Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[lostin1800]

I might be mistaken, but it seems to me that 'He freelances for People Magazine' would mean the magazine usually accepts his articles. If some guy sends his writing to a magazine and is totally unsure whether the magazine will use his writing, can we say he freelances for the magazine?

Do magazines 'accept' or 'adopt' articles submitted to them?

Thanks.

[Anuradha Chepur]

If he freelances for a magazine, it means he is not employed with them;
he submits articles whenever he wants to and gets paid for them.

We usually say "he is a freelance writer" and a freelance writer may write for more than one magazine. Magazines do have the choice to not publish articles submitted by freelancers and freelancers may have some of their articles rejected. But generally freelance writers write well (which is why they can work on their own terms) and their articles are moslty welcome by the magazines they write for.

Magazines can accept and publish articles submitted to them.