52 books in 52 weeks: Writing for Magazines – the essential guide

I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 10.

Writing for Magazines – the essential guide by Diana Cambridge is, I feel, punching above its weight calling itself an essential guide.

Granted, there’s some useful information, but – in my opinion – there are better guides out there, including two of the author’s own: How to Write for Magazines – in one weekend and How to Write Travel Articles – in one weekend.

This essential guide actually reads more like a lecturer’s notes. I can imagine someone standing at the front of a room reciting much of the information, much of which is available in many, many other places too. There is no opportunity to pause and reflect; no opportunity to try out what the reader has just learned.

Ten chapters cover the basics of writing for magazines without actually giving much practical advice, and then the final section is a FAQ section that could have been lifted from several of the author’s help columns in a writing magazine.

If you want good, practical, write-along exercises that get you actually writing for magazines, then choose one of the author’s other books – it’s a pity that neither has been recently updated or included as an ebook. But if you just want to have a read, and then put it down and move on to the next one, it might be useful to you.

Writing for Magazines – the essential guide by Diana Cambridge is available on Kindle for £4.64 (or $5.81) and in paperback for £9.99 (or $12.58).