Any newspaper/magazine columnists here?

Cafe Society
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Do we have any current or former newspaper or magazine columnists here? Tell me about your gig! What do/did you write about, how often, how many words, and for what sort of publication? Do/did you get paid or is/was it a volunteer gig? How do/did you come up with ideas for your columns? How far in advance of publication do/did you start working on them and submit them? How many articles do/did you have in the pipeline at any given time? How long have/had you been writing the column? Did you originate the column or did you take over from a previous columnist? How did you land the job in the first place? If you’re no longer writing the column, why is that?

Pinging @Broomstick as he’s the only member (besides the blindingly obvious one) who I vaguely remember mentioning some column-writing experience.

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[Lurch voice] You rang…? [/Lurch voice]

Yes, back at the Dawn of the 21st Century I have a brief (18 month) gig as a columnist in a very, very, very, very small magazine catering to the ultralight flying crowd. The magazine (this was a physical object, not on-line) came out every two months.

Initially I’d been sharing some flying adventures with friends on an e-mail group (remember those?) and somebody, under the mistaken assumption that anything on line was free game, downloaded and sold it to the magazine claiming it to be his. Which it wasn’t. I was MOST surprised when people started congratulating me on being published, as I had not submitted anything to anyone. I mean, this guy had used MY internet handle claiming it was his!

This led to me calling the magazine and saying it was great they loved my story so much they were willing to print it, but there was just one problem.

“What’s that?” asked the editor

“I’m not the one who sent it to you.”

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end followed by a tiny “oh shit”, because the editor knew this could be a BIG mess. By that time I and several other people had figured out the plagiarist had lied, people were able vouch for me (and apparently a couple rage-called the editor), and we came to an agreement. The magazine would pay me what they paid the lying thief, the following issue print a correction saying “oops, we goofed”, and, since they liked what I wrote, take my subsequent submissions and continue to pay me. Which worked out pretty well in the end.

So yes, I got paid.

Oh, and the lying plagiarist’s name was mud in what was then a small community. Apparently his own flying club kicked him out.

I tried to stay a submission or two ahead of the game, and after I submitted an article it would be at least two months before it would see print.

As it was about my flying adventures yes, I originated the column.

I stopped writing the column when I ran out of exciting adventures to relate. You see, I try to keep the flying UNeventful, and I could only afford to fly so much, and eventually I ran out of stories. So I called the editor and said I was, essentially, out of ideas but if I had more in the future I would let him know.

I did have more adventures, but by that time I was flying as a private pilot so it didn’t really fit the motif of my old magazine. Then they went out of business.

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I wrote a weekly chess column for a regional newspaper in the UK. :sunglasses:
Typically it was a chess diagram and about 150 words (including chess moves relevant to the diagram.)
They paid me £60 per column in the late 1980s (about £150 in todays value.)
I played for a top chess club, so used instructive positions from my own games (or those of team-mates.)
I usually had one or two columns ready in advance.
It was a new paper, so I was the original columnist.
I was well-known in the chess world.
It lasted a year or so, then they apologised and said the paper needed to make economies.

P.S. I enjoyed doing it because:

  • I had been teaching chess for decades, so knew what I was doing
  • the money was welcome :wink:
  • I liked seeing my name in print
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Thanks for sharing your stories, @Broomstick and @glee! It’s interesting (for me, anyway) to know how people get into these jobs and what their experiences are.

And @glee, do/did you know anyone from the British Chess Variants Society?

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To be honest, I’d never heard of it! :astonished:
I looked at the (defunct) website and there are a couple of people that I’ve met briefly.

I have played Kriegspiel and Madrasi chess variants, but I have far more contacts with chess problem solving (see BRITISH CHESS PROBLEM SOCIETY (theproblemist.org) )