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Boot Camp for Journalists

Course is closed.

DURATION/TIME
8 weeks
Wednesdays, 7-10 p.m.
Jan. 11-March 1

LEVEL
This class is taught at a intermediate/advanced level. Students must have at least one year journalism experience.

LOCATION
South Bay, Orange County
Los Angeles

PRICE
$499 ($475 for )
more info

Course Details

Let's face it: If you knew you'd still be writing about eraser manufacturing for Pencil News Monthly, covering city council meetings for the Boondock Weekly, or trying to track down a former child star to write a "catching up with" for the Irrelevant Gossip Daily, you would have gone into a lucrative career. You became a journalist because you feel passionate about the truth; there are stories you insist need to be told. And doing a story on the adverse effects of size-8 knitting needles on a yarn-based Afghan doesn't qualify.

Our signature class, Boot Camp for Journalists, has put hundreds of students across the country through a rigorous eight weeks, in which they learn to produce a perfect pitch letter, complete eight saleable assignments, and figure out whom to send them to. Assignments (each under 1,000 words; each due with a pitch letter for it the following week to be read aloud and critiqued in class) include a profile, an exhibition review, a Talk of the Town-style piece, a travel piece, an op-ed, a personal essay, and a business feature. Boot Camp is the perfect opportunity to restructure your career and start writing about the things that matter to you.

Before you apply, consider that this is called a Boot Camp because it is not for the faint of heart?or the short of time. This is a selective, rigorous course that requires a significant time (count on at least three hours outside of class per week, sometimes reporting and writing will require up to 10 hours). However, unlike many classes, you will not have to work on others' pieces outside of class.

In this class, you can expect to learn:

  • How to write a pitch an editor can't turn down
  • How to figure out whom you want to write for
  • Which magazines are easiest to break into and identify which sections are most freelancer friendly
  • How to edit yourself
  • How to manage tight deadlines
  • How to negotiate your contracts

By the end of class, students can expect to have:
A complete portfolio of 7 publishable articles that will impress any magazine editor, the ability to work under tight deadlines, and an understanding of how to achieve the career you started out (or ended up) wanting.

Admission requirements:
To be considered for this class, you must submit a non-fiction writing sample (up to 2,000 words), plus a letter of interest including a work history.

Instructor Bio

JoBeth McDaniel
JoBeth McDaniel began freelancing for newspapers twenty years ago, in college. Since then, she has written for national magazines including Life, Newsweek, Reader's Digest, Self, Redbook, BusinessWeek, Travel + Leisure, Diversion, and House Beautiful, among others. Her essays have been published in several books, including The Gift of Travel: The Best of Travelers' Tales, and Voyages, where she wrote about the Pacific Coast.

For many years, JoBeth helped run the Los Angeles bureau for Life magazine. Her Life cover story about actor Chris Burke (who starred as Corky in ABC's Life Goes On) grew into the book A Special Kind of Hero (Doubleday, Dell), a Barnes & Noble bestseller. It was favorably reviewed by Publishers Weekly, and picked as a Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal. Another Life story, the first to describe the desperate plight of orca Keiko (star of the film Free Willy), was a finalist for a Genesis award. A Life story about grandparents raising their grandchildren has been optioned for a television movie.

JoBeth has taught magazine journalism for mediabistro.com and at numerous writing conferences, and has served on journalism panels for PEN, Independent Writers of Southern California, and California Lawyers for the Arts. She is past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors' Southern California chapter.

JoBeth McDaniel's Courses

No courses available at this time.

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