Many thanks for your AWM reviews today. You did it! (wrote a review and filed it on time).
Here's my review. It was for Scoop, the quarterly mag for media section members of the MEAA.
What do you think? Is the opinion expressed adequately? Is there any cliche?
See you next week...
Boning up on Bacon Busters.
A book that lists contact details for hundreds of Australian newspapers and magazines is very light on for WA content.
The Australian Writer’s Marketplace promises to have “every contact you will ever need to succeed in the writing business”.
And in between AAD Outlook (circulation 500, 11 issues a year, for deaf people who use sign language) and Zoom (circulation 25,000, monthly, for rev-heads interested in modern, modified cars) there are lots of listings.
But where are the WA magazines and newspapers for keen freelancers to discover?
Freo-based foodie mag Spice? Not on the menu. Women’s lifestyle magazine Flourish? Not flourishing in the AWM – if there was, it would be between Flooring Magazine (10,859, bimonthly, floor coverings industry) and FM (6900, bimonthly, facility management).
There’s no joy with better-known WA publications, either: Perth Woman, Vita, Xpress, Post Newspapers and the Midland Echo – none get a guernsey.
Even David Hogan’s Scoop (the glossy lifestyle mag, not this august journal) is absent, and that’s been going more than 10 years.
No mention of WA’s Have-a-Go News, a monthly paper for the over-45s (but there is something called Bonzer! – “engaging stories and article of interest to seniors”.
Some local publications do get a mention. The Fremantle Herald is in, as is The West Australian, The Sunday Times, and Borderlands (“a magazine of high-quality Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror stories” with a Bayswater postal address and a street location in Nedlands).
With glaring omissions like these, how sure can you be about the comprehensiveness of the rest of the AWM?
It does have a lot of listings. There are eight Australian magazines or journals whose titles begin with numbers, including 101 Landscaping Ideas, 3D World, 4WD Monthly and 50 Something.
In the Australian magazine/journal pages there are more than 800 listed publications. Even the most dedicated freelancer will find new markets to pitch to.
There’s Urban Hitz devoted to hip-hop and R&B, and premier trucking magazine Truckin’ Life.
It’s pretty easy to pick up what some magazines are about: Houses, Earthmover & Civil Contractor, Mother and Baby, Fish and Boat.
Others take a little guessing. Beanscene (16,000, quarterly) is for coffee lovers and literate baristas. OutOfOrder is for expressing views that are outside the mainstream.
Bacon Busters has a niche market stitched: it’s Australia’s only magazine dedicated to pig hunting and likes “how-to” stories, technical advice, pig dog profiles (“what sort of kibble (dog food) do you have before a hunt?”) and the country’s biggest collection of pig hunting photos.
But others are more arcane. Jetsetters is aimed at kids aged between 5-16. GROW is for Christian kids (it stands for “God Rules Our World”). The Quorum isn’t about meetings but the business tourism event industry (12,000, bimonthly).
And in the country/regional/suburban newspaper section there are some promising-sounding opportunities: Arash is the go if you have a scoop with a Persian or Afghan angle, while Australian Cotton Outlook is undoubtedly essential reading for busy cotton growers.
What about payment? Who’s got the big bucks? According to the AWM, quite a few don’t pay anything at all.
A common note in listings is: “Published without payment” – so goodbye Australian Deer Farming, the Oakey Champion and Vicdog (11,680, monthly, Victorian Canine Association members).
And there was this frank admission about freelance submissions from our very own Chook (Fremantle Herald): “Please note that most will be unpaid”.
“Published without payment” and “payment at editor’s discretion” is vague but common.
Payment rates are rare but The Quorum is an exception – the standard rate is $425.
Is the AWM worth buying? It could be a useful resource.
WA freelancers probably know their market backwards, so learning about markets in other areas is a good idea.
As well as listings, there’s stuff on literary events, awards, competitions, fellowship and grants; markets for scripts, information about publishers, literary agents, publishing services and writers’ resources.
It was good to see the Media Alliance gets a mention: the Alliance’s WA Branch is entry #1760, on page 576, in the WA section of Australian Industry Organisations.
There are also some articles from experts and gurus. John Birmingham has a piece called ‘So You Want to be the Next Dan Brown?’ and Denise Cullen provides advice on how to write for inflight magazines.
Not bad. And AWM’s cost is almost certainly deductible or depreciable to some extent (check with your tax accountant).
Shame about the missing WA entries, though …
The Australian Writer’s Marketplace
Queensland Writers’ Centre, $49.95
