The "Write" Stuff

About a dozen years ago I figured there had to be way to combine my love of writing with my fascination with computers. So I started writing and calling editors of likely computer publications to see if they ever worked with freelancers.

While pretty ignorant of the etiquette for contacting editors, I did manage to do four things that are still probably good advice:

I was lucky to find an editor willing to give me a chance. Michael Angelo (really) gave me my first assignment for PC Publishing and Presentations Magazine, a review of two document conversion programs. I went on to do additional reviews and eventually had a regular column in the magazine. I also wrote about the desktop publishing revolution for publications like Personal Publishing (which later morphed into Business Publishing), Ventura Professional, and Xerox's Pipleline newsletter.

I parlayed my clips into several years of regular freelance writing assignments for CMP Publications’ excellent Windows Magazine. I continued to focus on computer graphics and design products, but also did a wide variety of hardware and software reviews, covering everything from the advent of cable modems to VRML tools to PC security products.

Over the years I've also written articles for Inside Technology Training Magazine and The Capital District Business Review.

I really enjoyed closely following the birth and evolution of products such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Pagemaker, Macromedia Dreamweaver and CorelDRAW. It was especially exciting because, before the World Wide Web, most people had no easy way to learn about (let alone try) new technology. Monthly magazines and annual trade shows were the conduits for new information, and technology journalists -- even freelancers -- had the equivalent of back-stage passes.

Ironically, in many ways the the Internet made many of these same publications largely irrelevant, by providing an incredibly cheap and easy way for consumers to access information -- documents, white papers, video demonstrations, even software demos -- direct from vendors with no editorial interference. At the same time, hobbyist technology web sites running on shoe-string budgets were popping up everywhere, providing daily doses of news, analysis and detailed reviews and attracting loyal followings (eventually media giant Ziff Davis tried to duplicate the more detailed, enthusiast approach pioneered by sites like Tom's Hardware and Anandtech.com in it's own ExtremeTech.com site).

Windows Magazine was a good example of the trend. CMP discontinued Window Magazine's hardcopy version in favor of an online-only version called Winmag.com, to which I continued to contribute until Winmag's final gasp in 2001.

The Internet, the burst "dot com" bubble, and the always harrowing publishing and advertising markets continue to whittle away the number of technology publications and trade shows.

I still write on an occassional basis, though my current position leaves me very little free time to pursue freelance writing opportunities.

I am a member of the (currently inactive) Computer Press Association, the national organization for technology journalists. Amazingly enough, today there is currently no active national association specifically for computer journalists.

Click on any of the magazine logos below for a list of computer technology articles I’ve written.

winmag.com logo      inside technology training logo

Jim Bell Published Articles

Windows Magazine and Winmag.com | Inside Technology Training | Other Publications

Windows Magazine and Winmag.com

Inside Technology Training Magazine

Other Publications