Write a Column - Syndicate it Yourself.

You want a guaranteed success rate? Then pen a blog. Of course, when you tell someone, “I have my own blog!” you don’t get near the kudos of, “I write a syndicated column!”

Think how many syndicated columnists you can name. Dave Barry. Dear Abby, Dear Ann, Miss Manners, some op-ed guys. I doubt most people could name more than ten. My point is, all writing is difficult to place - be it a book, screenplay, column or whatever. Whenever you have to rely on someone else to publish your work, you are looking at far more rejection than success. But that is why it is so prestigious when you pull it off.

·	Will YOU be successful?

The answer is, you will experience the same sort of success rate that you have already experienced in your writing history. If you consistently sell your work, then you will be “successful” because you are a good writer with a knack for submitting articles that are what editors need at the moment. Through this service you will be able to send to many more outlets than on your own, so you should do well.

However, if you have consistently submitted your work and had zero response, then this service will probably mirror those results. Market2Editors is a vehicle to help writers sell their work. Yes, you can use the free material on this site to improve your craft, but ultimately, M2E is just the postman. Asking about the success rate of our columnists is like asking the postman how many scripts get sold from screenplays he sees being mailed.

·	Why doesn’t this site list “success stories?”

The reason we don’t list success stories here is that successful writers will have sold their work before, during and after their association with Market2Editors. M2E can’t - and will not - take credit for their success. Likewise, we cannot be held responsible for a writer that cannot sell their work. It is the client’s work. AGAIN, we are just the postman.

What we can guarantee is that we will present your work in a professional manner, giving what tips we can to make it publishable. But the work - and the ultimate success of your work - is up to you!

·	In order for an editor to pick up a column, they have to:

Read it

2	Ask other editors to read it

3	Wait for the next meeting to discuss how it would fit with other columns already in the paper; who is writing on a similar subject; and if they ought to dump that columnist in favor of you.

4	Pull the other guy's column from the paper and see if the readers notice

5	Have more meetings to discuss those results and make a decision to dump the other guy's column.

6	Contact you.

You are asking editors to make a very important decision. A newspaper is a mosaic where all columns fit together so there is something of interest to every single reader.

Editors choose columns that have enough material to run ten years. Readership has to grow since it takes a long time for readers to even notice a new column. It can take years to produce a loyal following. You are asking editors to invest in something that might not pay off for a very long time. This is not a light decision they have to make.

·	So won’t editors at least write to tell me they like my work?

Primarily because if they inform the author of this process, they are opening themselves up to endless phone calls of "Pick me! Pick me!" Not you, of course, you would never do this, but your fellow authors might. The editor doesn’t want to be “sold” by a columnist. Rather, they want to be sold my the column itself. They want a hassle-free environment in order to ponder the overall makeup of their paper and craft it into a periodical that will interest readers and therefore attract advertisers. They also are certain they know their readership better than you would so are not inviting your discussion on the matter.

This is exactly why we suggest 4 - 6 column submissions. Launching a column is an ongoing process of building name recognition, showing consistency in your writing, and banking on the columnist already published in YOUR paper either dying or at least missing their deadline. Or, of course, that the editor who passed on your work will be fired for their all around poor judgment. You need to keep your samples in their mind while they go through this extended process.

·	But I didn’t even get a “no thanks!”

It is entirely typical for one to think if you send to this many editors, you can count on a certain percentage of response. I still subconsciously do it every time I send out something and I ALWAYS get the same response you did. Little or nothing. And even though, since I do this for a living, I should know better - I am ALWAYS shocked.

You have to remember that the normal response is to hear nothing. That's just the way it is. It takes less time to delete a message than to send a “no thanks.” And then when they do that, they open themselves up to a dialogue with the author.