Freelancewritingtips.com

Case study request: Getting into difficulties abroad with no insurance

I'M looking for the following to help with some reports in the media designed to help readers avoid a similar experience. I need two British case studies which fit the following criteria. There is a fee of £100 for each.

The more recent the experience, the better.

Details: British nationals who have got into difficulty abroad while staying with a friend or family member. Very often people travelling to stay with a friend/family abroad don’t prepare in the same way they would if they were staying in a hotel. Often the mind-set is that “it’s a different type of holiday” and they consider steps like taking out a travel insurance policy or researching the destination not to be necessary, especially if the traveller is really familiar with their destination (i.e. if they travel to Spain a couple of times a year to visit their parents). The ideal case study here would be someone who has been handed a large medical bill because they got ill/were injured abroad and were not covered by a travel insurance policy.

 

Please email me linda[at]passionatemedia.co.uk if you can help as it applies to you.

In your email, please:

• Tell me your full name and confirm you are happy to be named and pictured

• Tell me your age, where you live and provide a contact email address and phone number, plus an indication of when's best to get in touch

• Give me a brief outline of why you feel your story fits - the aim of these pieces will be to help others avoid similar difficulties

 

Thanks very much to anyone who can help, should more people than are needed get in touch, forgive me but I can only use two and please bear with me in getting back to you.

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.

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

1. Missing the point

MAKE sure your story is as strong as it can be. Take a step back and play devil's advocate. Are you communicating what really matters to your readers?

Have you missed out any crucial information that would make the story more compelling or important? And if you can genuinely answer 'no' - then make sure you haven't buried that vital point too far into the story.

2. Assuming anything

Never think that just because you know something your readers do too. This isn't the same as understanding as John Thompson points out in his excellent piece here, that your readers know more than you. Will they really be aware of the organisation you are referring to or know who your interviewee is? Even something as simple as spelling someone's name should be checked, however obvious you think it is.  That leads us to...

Fantastic advice on interviewing 'celebs' from Alan Franks

THERE'S plenty of brilliant guidance from a seasoned pro here. I loved it! Thanks to Annabel on the JournoBiz forum for pointing it out.

"One of the most satisfying, blood-pumping feelings around" Rodney Edwards on showbiz reporting

FURTHER to a recent piece in Press Gazette. Here's a fuller interview with award-winning showbiz freelance Rodney Edwards.

He reckons guts, contacts and hard work can pay off big time. And to prove it, he's flogged top tales to just about every paper going and trounced the likes of Oprah and David Letterman into the bargain.

Who do you sell your stories to?

I focus on showbiz, music, TV and general news. I sell to the biggest national newspapers and magazines in Britain, as well as regional publications in Northern Ireland.

Danuta Kean on Lynda La Plante

WOULDN'T you love to write like this? I know I would - a great interview and a great blog from an award-winning journalist.
Check out the post on finding a PR to promote your book. It all makes fantastic sense...and I'm sure the team here have it all under control for a certain book coming out later this week. Now what could that be?

Independent journalist blazes a trail from Afghanistan

DO you know how to upload, video text and audio? Vaughan Smith is showing how it can be done, by filing compelling reports from Afghanistan, using a combination of the latest social media tools.

Vaughan is part of the Frontline Club, and says freelance colleague and media consultant, Graham Holliday, his experience of blogging, tweeting and posting videos on YouTube is a fine example to aspiring journalists.

Five minutes with Ellie Levenson

ELLIE is a London-based freelance journalist and speaker, regularly contributing to the Guardian, Independent and Cosmopolitan, among other titles.

She is a former editor of the Fabian Review and lectures in journalism at Goldsmiths College. Ellie also runs her own training consultancy. Find out more about her writing here.

When your views clash with your interviewee...

HOW do you handle sensitive interviews?

Two of the women we talked to for this piece in New Woman provoked an emotional reaction to what they were telling us - but we had to keep our calm, staying cool and objective.

One "case study" (Why do I still hate that word?) made Katie cry - after she'd put the phone down - as she recounted how she'd gone through with a termination as a teenager after being raped.

Another made me feel distinctly uncomfortable at times as she explained that she'd had three abortions and went to some length to explain how and why she really wasn't enamoured with kids.