Review: Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets

I’ve been a loyal follower of Susan Johnston and her Urban Muse blog, which is jam-packed with terrific advice for both new and established freelancers, blogging tips, author interviews, and (my favorite) several open threads where readers can comment and swap tales of their writing triumphs and tribulations, for well over a year.

So I was very excited to learn of the release of The Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets, an e-book that offers pointers for writers looking to break into online publications. With the future of the traditional magazine industry looking bleaker every day, it’s important for freelancers to be familiar with other outlets for their ideas. Susan knows her stuff—she has a variety of clips from both print and online pubs (I’ve dropped her a few emails with various questions, and she’s always been super helpful, so I’ve experienced her web writing savvy firsthand!), and certainly seems to have mastered the online writing game.

I’ve been scanning through this book all weekend, and I can already see that it was money well-spent. Besides the general information that Susan includes for newbie freelancers, the book includes sample queries that snared assignments, markets to avoid (such as content mills), and—the best part—a directory of over 40 paying online markets. Some of these were familiar, others were totally new, but they’re a handy index of markets, editors, and payment guidelines that cover a wide range of subject areas. I was inspired to re-tool a story idea that’s been hanging out on my PC but that I never submitted anywhere, and I came up with a few new ideas and sent out queries for those, too. All in all, this book is a great tool for any writer who is looking to expand beyond traditional magazine markets!