By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

How can you write and submit exactly what the magazine editor is looking for? You get some insights from reading the submission guidelines but I’m talking about something much more specific and a simple list of topics and ideas for this publication. Seasoned magazine writers know about this tool and after reading this article, you will know about it too: a theme list. Publication editors will brainstorm this list of story ideas, post it on their website and also send it to their regular contributors. Using a theme list is a sure way to grab the reading attention of the editor.

Recently I attended a Christian writers’ conference. It’s one of the key places where you can build relationships with editors and learn how to meet the needs of editors. If you write what an editor needs, then you are much more likely to get published than randomly writing something and sending it into the publication. If a writers’ conference is not in your plans, make plans to get to one soon. As editors, we publish people that we know, like and trust and you can build these relationships at a conference.

During an editor’s panel at this conference, I heard an editor’s cry for help. I’m not going to give the specific magazine but use this incident as a way to help you be more successful and on target with your magazine submissions. This magazine editor leads a 200,000 circulation Christian publication which publishes a theme list with their guidelines. With each monthly magazine, they publish articles outside of their theme but in particular they need articles tied to their theme. In front of the entire conference, this editor mentioned several of his projected themes did not have a single article ready for publication.

As I listened to this editor’s cry for help, I recalled my work at Decision, the publication of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. As associate editor, I was looking for theme related articles. For example, I needed articles about love for a February magazine (Valentine’s Day). It was not easy to get these articles even for a large circulation magazine like Decision whose circulation at that time was 1.8 million. To gather these needed theme-related articles, I would call or email some of my author friends and ask them for submissions.

If you want to be published in magazines, in general there are two options. You can write whatever you want (inspiration) and then try to find a publication for it. Or you can look at the themes an editor has created for their magazine (their needs) and write an article to meet those needs. The second approach of writing for a particular theme is more likely to be published from my experience.

The Christian Writers Market Guide includes over 150 magazine listings. Many of these listings include the location of their guidelines and theme list. Another way to find these publications is to use Google with the search words “Christian editorial theme lists.” I instantly found several pages of Christian publications with their theme lists.

As you meet needs of the editor (use their theme list) you will be published in magazines and become a dependable resource for your editor. Don’t overlook this important resource for your magazine articles. Writers do much more than publish books. If you write for magazines and have never published a book, call yourself a writer.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com