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Trade writing is one of the most inexpensive hobbies you can pursue. All you need are ideas and paper to put them on . . . and the "trades" will pay as high as $100 for a well-written piece.

I've been cashing trade journal checks for more than ten years and making a living at it. I'll let you in on a few of my secrets in a vocation that started as my hobby.

Basically, the trade journal article is a story to inform the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker "how to." How to increase sales, how to cut costs, how to have good labor relations, how to improve products, how to advertise and how to solve other problems common to his trade. The trade magazines also buy oddities, fillers, success and hobby stories, but their chief function is to supply information to members of the trade which will help them make their businesses more profitable.

To become a trade journalist all you do is seek out the butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, druggists, grocers and other tradesmen who have unusual stories to tell, and write them up. Unusual stories are not limited to big business; therefore, you can write trade journal articles no matter where you live. The first articles I ever sold were written about a jeweler and a painter in a town of barely 3,500 population.

THE CRITERIA used by editors in judging the worth of a trade story are: "Is it unusual? Is it informative? Will it help others in the trade?"

Keep these questions in mind when looking for ideas. And where do you get ideas? By reading newspapers and magazines (including the advertisements), listening to the radio and TV (especially the commercials), talking to tradesmen from whom you buy, getting acquainted with officers of trade associations, and by keeping your eyes and ears open and your "nose for news" twitching.

For beginners, it's a good plan to follow the old axiom of the writing profession: "Write about what you know best." So, if you are a grocery clerk, radio repairman, insurance salesman, nurse, secretary, write about your own line of work.

"The Writer's Market" (available in most libraries) lists fields in over seventy categories with more than 1,100 magazines, ranging from advertising to tobacconist trade papers. Your own field is in there somewhere; write a story for one of its journals.

Here's how! First, find a suitable subject and obtain sufficient facts to enable you to write a brief outline of what your intended story will cover. Second, send your outline, with a query as to his interest, to the editor of a magazine covering the field in which your subject is engaged.

Third, (if you get an assignment from an editor) interview the person or persons who can give you the complete facts needed for your article. Fourth, write the story, presenting your facts in an interesting and orderly manner.

Want a typical example? Here's one about the proverbial baker. One of my friends is a store manager for a Los Angeles baking firm. She frequently gives me the house organ published for her company's employees. By reading the magazine, I learned how the company is outstanding in providing good working conditions, good pay, recreational activities, employee benefits of various kinds, and in taking a genuine interest in the welfare of its "co-workers," as employees are called.

I recognized this company's "good neighbor" as well as "good labor" policy as meat for a story. A query outlining my idea and the treatment I intended using was shot off to a baker's journal.

An assignment was forthcoming and I got in touch with the public relations director of the baking company. In an interview, he gave me facts, figures and anecdotes, obtained a statement from the president of the company and arranged for interviews with the personnel director and other executives. From workers I got the employees' side of the picture.

At the typewriter, my first problem was to get a "lead," or opening paragraph. A "lead" should have a "hook," which in writing parlance means a line that "hooks" the reader's interest and gets him into the story.

Switches on well-known phrases usually catch a reader's eye, so I paraphrased an adage for my opening line, as follows: "To paraphrase an old adage . . . it takes two to make a business—labor and management,"

I then went on to tell how labor relations at the Van de Kamp Baking Company of Los Angeles were a "family affair," with contributions being made by both labor and management. I backed up my statements with specific facts, called the article "Family Affair" and it sold to Bakers' Helper for $85.

THE BEGINNING of another story, which I did for a dry cleaners' trade paper, was a tip from one of my "pipelines." A pipeline in reporter's slang is a news source. Every trade writer should develop them.

My source for the tip was a man in the cleaning field who tipped me that Kirk's Cleaners of Los Angeles were doing an unusual job of cleaning and refinishing flying suits for the army. The informant knew enough about the plant to give me a basis for an outline and I queried an editor I thought would be interested.

My query brought a "go ahead" to me at my Burbank, California, home and an interview was arranged with owner, C. K. Kirkpatrick. An hour was first spent in his office getting overall background on the firm's operational methods.

After a thorough briefing, which included inspection of forms and paper work, explanation of routing system and description of machinery and chemicals used, Mr. Kirkpatrick personally conducted me on a tour of the plant. Step by step, we went through the entire process from reception of the garments to final loading for delivery. Copious notes had to be taken due to the highly technical process involved.

I also plied Mr. Kirkpatrick with questions which he answered in specific detail, being as eager as myself that the completed story be factually correct. He also encouraged his employees to volunteer information and each individual operation was personally demonstrated for me so that I would be able to describe it accurately.

This was the first stage of the story. The second was writing it, and this consisted mostly of organizing my voluminous factual information and presenting it in an interesting way. Due to my attention to detail and Mr. Kirkpatrick's splendid cooperation the story practically wrote itself and when submitted for his approval required only two slight changes.

We then called in a commercial photographer and photographed the major points of the plant's process in action. Employees were photographed actually doing their individual jobs, with the camera in close to make the action visual.

When prints were obtained, Mr. Kirkpatrick personally aided me in writing identifying captions for the photos. These, by the way, were typed on small pieces of paper and pasted to the backs of the photos.

The story was titled "Ground Crew for Flying Suits," and sold to the American Dry Cleaner, which used it as a lead article. I am sure the cooperation given me was due to my sincere interest in the job Kirk's were doing and the desire to present it accurately for publication.

SINCERITY, I feel, is the trade journalist's crowning virtue. It pays off where superficiality only kills a story. I know, because sincerity got me into an army fortress at the height of the last war.

The story started with a market note in a writer's magazine asking for articles on army post exchanges and ship's stores. The nearest major army installation to me was Fort MacArthur, where even the President couldn't get in without cutting a mile of red tape.

A courteous and explicit letter stating my business, written to the public relations officer of the post, got me a tentative interview. On the day of my appointment, an armed guard in a jeep escorted me to press headquarters for inspection of my credentials and an inquisition into my background.

My sincerity obviously impressed the press officer that I was a good security risk, for he sent me on to the post exchange for my interview, exacting only a promise that I would submit my copy for approval before publication.

I talked for a considerable time with Lieut. J. R. Christiansen, exchange officer, who minutely explained procedures to me, showed me data sheets and gave me a general picture of the set-up of the MacArthur exchange. The dry facts were enlivened with some amusing anecdotes typical of army humor which served to illustrate various points of the story as well as brighten it.

In my questions to Lieutenant Christiansen I probed for unusual angles in his operation and was able to turn up some interesting innovations for which he was responsible. This type of questioning is very important in an interview, for many times the subject does not recognize the unusual in his own work, because his familiarity with it makes it common to him. Intelligent questioning can therefore lead the interview in the direction you wish it to go. In the case of the post exchange it was of particular interest to the magazine how wartime problems of expansion were met. Lieutenant Christiansen answered my questions on this subject orally and by showing me cost, production and construction reports.

Then, to my great surprise (remember, California lived in fear of hourly attack at this time), he conducted me on a tour of all the exchange buildings, including the highly-guarded "topside," where the big guns for defense against naval attack were mounted. Naturally nothing secret got into my piece, but the complete look I was given at the exchange service because of the confidence my sincerity engendered, enabled me to do a good story. It sold to Post Exchange and brought a request for more articles.

So no, matter where you get your ideas, develop them with sincerity.

IDEAS, LIKE gold, are where you find them. You can get some of them from radio and television, as I do.

A Los Angeles seed dealer recently went on TV as the sponsor of a garden program. Television seemed to me to be an unusual method of advertising for a seed company. I queried a seed magazine and they agreed.

The head of the advertising agency representing the seed firm gave me all the facts I needed for the story over the telephone. Thus, an idea, a phone call, an hour at the typewriter and 6 cents postage were parlayed into an acceptance by Seed World.

There is also something besides news in the daily papers—ideas for trade journal stories. The unique advertisements of a Burbank, California, jeweler interested me. I sold a story on his advertising and promotion methods to Jeweler's Circular-Keystone. News items I read about a dry cleaner, a jewelry salesman, a baker and a poultry organization were developed into sales to American Dry Cleaner, American Horologist, Bakers' Helper and Poultry Item.

I work the oddity, filler and hobby angle, too. A picture and story on a hardware store in a pumpkin-shaped building sold to Hardware Age. A batch of humorous items about the history of the bathtub, dug out at the library, brought a check from Plumbing and Heating Journal.

Stories on the hobbies of a druggist, and a jeweler, sold to Modern Pharmacy and Community Jeweler. I even found a story in a pile of bricks. A Nebraska brick company had a mason create an American flag of colored bricks. An article and photograph on the firm's unusual method of advertising sold to Brick and Clay Record.

That is what the trade journals want, the unusual, whether it be a success story, "how to" story, filler or hobby article. The editors of trade magazines are so eager to get unusual material that they list their requirements in all the writers' magazines. Many of these editors will even send a writer a detailed outline of the type of material they buy, with instructions on how they want it handled, and information on how much they pay for accepted material.

THE BEST way to work in the trade journal field is by the query method. You save yourself and the editor time and trouble by sending him an outline of your article ideas in advance. An outline is a surer way to a sale.

If the editor likes your outline he will give you an assignment "on speculation." This means you do all the leg work, the writing, the obtaining of photographs, on the speculation that your work will be purchased if found acceptable.

Should you get assignments to write about trades with which you are not familiar, try to inform yourself of their basic principles, at least, before doing your interview. Above all, read several issues of the magazines for which you intend to write.

In the interview let your subject do most of the talking. Tell him the general theme of your story and let him tell you the important facts to be covered. Don't be afraid to ask for explanations of technical terms. If you are courteous and sincerely interested, the person being interviewed will be glad to give you the benefit of his specialized knowledge. When you have completed your story, have him check it for accuracy.

Don't go in with a prepared list of questions and expect to write down the answers verbatim. In fact, make any notes you have to take as unobtrusively as possible. Many people freeze up when they realize what they are saying is being written down for publication. If the interview lags, toss in an intelligent question which will steer the conversation in the direction you want it to go. Try to get interesting anecdotes and "quotable" quotes which will add color to the article and make your subject come alive in the writing.

On your visit also obtain any pamphlets, advertising matter or company literature which will provide you with facts you can use in your story. Get photographs, too, if you can borrow them. Otherwise, make them.

Photographs are a must for trade journal stories. If photography is your hobby you can take them yourself. If not, it is best to have a professional do the job. Or, you might make a deal with a talented hobbyist to work with you "on speculation" and pay him if your story sells.

Most trade journals want eight-by-ten glossies showing action, action that illustrates some of the points in your article. Close-ups should be made where a manual operation is depicted.

All photos should have short captions describing the action and naming the participants, if such names are important. Every name and business title should be checked for spelling and correct use.

THE WRITING of your article is divided into two categories, mechanical and creative. Mechanically, your story should have your name and address in the upper left hand corner of the first page. Your title and by-line should be at least an inch from the top and in the center of the same page. Each successive page should have your name, title of your story and page number at its top. The manuscript should be typewritten on letter-size paper, be double-spaced, with margins at all sides to leave room for editorial directions to the typesetter. It should be submitted flat, with your photos, in a manila envelope stiffened with cardboard fillers to protect the pictures. A similar envelope, with sufficient postage, and your return address, should be enclosed. If you wrote with inspiration a check will come back.

Only you can furnish the creativeness, of course. You must determine what are the most outstanding and interesting facts in your story and present them in a logical manner, under a well chosen title.

A study of trade journals will give you an idea of the writing style employed. Generally, it is reportorial, with no attempt at being literary. Start your article with a "hook," state your case in the first few paragraphs, then build up your story with facts and figures. Give quotes and anecdotes to substantiate your facts. Wind up with a closing paragraph which summarizes the theme of your article and ends with a punch line, containing, if possible, your title.