How to Write Articles for News/Mags, 2/e (Arco How to Write Articles for Newspapers & Magazines) [Paperback]

Arco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2002 | ISBN-10: 076891079X | ISBN-13: 978-0768910797 | Edition: Original

A professional journalist shows students how to write hard-hitting news stories and attention-getting feature articles for newspapers and magazines.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Arco; Original edition (June 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076891079X
• ISBN-13: 978-0768910797
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DAWN SOVA is a strong opponent of censorship in its many forms and has authored Banned Plays, Forbidden Films, Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds, and Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds. Third editions of the latter two books are in progress. She has felt honored to speak on the topic to both library associations and private groups.

She was born in northern New Jersey in 1949 to first-generation Americans of Eastern European descent whose parents came through Ellis Island with great hopes and dreams for the future. Economic disadvantage limited her parents' access to education, but they empowered their daughter to strive and to earn several advanced academic degrees. She taught writing, journalism, and literature for over two decades at both the high school and university level.

More important, their influence propelled her to dream beyond the boundaries of their working class neighborhood. She is the author of 23 books. In 2002, she won the Mystery Writers of America Award for Best Non-fiction Work for her 20th book Edgar Allan Poe A-to-Z. She was nominated by the MWA in the same category several years earlier for her work on Agatha Christie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Handbook For Amateurs or Professionals, September 2, 2000

By 

A.L.A. (Laguna Niguel, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines (Arco's Concise Writing Guides) (Paperback)

How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines, is an excellent book for any writer who is beginning a career in journalism, or for a writer who just wants to hone his/her skills. It goes over virtually everything that is needed to know when writing articles for newspapers and magazines. From getting ideas, to improving your interviewing, writing query letters, and learning to write leads, it also explains the differences between hard news, and soft news, and how to write leads for them. If you are searching for a book that will ameliorate your writing, background researching, and much more, look no further. It is truly a good book for improving your journalistic writing skills.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little powerhouse full of great instruction for writers!, July 11, 2001

By 

Mary Chrapliwy (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines (Arco's Concise Writing Guides) (Paperback)

I picked this little (113 page book) up at the library and thought it might be of passing interest. I never thought such a little book could be packed with so much great information! I started out reading this book with a little post-it note pad next to me, figuring I would put a couple little notes on a few interesting pages, make some notes, then be done with the book. Well, now the book has a million little post-it notes in it and I think it's time to buy my own copy! Here are few chapter headings: Getting started (generating ideas & focusing on the subject), gathering information (fact vs. opinion, observation, interview, etc.), writing the effective article lead ...there are 10 useful chapters in all. They are written clearly and to the point -- no fluff here to fill in pages. One truly useful item in the book is a sample query letter (for an article). This is a great little book! Now I think I'll buy my own copy -- maybe you should too!

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Another book with inflated amazon.com reviews, March 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Write Articles for News/Mags, 2/e (Arco How to Write Articles for Newspapers & Magazines) (Paperback)

This book isn't terrible, but it's hardly authoritative. It's a straight rehashing of the basics of newswriting, no doubt taken mostly from journalism textbooks. The advice isn't bad, but it's given with little flair, and the writing examples (from the author's own clips) are dull and uninspiring.

It's like an extended high school report -- the author is obviously not an expert on the subject, and she pieced together information from better books to make this one. But even on those terms, the book doesn't succeed, because the advice is spotty and unconvincing.