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Topic: Does ASJA membership help bring in work?
| Author | Message |
| Write Stuff | Posted – 10/11/2007 10:59:17 AM | show profile | email poster I'm considering joining ASJA ... largely to increase my freelance assignments. My work would qualify me, but I don't want to spend $25 app fee, $100 initiation and $195 annual membership if it wouldn't bring in work. If you belong to ASJA and get assignments as a result, or indirectly, please let me know. If it doesn't help I'd love to hear that as well. Thanks, writestuff |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/11/2007 11:59:44 AM | show profile It's possible you might meet someone in ASJA, or find a job on their bulletin board, that might lead to an assignment, but I wouldn't join the organization with the expectation of that happening. Telling editors you are in ASJA won't mean anything. |
| jsk | Posted – 10/11/2007 1:05:16 PM | show profile Heh... I was reading on one blog, I think it was the Renegade Writer Blog, that many editors hear the letters "ASJA" and think of four other letters: "PITA". I thought that was telling... and I'm an ASJA member... |
| reporterwriter | Posted – 10/11/2007 2:21:33 PM | show profile In my experience, ASJA membership doesn't influence editors to give an assignment outright, because so many of them haven't even heard of it. Now that I know what it is, I look at the membership roster and see names of writers I edited who couldn't develop an idea, report or write but did manage to have their bylines salvaged in high places -- another reason why ASJA membership alone isn't a criterion for giving assignments. |
| Write Stuff | Posted – 10/11/2007 2:31:37 PM | show profile | email poster to: jsk This might be a duh but what is PITA? |
| onmyown | Posted – 10/11/2007 2:45:32 PM | show profile Yeah, what does it mean? What does PITA mean? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/11/2007 2:54:46 PM | show profile I think he meant PETA. But what he really meant was ASPCA -- the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals. |
| maphop | Posted – 10/11/2007 2:56:21 PM | show profile PITA Definition, More PITA = Pain in the Ass As for ASJA, while there are sometimes interesting job leads, they're almost always (98%?) for book ghosting and require past experience in same or similar. Even those are often at pay rates that a serious author wouldn't consider. While a thread about joining ASJA ran a while ago on this board and someone from ASJA wrote in saying that they absolutely were a great organization for freelance magazine writers, I'd disagree unless you're also a book author. I would NOT recommend a writer join ASJA in the hopes of either the membership/affiliation meaning something positive to an editor in the magazine world and/or gaining job leads. It's not going to pay off for you. |
| Little Fingers | Posted – 10/11/2007 4:47:08 PM | show profile to shift course slightly... So if ASJA isn't great for magazine work, do those of you in the know find it useful for getting ghosting or other book-related work? I see one poster noted that a lot of the available work is for ghosting, but sounded like s/he felt the fees offered were often low. So, what then is the point of joining? What *does* all that money do for you? |
| jsk | Posted – 10/11/2007 5:13:56 PM | show profile I'd slightly disagree with maphop's assessment. Just like with any organization -- MB, Freelance Success, etc. -- if being a member of that organization gets you an assignment or assignments that surpasses the money you pay into it, then it's worth it. And I've found the information I've gotten at the annual conferences -- especially the members-only Personal Pitch sessions, which is kind of like speed dating, but with editors and agents -- has helped me make back the membership fees, conference fees, plus a bit extra. And, for now, I'm not writing any books of any kind. |
| jsk | Posted – 10/11/2007 5:16:16 PM | show profile And yes, PITA = Pain in the Ass, as illustrated here: http://therenegadewriter.com/?p=327 |
| maphop | Posted – 10/11/2007 7:44:35 PM | show profile Actually, JSK is right...if you attend the annual events and you're good about pitching and networking then I stand corrected; you could very well make back your membership fee plus some. Beacause of Write Stuff's reference to "freelance assignments" I was thinking primarily about the job leads that are posted to/through ASJA and those really are aimed primarily at book authors, many by those wanting to see their life story put into words (pay? $4,000) or who have had a book turned away by an agent and who want a rewrite or ghostwrite (pay? $4,000) or a professional such as a marriage counselor or therapist who wants to be the next Dr. Phil and publish a home-run self-help title (pay? $4,000.) To be fair, I think that ASJA is a pretty classy operation - a bit more sophisticated than MB, way more so than the National Writer's Union - and perhaps with enough of their members asking for magazine leads, they can amp up that effort. |
