June 2022 - Filler Finance

Hello, and welcome to my June newsletter.

I’m running a bit late, this month, unfortunately, as I’ve had a busy month writing articles for The People’s Friend, This England, Evergreen, and BBC Countryfile.

I’m hoping after I’ve delivered my travel writing workshop, this coming Sunday, as part of the Evesham Festival of Words, I’ll have a few more minutes to stop and draw breath!

But, of course, grabbing a few minutes to myself doesn’t mean I won’t be writing. A few minutes is all we need for some of the most lucrative (per word basis) forms of writing.

In preparation for October’s Writing Magazine, I’ve been chatting to Maggie Cobbett, author of Easy Money for Writers and Wannabes.

Like me, Maggie has been writing letters and fillers for years, and if it’s not a market you’ve ever looked at, you could be missing out.

The magazine Letter and Filler market is primarily aimed at readers (but as we’re writers, that also makes us readers, too, doesn’t it?). These are the pages inside the magazines where they actively ask their readers to send in material. usually, it takes the form of a letter, or a photo, or a household tip.

The great thing about this is that the magazines often pay for all submissions used. Just be aware that some only pay for the ‘star’ submission, so always check.

Maggie is excellent at spotting the opportunities, and as a result has seen a lot of success.

“One of the earliest was a letter to a DIY magazine. It won a prize (an electric sander) that my husband received with considerable glee. The most profitable that I can remember was £100 for sending in a photograph and few lines about a reunion with some childhood friends. It was chosen as the star letter in one of the cheap and cheerful weekly magazines that generally have pride of place at the newsagent’s.”

Letters and fillers are short. Some of the photo filler pages comprise a reader’s photo (the sort of image you might post on a social media website) with a short sentence: “Here’s me dressed up with my mates on a fab day out at the beach!”

Some magazines have more of these slots than others, and Maggie’s advice is to do your research (as you would with any other piece of writing that you hope might be published):

”The cheap and cheerful weekly magazines are certainly one of the best markets, as they have regular slots for letters, photos and tips about just about anything on the domestic front and most of them pay for each one published. One of my favourites has a regular page for jokes, including the more risqué. With some exceptions, more expensive titles and those that come out monthly tend to offer prizes rather than cash and then only for one reader’s contribution per issue.”

One of the most well-known publications in this market is Readers’ Digest. They pay £50 for the star letter and £30 for all other letters published, as well as £30 for some of their joke slots and end of article fillers. They also pay £50 for their My Great Escape section.

Not all magazines offer cash (well, more likely to be a cheque in the post). Some offer prizes instead. These are usually supplied by a sponsor and is a form of ‘free’ advertising for the company.

My advice is don’t dismiss these, even if you don’t like the prize. It might involve a spot of extra work, but anything I win and don’t like I simply sell on eBay. I’ve sold camping mats, bluetooth speakers and computer software like this. Sometimes, the money I’ve made from selling these has been more than I might get for an article.

Study published letters and fillers and look for clues and themes that will help you improve your chances of success. If every letter on a letters page refers to an article in a previous issue, then your letter should do the same. If every household tip includes a photo, then you should send one too. If every letter is fewer than one hundred words, then stick to that maximum word count.

Get a feel for the style and tone of letters. Are they light and chatty, or formal and serious? What about the sentence length? Are they short and sweet, or longer to develop a point? Following the style and format will improve your chances of success.

Writing succinct, informative letters and fillers is a skill. Some may be as short as 25 words, others might stretch to more than 100. Never sit down and write a letter or filler and then send it off. Treat it like any other writing project. Put it aside after you’ve written the first draft, then come back to it later with fresh eyes. Edit it to perfection.

There’s another reason why I love letters and fillers. You never know where they may lead. My bestselling book, One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human began life as a short filler in Mad About Dogs magazine (which earned me £25). I then expanded it into an article (for more money) and then I expanded it further into a book. (You can read more about that here.)

So if you find yourself with a few minutes to spare, why not have a go at writing a letter or filler? You never know where it may lead!

Good luck!