<p>So, how do you get the opportunity to publish in major newspapers and magazines? Do you have to intern for them? Win really tough competitions? Parent’s contacts?</p>
<p>You can submit query letters proposing a topic and be hired as a free-lance writer. You can also write letters to the editor and just submit them.</p>
<p>You start by writing for your school newspaper or a small community newspaper. You produce well reported, timely articles that you find on your own instead of hoping the paper will hand you an interesting subject to write about. You do this work for free because such publications “pay” by giving you experience.</p>
<p>After you learn how to write and report well, you can try submitting articles to larger publications that may even be able to pay you.</p>
<p>Read “Writers’ Market,” available in the reference section of most libraries, for more info.</p>
<p>Submitting query letters won’t get you far. Even small publications aren’t going to accept an article based only on a query from an inexperienced writer.</p>
<p>Try for submissions to magazines that are for young people. My daughter has been published in three national magazines - two for young teens. It’s not TIME, but it counts.</p>