The secrete of selling a story idea to a magazine or newspaper editor is...well there is none. Now there are some standards that you want to follow, but every pitch letter you write to an editor will be different because each publication is different.

The first step in pitching your story is coming up with a story idea. As I have said in my previous Hubs on selling stories to newspapers and magazines, write about what you know and enjoy, especially if you are just starting out. For the sake of this Hub, let's say you enjoy photographing dairy farms and have decided to write a photo-filled story on the vanishing Wisconsin family dairy farm. I live in Wisconsin and this is something that interests me, so bare with me.

Now what you want to do is pick up your 2008 edition of "Writer's Market." For those unfamiliar with Writer's Market, it is a must-have reference of writer's guidelines for pitching story ideas to thousands of magazines and journals throughout the United States, Canada and beyond. The first thing to do is check the Contents pages. The publications you want are divided between Consumer Magazines and Trade Journals. Check both because you are bound to find potential buyers for a good farm story in both places. Think of subjects your story will touch: agriculture, land use, careers, food production and business, to name only a few... I found plenty of potential buyers under the General Interest, History and Rural headers alone.

Let's choose "Farm & Ranch Living," which WM says is "a bimonthly magazine aimed at families that farm or ranch full time." Further description of the magazine says, "F&RL is not a ‘how-to' magazine - it focuses on people rather than products and profits." Now that is the second time in two consecutive sentences that they have said that this is a magazine about people, so I am going to guess that it is pretty important that my pitch put emphasis on the people in my farming story.

It is important to carefully read the entries and find out exactly what the magazine is looking for in terms of content and how they want the pitch delivered. If it says, "Story ideas must be received by mail," don't fax it to them.

Timing is important as well. Magazines are working on editions months ahead of time. So if you're pitching your summer farm story in May chances are you aren't going to sell it to F&RL because they likely needed your copy back in February for their June edition. F&RL requires seasonal material to be submitted six months in advance. Again, be sure to read and follow the requirements.

Now here's some good news - F&RL has a tip for breaking in as a new writer to their magazine: They suggest submitting, "photo illustrated stories about present-day farmers and ranchers." That hits your photography and story angles square on the head. And the fact that they are eager to work with new/unpublished writers helps as well.

One other thing that is a necessity in my mind - F&RL strongly advises it, too - is to read back issues of a publication before submitting a proposal. Study the writing style to see if your story fits their format. If you think you're wasting your time by doing this research, think of all the time you will put into creating a pitch and sending it to a magazine only to have it come back rejected because it didn't fit their style.

And one final and very important bit of advice - DO NOT TRUST WHAT YOU READ IN WRITER'S MARKET. Even if you have the latest edition. A magazine is like any other business - there is staff turnover and editors come and go. Just because Nick Pabst is listed as the editor of F&RL in the 2007 edition of Writer's Market doesn't mean he still is the editor in 2008. Check the Web site or call the magazine and ask someone. Make sure you get the editor's name right because chances are they already have a ton of pitches to read and will use any opportunity to thin the herd. You should also check the Web site for more up-to-date writer's guidelines than what is in WM.

You can also check newspaper Web sites for writer's guidelines, since WM does not list newspapers. And if a the newspaper you are targeting doesn't have the information on their Web site, call the newspaper and ask for the editor. Try to know who you are calling in advance so you can ask for them by name. Larger newspapers have section editors, so for instance if you are writing a story about cooking with exotic spices, you would want to contact the Food section editor. Like everything else you do when selling a story, be prepared on the front end.

There is plenty more that I can cover on this subject, but I think I have given you enough to think about for now. Please feel free to share your comments, suggestions and questions. I am sure others reading this would love to read what you have to say. Now go write something.