Jot down a list of every category of topics in which you speak the language, are an expert, know an expert, have an insatiable desire to learn more about, or enjoy as a hobby. The list below comes from the The Writer’s Market. Under each category of topics, The Writer’s Market lists the publications that buy articles on these topics. Use the following list to jog your memory.
- Advertising, marketing, and PR
- Animals
- Architecture
- Art, design, and collectibles
- Astrology, Metaphysics, New Age
- Automotive and motorcycle
- Aviation and space
- Beauty and salon
- Business and finance
- Business and management
- Career, College, and Alumni
- Child care and Parenting
- Church administration and ministry
- Clothing
- Confectionery and snack foods
- Construction and contracting
- Consumer Service
- Contemporary culture
- Detective and crime
- Disabilities
- Drugs, healthcare & medical products
- Education and counseling
- Electronics and communication
- Energy and utilities
- Engineering and technology
- Entertainment
- Ethnic and minority
- Farming
- Finance
- Fishing
- Florists, nurseries, and landscapers
- Food and drink
- Games and puzzles
- Government & public service
- Health and fitness
- History
- Hobby and craft
- Home and garden
- Home furnishings and household goods
- Hospitals, nursing homes, and nursing
- Hotels, motels, clubs, resorts
- Humor
- Inflight (magazines for frequent flyers)
- Information systems
- Insurance
- Jewelry
- Journalism and writing
- Juvenile
- Law
- Literary and Little
- Machinery and metal
- Maintenance and safety
- Management and supervision
- Marine and maritime industries
- Medical
- Men’s
- Military
- Music
- Mystery
- Nature, Conservation, and ecology
- Office equipment
- Personal computers
- Pets
- Photography
- Plumbing, heating, and Air conditioning
- Printing
- Politics and world affairs
- Psychology and self-improvement
- Real estate
- Regional
- Relationships
- Religious
- Resources and water reduction
- Retirement
- Romance and confession
- Rural
- Science
- Science fiction, fantasy and horror
- Selling and merchandising
- Sex
- Sports
- Sport trade
- Stone, quarry, and mining
- Teen and young adult
- Toy, novelty, and hobby
- Transportation
- Travel, camping, and trailer
- Women’s
Have your list in hand? Okay. Here you go. The top 10 most profitable topics to write about are:
- Business and finance
- Diet and nutrition
- Essays
- Fitness and sports
- Health
- Home and garden
- Parenting
- Profiles and true-life features
- Technology and science
- Travel
Do not despair if your list doesn’t match the top ten! See how you can relate your list of topics to the top ten. Tie in your knowledge base with the big selling topics.
Create Your Niche
Let’s say you checked off MUSIC as a topic. What do you know about music and fitness? Or music and technology? The business of music? Profiles of musicians? Music as therapy? The best music for working out? Because MUSIC is not one of the most profitable topics—you can be the go-to expert more quickly. Tie music to one of the most profitable topics to catch the editor’s interest and present material from a fresh perspective.
When I took up flying, I started subscribing to aviation magazines. The more I read, the more I realized there were few articles written by women or written from a woman’s perspective. After publishing my first article in an aviation magazine, editors started calling me. Only six percent of pilots are women. As a woman in a male-dominated field, I became something of a novelty. I have since come to know the other women writers in aviation and we each have our distinctive style. Mine is humor, but I have also been called upon for straight reporting work. A few examples of my aviation writing are found on the General Aviation News website. Other examples are also on this website.
Writing about a hobby and making money doing it is unfettered joy! I even published an essay about the fun of writing about what you love in an essay titled “Call Me.”
So, what would you LOVE to write about? Brainstorm your topics with tie-ins to the most popular topics editors buy. Work can be fun. Make it so.
Read more about writing for magazines or paid blogs:
Types of Articles
Finding Your Writing Topics (Your Niche)
What You Need to Know to Write for Publications
Interviewing Sources (Experts) for Articles
Queries and Writer's Guidelines
