So I got the editor of a national newspaper's weekend magazine to take a feature... better still it was about driving Route 66 in a classic American car. This is a trip I did a year or two back, so the research is done, I have the pics and I even have a rough draft. Better still she pays a decent amount! Just need to update and add some sparkle to the copy... then I submit it and...

... wait. Problem is that these days you usually only get paid once a piece is published. Nice piece, good idea, well written... but there are probably several hundred other pieces on the editor's pile. Why should she publish yours? 

So I've been looking for a reason to publish... a timely date? a celeb or politician who just did the same trip? something currently in the news?

Great ideas aren't enough. You need a reason to publish...