Many, many months ago I was asked to write an article on open marriages and swinging by a magazine that went out of business before it could be published.
The topic is fascinating and timely and the piece involved several interviews and consumed a lot of time. It was supposed to be a cover story. I was quite disappointed when that didn’t happen.
After consulting a writer/editor friend of mine I decided to take a stab at selling the article to another publication. I started locally and received some very nice but firm rejection letters. (I’d rather hear a firm “no” than not hear anything at all!) Nothing concrete came about until Hamilton Magazine asked for an excerpt. Then they asked for the whole thing and said they wanted to run it. Now it appears in the Fall 09 issue and it looks great!
Selling an already written article is a bit of a crapshoot but I’m learning that fresh ideas are hard to come by. It’s not that this topic is brand new – but I’ve spoken to insiders, including the owners of a swingers club and a woman who’s in a long-term open marriage, as well as experts on family and relationships. I threw a ton of energy into this piece and it’s extremely satisfying to see it in print.
If the magazine links to it on their website, I will share the article here. If you’re in the Hamilton area, please look for it at Chapters or other magazine sellers. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. And getting it from my keyboard to print has been a really long time coming.