Freelancewritingtips.com

Want to write for the nationals? How to pitch an editor

THERE'S a feature in the current edition of Writing Magazine called Pitching High. It includes advice from me on how to contact editors.

I'm republishing some more advice on just that here.

But I'd also stress you can have all the pitching gumption in the world, and get your approach to an editor as fine tuned as you like, but if you can't deliver on what you promise in your pitch, you won't be able to darken that editor's doorstep again.

So perhaps it would be a good idea to focus on learning how to best research, structure and write a feature, how to carry out interviews and how to make sure your piece doesn't leave out vital information for your target publication *before* you worry about pitching. Anything else would be pretty foolish.

Once you have learned all that -- and it can take a while -- I hope the following guidance may come in handy.

If you want to convince a magazine, newspaper or website editor they should commission a piece from you, you need to prove your idea:

• Would fit well in their publication
• Is worth writing now
• Would be best written by you
• Will be delivered well and on time

Miss out any of these elements and your pitch won't stand a chance.

The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World: Book, blog and training

THE Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World was published in November 2007 and can be bought in bookshops and from Amazon here.

See a selection of reviews, plus feedback from readers, here.

Listen to a podcast about The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World.

This blog was set up to help publicise the book.

Here are some of the most popular posts:

Back to basics: Ten mistakes to avoid when writing a news story

The most important thing? Learn multi-media skills

The fine art of negotiating press trips, by Andrea Wren

Should you write for free?

Coping with rejection: Editors are people too!

Freelance journalism: Start low, aim high?

How networking can boost a freelance writing career

How journalists can survive a recession, by Sara Edlington

Making the most of Twitter

Going freelance after being made redundant by a regional paper? Hard-learned lessons to help you on your way

Can you send the same pitch to different editors?

How journalists can reap the rewards of blogging, by Craig Mcginty.

Six myths about freelance writing.

Depression, my story and how journalists should speak up when they are feeling down

Six characteristics of a successful freelance journalist

Real life, real profit? Selling features to women's weekly magazines

A small selection of pitches that worked

Freelance writers describe their writing day.

Ten blindingly obvious things I have learned in my first year as an author.

Think you know "mummybloggers"? Think again!

My work as a writer continues to be varied, interesting and fun. My latest project, a site reporting on holidays, short breaks, days out and activities, is called Havealovelytime.com

I'm the director of the Midlands agency, Passionate Media, and our blog chronicling news from our company and clients is here.

We also run training sessions for freelance journalists wanting to make more money. The following is feedback gained from a London session:

Great course. Up and at 'em now! Anne Marie Flanagan

Thanks again for yesterday, feel very motivated today!  Rachael Glazier

Thanks for a very enlightening day. I feel like a Jedi Knight to your Obe Wan Kenobi. Catherine Goddard

Thank you! It was a fantastic day! Emma McNeil

Thanks Carol and Linda for today and the kick up the bum, enjoyed course. Michael Cross

Had a great time on Saturday. Course was brilliant, thank you. Really useful. Siobhan O' Neill

Thanks so much for the fab seminar - it was sooo helpful and have come away full of ideas and plans. You and Carol were both brilliant. Olivia Gordon

Thanks to you and Carol for a really great training day today - definitely the best course I've been on for a while. You two should add life coaching to your list of talents. Olivia Holcombe

Just wanted to say thanks for the fab course, Linda and Carol - very informative, inspiring and good fun too. Judy Yorke

I'd like to add my grateful thanks for the well-delivered and extremely interesting course - it was great to meet such creative, positive and friendly people and I now feel inspired and ready to take the plunge into a new and different world.  Ruth Derrick

Brilliant, thank you both for a very informative and enjoyable day.  I think much of what we learned will be of huge benefit in all areas of our working life. Amanda Lees

I thought it was the best course I've been on - full of practical advice and illustrative examples. It has really got me motivated and excited about getting out there and chasing down the commercial work. Thanks. Emma Jayne Jones

Please get in touch with me via email Linda@passionatemedia.co.uk if you would like to know more. Our next training date is Saturday, June 27, in central London.

How I use social media to survive and diversify

THE Black Country Social Media Cafe is described as a place for people interested in social media to gather, get acquainted, chat, plot, scheme, and share.

I attended the first meeting a few weeks back when guest speakers Pete Ashton and Chris Unitt outlined lessons learned on a visit to SXSW.

At the next meeting, to be held on Tuesday, May 12, at 2.30pm in the Alchemy Bar in Wolverhampton city centre, there'll be a chance for members to say a little about who they are and what they do, with a particular emphasis on how they have been able to use social media in their work.

It's unclear whether I am going to be able to make it to the next meeting, because of a work commitment. Nevertheless, I have been thinking about how our work has been transformed by social media, so am posting here about its impact on my professional life. As I think about tomorrow's JEE Camp, I also thought it would be useful to pull some of my experience together in this way.

Overall, I'd say that a growing knowledge of social media has allowed me to:

* Survive and diversify in my chosen career.

* Make and strengthen new contacts whom I never would have met previously.

* Improve ways of finding, researching and completing existing work

* Find new income streams - both directly and indirectly through blogging but also in offering my services to help others get to grips with the concept of social media and understand that it's not about technology for the sake of it 

* Better promote my work across various disciplines

Writing magazine feature on coping with rejection: Editors are people too

HOW scared are you of editors?

Does the thought of picking up a phone to suggest an idea for a magazine feature fill you with dread? Do you break out in a cold sweat as you open an email with the all-important “yes” or “no” to your pitch?

If you're are nodding in agreement to either of these questions, then to put it unkindly, you need to get a grip! Or, to put it much less bluntly – don’t worry, editors are human too.

But to see the correspondence I receive seeking advice from aspiring or in some cases established freelance writers, you’d think these more senior journalists were ogres – who’d chew up and spit out humble wannabe hacks without a moment’s thought.

I find this frustrating.

Advice from the pros - how freelancers can plan for a holiday

THIS piece is from a very recent edition of Press Gazette.

FREELANCE education journalist Janet Murray plans to take the summer off this year. Trouble is, she’s worried about how much work this will lose her.

“Because my workload is unpredictable, I go through periods which are very intense,” she says. “In my case, with a small child and part-time childcare, that might mean a couple of weeks of very late nights and early mornings, working over the weekend to get things done. As a result, I reach a point where I need a break. But I fret about it a lot.”

Ideas? It's all in the timing

HERE'S a piece that has been published at www.freelanceuk.com today:

FOR a freelance writer, ideas can make or break a career. As markets and budgets shrink and competition increases, it’s more crucial than ever to make your ideas stand out from the crowd. Linda Jones shows you how.

So you want to write for your favourite magazine and you are brimming with ideas – you’re a little disappointed that most of them – or something similar at least – has been covered already – but it’s still worth a shot, right?

Advice for charities on what can make a good feature

JOURNALISTS who get in touch with charities looking for people to interview, can find themselves in hot water when they show little respect or common courtesy to their potential "case studies."

My approach (and I make no apologies for sounding like I am stating the obvious or being over 'sentimental' as I 'm sure some more hard-bitten souls than me would suggest) is to remember at all times that we are people first and journalists second.

What do I mean by that? Well forget about thinking about someone with a harrowing life story solely as a potential "case study" for a start-off. Why would they want to share the details of their remarkable experience with you if you can't even be polite? And it's not very polite to tell them they'll only "do" if they are good looking, now is it?