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Arts & Entertainment Journalism Boot Camp

Work the pop culture beat for mags from Us Weekly to Esquire

Course is closed.
Arts & Entertainment Journalism Boot Camp

DURATION/TIME
8 weeks
Tuesdays
September 12 - October 31
6:30-9:30 pm

LEVEL
Intermediate/advanced

LOCATION
New York (Soho)

PRICE
$499 ($475 for )
more info

Course Details

As pop culture increasingly dominates the world of art and entertainment, bigger and bigger chunks of prime real estate open up in magazines for pop culture. Leaf through any mainstream general-interest magazine and you'll find most of the content to be about movies, television, popular music and books, and the celebrities who inspire our world-wide cult of personality.

This class will explore various ways of treating the subject of pop culture, from the most conventional "puff piece" to the most highfalutin "consideration," from the most straightforward review or profile to the most attitudinal rant. In addition to learning how to write on the subject, students will become more familiar with the ins and outs of the business: how to find your niche as a writer, approach editors, and make the best decisions about what to write for whom.

Occasional reading selections -- from Lester Bangs and Greil Marcus to Pauline Kael and Walter Kir -- will expose students to varying writing styles and generate class discussions. Weekly writing assignments will be workshopped in class in a supportive and encouraging environment.

In this class you can expect to learn:
  • How to write a pitch letter, review, profile, Q&A, consideration, rant, and trend piece
  • How to identify salable pop-cultural story ideas and trends
  • How to identify the best market for your interests, contact editors, and deal with people in the business in the most professional and savvy ways
  • How to follow through on ideas in order to insure the best chance of publication
By the end of class, students can expect to have:
Polished pitch letters and articles; increased confidence when it comes to approaching editors; a sharper eye for what to pitch where.

Instructor Bio

Janet Steen's Courses

No courses available at this time.

Janet Steen
Janet Steen has worked as a writer and editor in the New York publishing world for more than 15 years, starting out as a copy editor at Esquire magazine. She has been the books editor at Time Out New York, where she also wrote on music and film; an editor at Us Weekly; and the literary editor at Details. She has interviewed subjects including Steve Martin, Dennis Hopper, Barry White, Emily Watson, Dave Eggers, and Frank McCourt. She taught a seminar on creative writing and contemporary literature while she was a scholarship student in the graduate writing program at Johns Hopkins University.


Testimonials


Janet's class on pop culture writing for magazines was a treat every week and I'm sorry it's over. She's got great credentials and a natural teaching ability. -- Harry Sheff, freelancer

"When I started Janet's class, I knew I wanted to write about music, movies, and books but had little idea how to do it. Her class solved that problem. Each week she guided us through a different type of pop culture writing, while a who's who of successful writers paraded through our class offering their know-how. Janet helped us refine our articles, always keeping the pitch and publication in mind. Since completing her course, I've reviewed books for PopMatters.com and even wrote an article about one of my favorite bands, the Silver Jews. And I got paid for it!" -- Benjamin Levisohn, former student

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