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Topic: freelancing
| Author | Message |
| liagd | Posted – 2/8/2008 8:03:52 PM | show profile I applied for a Fulbright in October to go to Panama this summer. I actually made the first cut! So now I'm a semifinalist for the fellowship and will find out some unspecified time before June if I'm going. I'll be doing research about the Panama Canal for a project I'm working on. I really want to be able to do some freelancing while I'm there. It's a very interesting time in the country and my family is originally from there. So there's a lot of stuff to write about. Though I have an MFA, freelancing is something I've been freaked out about and it's taken me a while to build up to the idea that I could do it. So I'm there but I just need a little (lot?) of guidance/handholding. I've been looking for a good class to get into. There's a couple at NYU and mediabistro. There's a couple that don't look very good at Gotham. Suggestions about classes or any thing else would be greatly appreciated. |
| liagd | Posted – 2/10/2008 4:25:55 PM | show profile help, please! |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/10/2008 11:23:54 PM | show profile | email poster Here's what I would do. Look around at what's happening in Panama and think of who would be interested in that. For example, the off-shoring of industries -- hot business topic. Think about specific industries interested in / impacted by that. I wrote an article for a mortgage industry magazine about off-shoring that featured Panama quite a bit. Now combine the fact that you're down there, you can get close up, get pics, whatever. When I moved to the U.S-Mex. border area, I looked around and saw international news happening. I checked around, found a magazine and a daily paper interested in having someone there to cover it, and I was in business. The magazine was doing a piece on illegal immigration, which sent me to cover a couple guys climbing naked out of the Rio Grande, clutching their clothes to their personal ads and asking in Spanish for a ride. Um, I don't think so. Also, a couple Canadian papers wanted the scoop on the Manitoba teachers coming down to Texas to get jobs because Texas didn't have enough and Manitoba had too many. Work on developing contacts in everything -- radio, newspaper, magazine -- before you go. Keep those names, numbers, emails close. When something comes up that's breaking news, go shopping for a place to sell it. Makes my family crazy sometimes -- at the main scenic outlook of the Colorado National Monument, middle of a thunderstorm, the darn thing is closed with a sheriff's tape anyway, everybody wants to get to a hotel. What's Mum doing? She's on the payphone (this was before cell phones), calling major news organizations, because she asked what the tape was for and there was an AIDS-related suicide, and this was at the beginning of the AIDS hysteria. Finally, the Denver Post says they're in for a news brief, so I had to talk to a couple people in charge to get the basics. Worth it to me, as I wanted the experience and the paper's name on my resume. Good luck! ------ http://writingporch.blogspot.com/ http://jlouiselarson.blogspot.com/ http://familyrootsandwings.blogspot.com/ |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/10/2008 11:26:43 PM | show profile | email poster Not to mention travel stories. I bet there are some fascinating little travel features you can do. Bring your camera! ------ http://writingporch.blogspot.com/ http://jlouiselarson.blogspot.com/ http://familyrootsandwings.blogspot.com/ |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/10/2008 11:48:04 PM | show profile Check out my blog on this very topic: http://writingporch.blogspot.com/ |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 2/11/2008 9:41:51 AM | show profile You might attend the American Society of Journalists and Authors conference, April 11-13 in New York City; registration is now open. You will meet many successful freelancers, hear from many panels of editors who buy a wide range of stories and can even apply for specific one on one mentoring -- you could ask someone to coach you on how to freelance from abroad (I've done it and am on the ASJA board.) If you don't want to attend the conference, you can also pay for mentoring by contacting ASJA's office as well; asja.org. Freelancing is not per se difficult but you do have to be an excellent reporter and work quickly and efficiently. |
