Naveed Saleh - The Complete Guide to Article Writing: How to Write Successful Articles for Online and Print Markets

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO ARTICLE WRITING. Copyright 2013 by Naveed Saleh. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writers Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

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Edited by Rachel Randall
Cover designed by Claudean Wheeler
Interior designed by Amanda Kleiman
Production coordinated by Debbie Thomas

For DadI miss you.

Many people helped me write this book, and Im eternally grateful for the help I received. Here is a partial list: my mentor, Dr. Barbara Gastel; my guardian angel, Mrs. Loretta Robichaud; my editor at Writers Digest Books, Rachel Randall; my mother, Maliheh; my brother, Fareed; and my wife, Georgia. I would also like to mention Dr. David E. Sumner for his selfless participation. Finally, I want to thank my kids, Zain, Zaid, and Zachary, for inspiring me and keeping quiet while I worked.

Naveed Saleh is a full-time freelance writer and editor. Naveed attained a bachelors degree from Cornell University, a medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a masters degree in science and technology journalism (with an informal concentration in psychology) from Texas A&M University. He has written numerous features for publications, including The New Physician, Pregnancy Magazine, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Medical Letter: Health After 50, and Science Editor. Hes also an expert blogger at Psychology Today. Naveed won a 2010 Apex Award for a feature titled Dont Mess with TCOM. In his spare time, Naveed likes to play golf, design websites, collect pens, paint in oils, walk along the beach, watch movies, listen to music, and spend time with his wife and kids.

See one, do one, teach one. Such was the mantra in medical school. And it is a tradition that Naveed Saleh carries forwardwith substance, style, and much successin The Complete Guide to Article Writing: How to Write Successful Articles for Online and Print Markets.

I have known Naveed since 2008, when he applied to the science journalism graduate program that I coordinate at Texas A&M University. Like me, Naveed is a medical-school graduate whose greatest interests turned out to be writing and editing. The abilities and commitment that Naveed showed in our program have helped enable him to produce a valuable book.

The Complete Guide to Article Writing makes me proud to know Naveed and to have contributed to his education. The book is extensively researched and draws on popular and scholarly literature and on interviews with leaders in academia and the media. It is timeless and also timely, containing both classic advice on writing and current guidance on working in online media. Abundant examples illustrate points. The prose is crisp, readable, witty in places, and sometimes edgy. There is an extensive bibliography. In short, the book not only tells how to write successful articles but also demonstrates the craft.

See one, do one, teach one. In the years since I first met Naveed Saleh, he has seen much good writing in both classes and on his own. He also has done much good writing for magazines and the Web. And now, through the current book, he is teaching others to do so. I enjoyed this book, learned from it, and will recommend it to students. I recommend it to you as well.

Barbara Gastel

Its hard to write a book about article writingand more generally journalismat this juncture in time. You may expect this book to amount to a survey. But how do you survey a field thats in flux? Newspapers are folding, journalists are losing their jobs, and news that once cost money is freely available on the Internet.

Its clear that what worked in the past wont work in the future. Old journalism is not only old but dated, too. In order to survive, the journalist of today must understand and champion new media. The Internet, blogs, social media, and smartphone journalism is the vocabulary of our new Lingua Franca. The journalist of today must be just as concerned with learning style and structure as he is with learning to design websites and build a strong Twitter following. Even if you just want to write articles, you must cultivate various other skills in order to make this dream a reality.

But for those who have the stomach, skills, integrity, and ingenuity, these are wondrous times. The august institutions of yesteryear have been replaced by a frontier mentality typical of the Wild West. Theres a need for entrepreneurs and iconoclasts. Ideas that grab the attention of readers and generate digital-ad revenue will breed success.

With this book, I hope to teach you everything Ive learned about article writing. Of course, Ill teach you about style, structure, interviewing, narrative, ethics, query letters, platforms, and publication. But Ill also help you understand the history of journalism, its status quo, and its possible future. Anybody who masters the concepts in this book will have a strong understanding of the field. I truly believe this understanding will make you a better writer and help you succeed and see your name in a print or virtual byline.

Please dont skim this book; read it in its entirety, and then use it as a reference.

I want you to know that I consider it a privilege to host you with my words. I strived to ensure that the information in this book is attributable to some great mind. Feel free to regale your friends and classmates with knowledge gathered from this book, and know that it has all been verified. I spent years researching this book and months speaking with experts from national consumer magazines, association magazines, newspapers, universities, and more. I drew on dozens of texts, including the works of Jon Franklin, Roy Peter Clark, William Zinsser, and William E. Blundell. I read many journal articles and studies. I even exploited my own understanding of popular culture, finance, psychology, medicine, and science to make the work more entertaining.