Can you make a living writing about health?

Can you make a living writing about health? That all depends. People who specialize in health writing make anywhere from very little to well over six figures. Why would someone write about health for low pay? People do it all the time to boost their income through other means, such as getting more clients, patients or customers for their primary business. Many of the health columnists and health bloggers you see aren’t getting paid much to write, but their writing builds buzz and boosts their credibility as an authority in their field. Increasingly, this is the way to go, now that everyone can be a writer with the help of self-correcting computer software and easy access to online research.

But that isn’t what you asked. So yes, you can make a good living just by writing about health, if you work at it hard enough. Here’s how it breaks down.

• If you want to write for national magazines, the pay averages about $1 per word to a little over $2 per word. Smaller publications pay less, but often require less work and fewer rewrites. How much that turns out to be depends on how fast you can crank out professional copy. You may spend all week working on a complicated 2,000 word story, or you could write six pieces in that time. I have done both. (If you’re wondering how to get started as a freelance health writer, read up on the 12 Basic Hints for Magazine Health Writers.)
• Collaborating with an expert on a health book typically pays anywhere from $10,000 to $70,000 or more. Some make less, of course, depending on how the book is marketed. The time frame can be anywhere from eight weeks to a year. If you have the qualificaitons, you can write your own book, but if not, working with an expert adds clount and helps sell books.
• A regular health column or blog may pay a flat fee that equals less than the per word rate for an article in a major magazine. But it could pay off indirectly by giving you a higher profile and building the all important platform to sell your book or consulting or speaking business.
• Websites and Internet publications tend to pay less per word than print publications, even when a related print pub exists. $.50 per word is the average, although some pay more. Many pay less, but they tend to attract nonprofessional writers who just want to see their byline out there.
• More than ever, nonprofit medical associations and for-profit companies that sell health products,an such as diabetes equipment, vitamins, and pharmaceuticals, buy health and medical copy from freelance health writers. If you go this route, you may not see your byline in print — and you may not want to — but the checks will come in quick and steady. My colleagues who do this work say they have more control over projects and paychecks. I know several health and medical writers who easily make a six figure income by this type of writing alone.
• Medical copywriters rake in an average of $50 an hour to $200 per hour and up to write advertising material and direct mail letters.
• SEO health writing is the new kid on the block. More and more Internet publishers are looking for cheap but original health content to boost their search engine rankings. If you can build quick short health articles around key words, you can make a tidy income. The trick is not to spend too much time on each piece. Keep in mind the quality and fact-checking that you can expect from national magazine publishers is unheard of with this type of writing.

In future posts, I’ll go into more detail on these, but this will give you an idea of what’s not only possible but probable.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

Pitching the big pubs first

**If  you’re new here, start with: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers for all the basics of becoming a freelance writer for magazines with health, fitness, and nutrition, articles. ***

One of the questions health writers ask when they’re just starting out is how long to wait before they can pitch their health article ideas to the big nationals. The answer is do it now.

That doesn’t mean you should pitch a publication like Family Circle, Prevention, or Reader’s Digest and then wait for the phone to ring. You may get your first articles published in much smaller magazines first. But then again, you may hit on the perfect idea and the perfect editor who will assign it to you straight-away. This has happened more times than you might think. Particularly with health and medical articles, if you bring some inside knowledge, some professional or personal experience with the topic of your query, all the better. This will help make up for any lack of writing cred.

An informal poll taken among working writers found that the best approach is to send queries out to your ideal markets, then send them to your tier-two markets, and then move them down the line. If you always have a half dozen or more ideas circulating, something will surely stick. Of course, you’ll retool each query before resending to the next market, but the hard work is done. You want to pitch the big publications first, just in case they bite. Then if/when they don’t, you’ll be happy to hear from the nice editor at another publication. The article you produce will make a fine sample to show Mr. Big editor and that dream magazine that you do have writing cred.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

Magazine interviews in your spare time

**Interested in becoming a freelance writer for magazines with health, fitness, and nutrition, articles? start with: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers. ***

If you’re writing part time around another full-time job, one of the questions that comes up is how to schedule interviews for your health stories. Everything else you need to do — research, write, edit — can be done in your spare time. But how do you schedule interviews while you’re at the office?

This is a challenge, but not as big as you might think. Health writers typically interview three kinds of people for stories.

1. Experts — the MDs, PhDs, and others with letters after their names. Most of your interviews will fall into this category. These people tend to have tight schedules. But they are often willing or even happy to speak early in the morning before work, on their lunch break, or after work. Just give them plenty of time to pencil in your 10-20 minute interview.
2. “Real People” — the nonexperts you use as anecdotal leads or to illustrate a particular health condition. These are the second most common interviews health writers do. The good news here is that these people almost always prefer to speak on the weekends or after hours.
3. Associations and corporations. Whether it’s the American Heart Association, or a corporation that makes healthy dog food, these people are the ones you’ll need to speak with during office hours. The good news is that most of your articles won’t need these people to weigh in. When you do need them, the interviews tend to be short. You’ll probably only need a quote or two. Sometimes you can even email the questions and get an email back, or can schedule a quick follow-up call on your break.

For all types of interviews, consider where the interviewees live. If you’re writing an article for a national audience, you can schedule the interview during office hours on the other side of the country when you’re off work. The trick to make all of this work is to schedule your interviews as soon as you get the assignment. That will give you the wiggle room you need to work around everyone’s schedule.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

A note about revise notes (from editors)

After you email your story to the editor, don’t be discouraged if the editor asks to change a few things around. Although it’s nice when you can just turn in your article and get paid for it, most features go through at least one set of revise notes.

When your editor calls or emails with questions and requests, think twice before arguing. Don’t fall so in love with your article that you lose flexibility. After all, it’s the magazine’s article, too. Unless the requested changes make the messege incorrect, try to comply and get the changes back to the editor as soon as possible. But when you’re writing about health and topics, you really need to make sure the editorial changes don’t change the meaning. Your editors may know publishing, but they’re probably not medical experts. Even if you’re not either, it’s up you to find out. As one of my medical experts used to say, make sure you’re not inventing medicine.

Even after you’ve answered all the questions and made the requested changes, the editor will often make more changes before it goes to print. Editors do this for lots of reasons. Sometimes the changes add clarity. A good editor will catch inconsistencies of style and actually improve your piece. Although not always the case, this is usually good for you and can be a valuable learning experience. Some editors just want to pee on your piece to make it theirs. Unfortunately, they have the final say.

Sometimes a certain magazine’s style calls for every article to have the same voice, not the voice of individual writers. This can be discouraging to writers who pride themselves on having a great voice and style of their own. A common reason for the changes is to make your piece fit the space available. As writers, we sometimes joke that our articles are just the stuff that keeps the ads from sticking together. These changes will occur at the very last minute, so you may not know until you see it on the newsstands.

Of course, by then you will have already been paid for your work and on to other stories. When I got my first check in the mail for my first article, I wanted to frame it. I still get excited when I get checks in the mail for doing what I love. All writers do.

I think it was Dorothy Parker who said, “The two most beautiful words in the English language are ‘Check Enclosed.’”

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

Great green writing

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Environmental health is a hot topic in magazines and newspapers, not to mention websites and blogs (and commercial writing opportunities abound, but that’s another story). The fairly recent surge in popularity has publishers scrounging around for the best way to package green stories. If you have great ideas on how to do this, your editors will love you.

Stories that sell tend to transform environmental uncertainties into action plans. They help readers make better decisions, or at least know when something is being decided for them. But just because these articles are easy to read doesn’t meant they’re easy to write.  As a writer, you’ll need to explore the details and put them into context-the forest and the trees. That means you’ll have to find out what the chemicals in our environment really mean and be able to quantify them (or get someone else to crunch the numbers). 

Propose your story to magazines specializing not only in health but also travel, in-flight, outdoors, parenting, science, and general interest magazines. (Don’t overlook international or regional reprint markets.) No matter where you pitch them, the best environmental stories result from writers who can understand the science, translate it clearly for the public and not be swayed by PR and advertising. If you can do that, your efforts are desperately needed. Here are some tips to get you started:

Turning Chemicals into Copy

1. Choose your topic and market carefully. The connection between environmental factors and illness and disease offers tons of topics and markets to choose from. You could, for example, write about the controversial subject of cancer clusters. Or, you could write about the connection between the environment and conditions like asthma. You might follow the trail of pesticides banned in the United States, which are consequently sold overseas to farmers–who then export their contaminated fruits and vegetables to American supermarkets.
2. Cast a wide net. Talk to scientists, environmental activists, national, regional or local health departments, government officials, public and private agency specialists, and industrial sources. But ask about vested interests and quality of evidence.
3. Ask if you don’t understand. Even if you think you get it, ask specialists to tell their stories to you in simple language. That will make your quest for clarity easier and, as a bonus, you’ll spot any evasiveness or manipulation you might otherwise miss if you have to decipher jargon. Keep asking the tough questions and don’t let people get away with bad answers.
4. Find the studies. Browse the major journals, pubmed.com, and especially the less prominent publications. See who the researchers are and follow the trail.
5. Strive for clarity. Avoid using the jargon and buzzwords you’re sure to here during your interviews. “Quite often over-used phrases are in fact little understood by the general public,” says Professor Sharon Friedman, director of the Science and Environmental Journalism Program at Lehigh University. “So when someone uses a catchall like ‘health and safety standards,’ ask specifically what these standards are. Likewise with ‘acceptable risk factor.’ Find out exactly which risks are acceptable and why. Never take a turn of phrase at its face value.”
6. Get slightly sciencey. Readers are more engaged when given enough facts so they can turn the problem over in their heads. Even when it’s just basic science, refresh people’s memories so they can better evaluate the issues that some day may be a matter of life and death. Don’t leave out the immediate and future social and economic costs of any alternatives considered. Also, if you come across any ideas for illustrating your stories with graphics, tables and diagrams, pass them along to your editor.
7. Write for your neighbors. Even when the science is technical, don’t write like you’re covering science for industry or peer reviewed journals. Keep the language simple. You don’t have to talk down to readers to make the currents of scientific opinion accessible.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

Hint # 12 Favor fact checkers

MAGAZINE HEALTH WRITING BASIC 12 part – 10

When you write for top national magazines, your article will not only have to pass muster with a committee of editors, it will be combed over and vetted by someone called a fact checker. You’ll need to provide footnotes or endnotes (my favorite), preferably in a second document. (Ask your editor when she wants this document sent.)

Even the simplest health story can test a writer’s mettle for accurate reporting. Health “facts” can be so capricious, with trusted sources contradicting one another and even the strongest expert opinions changing with new information. That makes old news and misinterpreted research results as easy to pass along as a high school rumor. So really, the fact checkers are your friends. Also, editors like assigning articles to writers who make their fact-checkers’ jobs easier.

Curious to know how your articles rate with fact checkers? Here’s a test to find out:

Fact Checkers’ Popularity Test
(Hint: answer yes to everything)

1. Do you use primary research instead of settling for what you read in other people’s articles, even credible information from national publications?
2. Do you question secondhand quotes (even the ones you believe to be common knowledge), and look for additional information to back up controversial quotes from expert interviews?
3. Do you use summaries of studies appearing in books, other magazines, or newspapers ONLY as background information, not as primary sources?
4. If you do find studies or research quoted in other people’s stories that seem perfect for your article, do you get copies of the actual studies or abstracts and/or the researchers’ phone numbers to give to the editor?
5. When you talk with experts, do you confirm the spelling of names, titles, degrees, and other credentials?
6. Do you prepare interview sources for the probability that someone from the magazine may contact them during the fact-checking process?
7. Do you let editors know of any potentially difficult situations or special instructions regarding sources?
8. Are you careful to let editors know whether experts you’ve interviewed about a product have financial interests in the products or companies producing them?
9. Do you make a fully annotated version of each article indicating where all information came from with phone numbers for all sources?
10. Do you send copies of backup material with your completed manuscript?

Eight out of ten “yes” answers will please fact checkers and encourage future assignments from happy editors. The extra credit you’ll get for all ten “yes” answers is a loyal fan club of readers who trust your byline wherever they see it. Not a bad bonus for a little due diligence.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

[See the full list of 12 hints here: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers]

Hint #11 Health writing risks

MAGAZINE HEALTH WRITING BASIC 12 part – 10

Many articles you’ll be asked to write prescribe some course of action. You may suggest readers  eat certain foods, practice certain exercises, or ask consider specific treatments or medications. I recommend not doing this lightly. Here’s why:

When health risks are involved in a medical treatment or method of prevention–and they often are–readers need to hear about them, and not just from the fine print or fast talk in advertisements. Not explaining the risks to readers can be risky business for writers. Health writers can mislead millions of readers by leaving this important information out.

In medicine, risk is a statistical concept–a story told in numbers rather than words. People’s perception of many risks is often based on anecdotal evidence and emotional factors not reflected in fact. They need explanations to help them understand the numbers, so they can gauge the likelihood of side effects to a treatment, the risk of exposure to an environmental hazard, the risk of continuing or quitting certain habits or behaviors.

When you’re writing about a drug, a screening technique, or anything with a side effect that could pose a risk, consider these seven suggestions:

1. Try to present the risk in context. Show the big picture, so readers can see where the details fit.
2. Explain what the clinical evidence really shows–whether it’s fact, or promising but still only educated opinion.
3. Decide whether a risk needs emphasizing or de-emphasizing, taking into account possible overreactions.
4. Distinguish between absolute and relative risk and show the difference in impact.
5. Help readers weigh the risks against the benefits.
6. Acknowledge and refute popular misconceptions.
7. Whenever possible, include ways to reduce the risk.

Of course, your editors might edit out all you careful caveats. But at least you won’t insert something misleading. The point is that without the accurate reporting of risks, readers won’t have a chance of understanding health information in perspective. But if your articles help them balance the pros of treatments or therapies with the cons of possible complications, side effects, drug interactions or significant failure rates, your work will be safer for all concerned.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

[See the full list of 12 hints here: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers]

Hint #10 Great beginnings

MAGAZINE HEALTH WRITING BASIC 12 part – 10

Award-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez said one of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. “I have spent many months on a first paragraph and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily,” he explained. Of course, we’re not writing Marquez literary novels, nor do we have the luxury to spend a year on a first paragraph. Still, writing that first paragraph can really stump a writer.

The lead paragraph invites readers into your article, so you want to get it right. One way to write a lead is to start with an anecdote, i.e., tell the reader a little story that suggests something about the bigger point your article makes. Lately I’ve noticed a lot of health editors wanting this kind of lead. I think that’s because a recent reader poll said readers like this. Your editor might even suggest a “real people” lead. The story isn’t about them, really, but telling their story briefly in the lead gives a clinical health topic a human face. You could also lead off with an observation, an intriguing statement, or a question.

Some writers say you need to grab readers by the throat. That works, too, although I think it can come across heavy-handed. If your article is tightly organized and logical, and the pace, and expression are in harmony, then your lead doesn’t have to do all the lifting.

If your first paragraph still isn’t coming, don’t let it block you. Go ahead and write the middle and even the ending, and come back to it later. I often find the lead comes when I’m writing the ending. Ever notice how many article endings refer back to something mentioned at the beginning? I bet those writers do it the same way. As a reader, I find it equally satisfying.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

[See the full list of 12 hints here: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers]

Hint #9 Simplify structure

MAGAZINE HEALTH WRITING BASIC 12 part – 9

Some writers see an article’s ideal form the way Michelangelo saw art in a block of marble.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” ~Michelangelo

For others, the worst part of the job is after they’ve gathered all the research and interviewed all the sources. They sit at the keyboard wondering how they’re going to squeeze this mass of unformed marble into 1,000 words or less. If that’s you, don’t think so hard. Structure is really less about art and more about mechanics. Be prepared to chisel away.

The structure your article needs depends less on your personal style or subject matter and more on where it’s going. Take a closer look at the magazine or website you’re writing for and you’ll see its preferred form and structure for various departments. Some like a brief intro followed by bullet lists. Some like a long intro that explains why the reader needs the information to follow. The editor will expect you to organize your piece in the same mold.

It’s really that simple.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

[See the full list of 12 hints here: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers]

Hint #8 Ace expert interviews

MAGAZINE HEALTH WRITING BASIC 12 part – 8

Interviewing experts and using quotes to back up what you say will give your health article credibility with both editors and readers. You may hold strong opinions and know the subject you’re writing about, but good sources add depth and dimension to your piece. Even if  you’re a health or medical professional writing about your own specialty, it never hurts to quote other experts or just speak with them to uncover information that may help validate your statements.

If you don’t have a health or medical background, quoting or paraphrasing health experts is essential. Two or three interviews may be enough for a short piece (500 words or less). Six or seven  interviews or more  is typical for in-depth articles or features. Read a few articles of the same length and style in the publication you’re writing for to see what kind and how many expert sources they prefer. If you’re still not sure, ask your editor.

Do your research and plan your questions before the interview. Don’t just call an oncologist and say, ‘What’s going on in breast cancer?’ But do call or email in advance to set up the interview time because top experts are crazy busy. You don’t want to miss a deadline because you had an expert reschedule at the last minute.

If you’re writing an article for a national or international audience, select sources from different locations. Get a good digital voice recorder that plugs into your phone for recording (through a Radio Shack device) and plugs into your computer for transcribing.

Six tips to loosen lips

Great experts can make or break a health feature. But sometimes all you get is stock answers, jargon, or generalizations. When your article absolutely depends on expert input, try these strategies:

1. Put the expert at ease. The more an interviewee understands the nature of your call, the less suspicious and more forthcoming he will be.
2. Set the direction, but let the expert do the talking. If you jump in with your own opinions you’ll miss some good quotes, and you can’t quote yourself.
3. Listen with an open mind. Start with a set of informed questions. But be flexible if something better comes up–it could change your article for the better.
4. Ask more “why” questions than “what.” This will encourage explanations. If the expert won’t stop generalizing, take notes anyway. Then pick something and ask him to elaborate. When the interviewee says something important, slow him down so you can get all the details in context and in perspective. You want pithy quotes and pearls of wisdom, not just a bunch of facts.
5. Wrap up with a review. Go back over your notes with the person you’re interviewing so he can fill in gaps and give more information.
6. Ask what you didn’t ask. Make a habit of asking every interviewee if you’ve left anything out that might interest readers. The expert may be aware of something percolating in the field that you didn’t know to ask.

Happy Health Writing,

Kathy Summers

[See the full list of 12 hints here: 12 Hints for Magazine Health Writers]

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