Blog by Toby Welch

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All Your Eggs in One Basket



When I started freelance writing for magazines and newspapers over a decade ago, LS was one of the few magazines that took a chance on me in my first year. The editor at that time, Jack, was fabulous and inspired me to be an even greater writer. 

I wrote for almost every issue in the following years until a new editor took over, Carole. I was nervous at first about the change. Jack had been so amazing and we've all heard stories of new editors taking over at magazines and wanting to bring in their own writers and change things up. But I shouldn't have wasted a minute worrying. Carole was as awesome as Jack and in the years since she took over, I continued contributing an article to almost every issue. Both editors were a dream to work with; open to ideas, not demanding, and paid me promptly. 

Last week I called Carole to see about ideas for the next issue and found out that due to low subscription numbers, LS will no longer be published. My heart sank. It was a bittersweet farewell that Carole and I shared and in the days since then, I've been suffering a mild case of shock. 

I looked back at my history with the magazine. The first piece of mine they published was in December 2003 and I have had full-length articles published in every issue since 2003 except for six. That realization left me stunned. I have always written for a number of outlets so if one folds, my income stream isn't crippled; that wasn't the issue. LS was one of my top three favourites to write for and it feels painful to lose it, if one could say that it was mine to lose. I'm in the midst of a weird writing mourning period, as crazy as that sounds. 

All that said, learn from my experience. Don't have one main writing client, have many. If a magazine goes under, a newspaper slashes its budget, a client passes away, or your publisher moves to only publishing erotic horror books with a sci-fi twist, you'll be glad you have many eggs in your writing basket.