Evergreens

With the Christmas season approaching you might think an "evergreen" is a beautiful tree, decked with ornaments and colored lights. Authors of magazine articles know that evergreens are also topics that are published year after year and seldom, if ever, go out of date.

Look at the cover of any popular newsstand magazine and you'll see what I mean. "Lose Ten Pounds Before the Holidays," "The Best Gifts for Mom and Dad," "What Not to do at a Holiday Party." All of these articles are evergreens.

If you have an idea for a evergreen article there are two main things to keep in mind. First, you need a new, refreshing twist on the recurring theme. Articles rehasing the same old, worn information will receive a quick rejection. Second, since magazine editors schedule their issues many months in advance, you should query six months in advance of the issue your article would likely appear.

So, although you might have just thought of a wonderful idea for a Christmas or Hanukkah article you're too late for this year. You should query now for summer evergreens and write yourself a reminder to send out the holdiay query next June.

Carol Thomas, Write Magazine Articles That Sell!