How do I get published?

There doesn’t seem to be a more common dream among youth workers than the desire to get a book deal or to get published in a national magazine.

Here’s a reality check: No one is ever going to contact you to offer you a book deal or to ask for you to write for a magazine.

This is where YMX is unique in the ministry world. We want to help aspiring youth ministry authors, curriculum writers, and reviewers get to the “next level” by helping them develop a recognized name and find their writing voice.

 Developing a recognized name

Yeah, I said it.  If you want to write a book, write articles, or publish curriculum you’ll probably need to do some work. It’s not like publishers are so bored in their jobs that they are just randomly looking at blogs, youth group websites, or your college papers. The reality is that the decision makers are busy… so you have to build a body of work to the point where you can make a pitch for your project. In other words, a publisher is gambling by publishing your work. Their gamble is that publishing you will make them more money than it will cost to produce your work. While all youth ministry publishers are in it to help youth workers… at the end of the day they have to pay salaries and cover expenses. So, if you want to get published at the next level you need to show that you already have an audience reading your stuff, using your stuff, and wanting your stuff now.

Finding your writing voice

I’ve had the pleasure to watch this process at YMX. The first couple of articles we get from people typically aren’t that great. They are full of passion and full of “stuff” that makes sense to the author but is hard to translate to a broader audience. What happens is that when an article is submitted it gets edited. And when an author reads the published article vs. what they have submitted they learn how to write more for what the editor thinks is palatable to a broad audience. The result is that by the 3rd article, we’re getting a better quality article/review/resource. And we are seeing that the new author is starting to get confident in their writing style… finding a voice. This is another thing that a publisher is going to want to see. They will want to see that your stuff is polished but they don’t have the time/money to help you get polished.

So how do I get published? Here’s some ways to start today at making your writing dream a reality.

1. Blog. The more you write, the more confident you get in writing.  Don’t just write about silly stuff or pass along links or the latest quiz to your friends. Find something to write about. If you really don’t have any ideas just pick a chapter of the Bible and write your reflections on a new chapter every day.
2. Submit an article on something you are interested in. Write an article about something you are knowledgeable about to YMX. It doesn’t have to be long, 500-700 words is perfect. Another cool thing you can do is to ask people if you can guest blog on their blog. This will help you get used to writing for different audiences. Just like when doing speeches or preaching at churches, knowing your audience is half the battle. Once you get a few of these under your belt… you are ready to take on something tougher.
3. Create a project that is outside what you know. Stretch yourself a little to write about something. This will demonstrate to yourself and others that you are diverse enough to write things that are beyond your experience.
4. Ask for feedback. Once you get a few things published online, ask for feedback. How many people read my article? What would have made it better? How could I make that article into something that more people would have read?
5. Ask for projects. I’ve never told a person “nothing” when they ask me for something I’d like to see an article on. When you ask me for a project idea and then you submit an article along those lines… that’s when I can see you are really getting into it.
6. Be consistent and make deadlines. Nothing is more annoying than people who pitch an idea, get an assignment, and then blow a deadline. That is definitely not going to help you get to the next level.
7. Start pitching ideas to new editors. This is the exciting step we see many writers at. They have written a few things for YMX, gotten solid feedback, and are now ready to draw on that experience to start getting paid gigs. So they submit their project ideas to youth ministry magazines, major Christian websites, their local newspaper, (small town papers are always hungry for good content) and maybe even another larger venue.
8. Welcome to the world. When editors know your name and what you’ve got a body of work they are familiar with… they may just call you about a project idea they have been thinking about. Here’s a hint: Say yes and beat that deadline!