Columns: The Pillars of Every Periodical

Even if you’re great at landing pitches for feature stories, wouldn’t it be sweet if one pitch turned into a contract for six stories? Or 12, or 18?

Sound impossible? Not if you’re pitching a column that would appear in every issue of a magazine for the next two or three years. Editors at local publications and websites are also hungry for columnists.

In the last century, I had columns in three local newspapers. In this century, I’ve had multi-year columns in five national magazines and one website: , , , , , and . Right now, I have columns in the last three outlets. But I’m always banking against losing a column—which happens when I run out of things to say or when a periodical runs