best time to ask if a publication has an assignment list and
whether you may be added to it is once you have satisfactorily
completed a first assignment. You might send an email to your
editorial contact and ask if they have an assignment list. If
they have one and would consider putting you on it, they'll let
you know.
If you manage to get on one, and care to stay there, don't plan
on letting the editor down or showing the slightest
inconsistency from the quality of work you initially published
with them (unless it's an improvement). There are always other
writers who can take your place. Just one bad-egg article may
cut you from the list. If you like steady work, maintain the
quality that got you on the list. Be polite, patient, and
professional and deliver a little better than they expect,
sooner than they need it. Show some self-supervision and get as
close to what they want to publish as possible, word for word.
How to respond to the list when you receive it
Pick the stories you feel confident you can write and then pitch
yourself for those assignments. I always pick several, as many
as I genuinely think I can write. Now I don't mean a number that
I think I can write for one issue; you'll be lucky to get one
story a month, at least at the start. What I mean is that I pick
all the ones I believe I could write, knowing that gives me a
better chance of getting selected for at least one of them. Then
I write a brief defense of why I am the writer to write that
story. I try to respond the same day that I get the list if
possible, hoping that an early bird will be rewarded. They'll
let you know if you can have one of the assignments and which
one that they feel is best suited for you.
You could end up with an assignment every month this way. When
they send out the list (by email) count how many writers are on
it (if you can see the recipients) and compare that with the
number of freelance-written stories appearing in the publication
regularly. If there aren't many more writers than stories, you
may find that exceptional writing and a great relationship with
the folks at the publication will be answered with regular work.
If there are some months that you don't get assignments, it may
be that they want to spread the work around a bit.
Don't get discouraged and don't assume you did a bad job on the
last piece. If you keep getting the list, you must be doing
something right.