Three points....
1) I agree with what Tom said about
not limiting yourself to writing for fitness magazines. There's lots of opportunity to write about health and fitness for other types of publications, such as general/lifestyle or business magazines or websites.
2) Scoring a cover on a magazine is a one-shot deal. It could make more sense to position yourself as someone who appears regularly in the magazine as an author or expert.
BUT if you leverage that one-shot deal (being on a magazine cover) in the right ways - recycle it, promote it properly - it can turn into an amazing marketing tool - one that really sets you apart from your competitors. You have to leverage it properly though.
3) I wanted to offer encouragement to those who are having success getting published already:
Please don't write for free forever!
Seek out markets that PAY. There are
lots of them. You get the same credibility and marketing perks (maybe even more so), plus the added bonus of receiving direct payment for your time and expertise.
I made a decision very early in my fitness writing career not to write for free unless it really made sense to do so. Ninety-nine percent of the articles I write are for pay.
I wrote on my blog about why fitness pros seem reluctant to get paid for their articles:
http://fitnesswriter.blogspot.com/20...ubmission.html
I'm curious about your take on this. Why do so many fitness pros only write for free?