Now that I’ve tied up Guest Blogger Month, I’d like introduce a new weekly ritual: open threads. Admittedly, I stole this idea from Freelance Folder, but I think it will be a chance to continue the conversation we started in February and also give me a sense of my reader’s interests and experiences.
Each Wednesday I’ll post a new question and ask readers to respond in the comments. This week’s question is about writers’ first clips. I’ll start…
I published a few essays and reviews during my teens, but my first paid clip was an article in a magazine aimed at helping college students build good credit and stick to a budget (I was in college at the time). One article turned into ten, and until recently, I was still churning out copy for the magazine. My first big clip was an essay in The Boston Globe, but I still have hard copies of that first piece about buying gifts on a budget.
Now it’s your turn. What was your first clip? How did it make you feel? Do you still get giddy when you see you name in print (or in pixels)?
My first paid clip was in Transitions Abroad magazine. I wrote it after I returned from a trip to Florence to study Italian. I only got paid $25 but I was thrilled about it. It gave me the confidence to keep writing and submitting to other pubs. Now, I’ll get that feeling when I publish in my dream pubs!
Love that magazine! I always meant to query them but I never quite came up with the right (non-touristy) angle. That’s a great way to get started!
My first published clip was for a weekly entertainment newspaper magazine called Images. I was covering a stand up comedy show and the editor had liked my blog and the writing I was doing for a city based blog back in 2007.
Even though the editor told me that it would take me a few more clips to get the complete hang of it, seeing my name in print for the first time was the highlight of my year!
Here’s a link to the online version: http://dawn.com/weekly/images/archive/070729/images5.htm
Almost a year and a half later, I know what the editor meant. But I’ll forever be greatful to her for giving me the chance.
Oh, it was also the first time I realized how well paying writing in newspapers and magazines was!
I got Rs 1600 for 500 words approx. Which was about $25 from the exchange rate back then but the number was big in local currency.
My first clips ever were in a local, weekly newspaper, where I was working part-time as an editorial assistant/copy editor. I wrote mostly about local businesses.
My first paid clips were for Shecky’s Bar, Club, and Lounge Guide 2005: New York. The pay was paltry, but I had just lost my first post-college job, and was desperate. It was a kick to have my name appear in an actual book, and visiting the various bars in NY helped me to become more comfortable with the city.
But what I consider to be my first major clip is a travel story I did for Playgirl, on sex parties around the world. My mom was so proud, she made photocopies and carried them around everywhere.
My first paid clip was an article I wrote during my college internship with Ohio Magazine . . . being paid to write and seeing my name in print was (and still is, more than 10 years later) a real thrill! The things I write today don’t often get a byline (one of the down sides to copy writing), but I still love being able to point to an ad, brochure, web page, etc. and say “I wrote that!”
@Samar: thanks for sharing! Isn't it great to look at old clips and be reminded of how far we've come?
@Steph: I used to write for Shecky's Boston, but I don't think I got a byline. Still, at the time it was fun and helped me build my portfolio & experience.
@writtenexpressions: I love that feeling, too!
My first paid clip was for The Engravers Journal, a trade publication for the awards and recognition industry (trophies, etc.). Though I was paid for the article, I initially wrote it on spec. After that first article, though, I became a regular contributor to the magazine and still write for several trade publications (but not this one anymore–long story).
My first major byline was for ALL YOU magazine, which I still write for. It’s a mag that I subscribe to, and I was really thrilled to have my byline in their mag! Actually, I never get tired of seeing my name in print.
My first published piece was at about age 8. My first paid piece was in a local newspaper in high school; I wrote press materials for our high school band and orchestra.
Even then, I was writing business-related materials!
Yeah, I still get giddy, with that, “hey, I really did it” every time I see a byline — no matter which of the many names it’s under!
What a great thread! My first clips were in student newspapers but my first paid clip was in the Canadian national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. I got paid $100. It was an 800-word personal essay about my father’s death and the first piece that duh…made me realize…I really was a writer. It was also illustrated which made me the whole thing extra special for me.
The essay section is wonderful and is called “Facts and Arguments”. Here are the sub guidelines if anyone is interested.
http://tinyurl.com/58yos4
@Lisa: Wow, All You is an awesome magazine. Good for you!
@Devon: Thanks for sharing, Devon. I did press materials for music organizations in high school and college, but I never got paid for it.
@Janet: Thanks for the link! Does the Globe and Mail still pay for essays? It said they don’t, so I wasn’t sure if that’s changed.
My first clip was something in Skope Magazine, which was just starting up in Boston at the time. I don’t really remember what it was but I’m sure it was some sort of CD review or something…which is funny because I’m not all that into music.
The first clip that I was really proud of was the front page of the State section in The Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ while I was still in grad school at NYU. I took a semester-long writing project for a religion and journalism class — a 5,000 word article — and chopped it down to about 1,500 words to get it published in the newspaper. It hurt, but if I hadn’t it wouldn’t have been published at all. I weighed my options and took the $200. Never looked back.
Susan, what a great idea. I am enjoying reading all the stories! My first published clip was in Quilt Magazine. They have little column called Quilting Friends. I wrote a piece about local quilters who make quilts for the children at Cunningham Children’s home. The Children’s home serves those children with both mental and behavioral disorders, the children that need the most love but often don’t do well in foster home environments. I was so inspired by these quilters and thrilled to see my name in print for the first time!
Hey susan – my piece ran two years ago – so it does look like they’ve made a change. Too bad they’re not longer paying. I guess I was lucky to get a paid piece when I did.
I have a few essays in the pipe and I’m thinking of querying the Christian Science Monitor. Here are the sub guidelines is anyone is interested. Yes. This one pays.
http://www.csmonitor.com/aboutus/guidelines.html
@Christy: That sounds like a great story!
@Janet: I was lucky to get an essay in CSM before they announced that they’re slashing the print schedule. Rumor has it that essay submissions are on hold until the end of this month, so you might hold onto it until then. Also check out Newsweek’s My Turn and essay anthologies like Chicken Soup or Cup of Comfort.
Susan – thanks so much for the Newsweek tip. I had no idea CSM was putting things on hold. This has saved me a huge hassle. Appreciate it!!
My first paid clip was for a small magazine that publishes out of new york called True Love. I wrote a monthly column for them for almost a year. It really helped me a lot.
My first paying clip online was with Imperfect Parent, and I still write for them. My first clip in print was with The Chicago Tribune, in December 2006. I wrote for them sort of regularly but when a paper goes bankrupt it puts a kibosh on the query enthusiasm on my end. I have my first book clip (is that what it’s called) in A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers – and it’s out on March 10!
May I just say that I’m loving all these comments and stories?! I think we all needed to step back and remember the excitement of those first few clips.
@Sunehra: I know that magazine! Are they still publishing?
@Amy: I’m impressed by the Tribune, even though it’s going bankrupt. Congrats on Cup of Comfort! I submitted a few essays to one of their books and should hear in the next month or so.
My first clip was in a free newspaper. They didn’t pay but I still smile when I look at it because it led to so much. And I laugh at how stressed I was interviewing people for it!
It’s cute reading all your memories
My first clip was a paid clip. Actually, it was the first installment of a monthly decorating column in a print magazine. The column ran for eight years but each month, right up to the end, I held my breath as I flipped the pages to see my column, my photo and my name.
It was a spur of the moment thing – asking if the editor was interested in a decorating column – but the thrill still lingers despite the fact that I have gone on to sell my work to other print and online publications.
This is embarrassing – my first clip was actually first prize in the (are you sitting down?) Pittsburgh Press Sunday Magazine Bad Writing Contest. Swear to God. Bad writing gets me fifty bucks, a bad photo, a trophy, and publication. It was a spin on the Edward Bulwer Lytton contest where I had to come up with a story to go with the first line. The story – Alf Romeo and his love, Portia.
My first paid clip was for a local Phoenix, Arizona, magazine in 1967. A piece on cave exploring, “Cave of the Bells”, with an accompanying set of photos. I’ll never forget the thrill of seeing it on the newstand with my name on it!
Gene
My first paid clip was also an essay in the Boston Globe, for their “View from the Cube” series than ran on Sundays. My office was moving from the city to the suburbs, so I wrote about that. Over time I wrote 7 more essays for that series.
When it ran, I was still working in the office I’d written about. I’d shared the acceptance with only one co-worker who was also a writer. But that Sunday, co-workers actually called me at home to congratulate me and the next day one of the supervisors had put it up on the break room bulletin board. It was so exciting to hear the reactions of people who were living through the same experience!
@Joanne: That’s great about “View from the Cube”! I published an essay in that column just before they discontinued it and had a very different experience. I was no longer at the company I was writing about, but I got some very nasty emails, letters to the editor, and anonymous blog comments. At least I know my essay made a strong impression!
I have to say I have an extra special first clip. As a professional person, I wrote an article for a Safety magazine about creating training materials for people who have English as a second language.
My best clip, was not a clip at all. My student adviser sent my senior thesis on work place violence, and my class records to the American Society of Safety Engineers, and I received the Student of the Year Award. No clip, but a great award. (hunk of paper and scholarship money)
okay, seriously hoping i won’t sound like bratty mcbrattington in that I was lucky enough to be a part of high school “explorer post” for student journalists (run through boy scouts of america, but girls could play too!)
At a national conference, I was picked to interview Jay Leno and the story ran in our little conference daily and then later in the Syracuse Herald Journal.
I will never forget it.
1) The reporter sent from the local paper stole my lead (my story, both versions was out first) and i was 16!!!
2) I stumbled upon someone reading it in the mall in my hometown and chuckling, not even knowing it was mine!
No feeling like that in the world. I’m not a journalist anymore, sometimes miss it, sometimes glad I have my steady gov. job and a blog for fun, but when I think of that high… wow. One of my proudest moments.
@WashWords: That sounds really neat! Thanks for sharing.