Do you actually read your articles once they’ve been published?
I always remember a journalist telling me she didn’t bother to read her features once they appeared in print or online. “I’ve done the work, they’ve paid me and I’ve moved on to the next article” was the general gist.
This surprised me – I always read my own work for a variety of reasons. For a start, it’s just nice to view the finished article on the page. More importantly, it’s good to see what an editor has done with it. Have they rewritten the intro? Have they changed the structure? Have they cut some parts out and if so, which? Have they left it pretty much as you wrote it? If so, give yourself a big pat on the back!
Seeing how your work is edited is very important. If you want to write for them again – and why wouldn’t you? – you can get an idea of how to make it better.
If you don’t want to buy a copy of a magazine because it’s expensive, it’s always worth asking the commissioning editor if they can send you a PDF.
