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.

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

Lew Harris's Courses

Lew Harris started his career at the University of Missouri, where he was editor of the campus newspaper, which won an All-American award during his tenure. After getting his bachelor's in journalism, he went to the Chicago Tribune, first as a reporter then as an editor of the Daily Features and Sunday Features sections. During his five years there, he created prototypes for both the Sunday and Weekend entertainment sections that are still being followed today. He left to be features editor of the Riverside, California, Press-Enterprise, then hit L.A. and Los Angeles magazine, eventually becoming editor-in-chief and winning several California Magazine Awards. In 1995 he became entertainment editor of People Magazine, and left in 1996 to create E! Online, now the number-one entertainment site on the web with daily page turns averaging 5 to 10 million. After a brief stint at IFILM, as editor-in-chief, he then became senior editor of the new Us Weekly. Lew is married to entertainment attorney Marcia Harris and has two (grown) children.

Testimonials

I'll never procrastinate over writing pitch letters again after taking mb's Boot Camp Class for Journalists taught by Lew Harris. When I signed up for Lew's class I had three years of experience as an arts and entertainment contributor to The Los Angeles Times' Community Newspapers. Most of my stories were assigned to me by my editor. I had managed to sell a few pieces on my own to other sections of the Times but I felt like I wasn't doing enough to get published elsewhere because I dreaded the pitching process. It wasn't until Lew's class and his frank feedback that I realized that I'd been giving away too much of the story in my pitches. Lew is a very friendly and down-to-earth teacher. He's supportive and insightful. His no nonsense approach to my ideas and my work helped me refine my writing process. He helped me become a more efficient and succinct writer. During class I pitched and sold a feature story to the L.A. Times Weekend Calendar section in less time than it usually took me to just draft a pitch letter. As a result, I'm more confident about writing pitches which also helped me establish a connection with a national newspaper. Since Lew's class I've sold stories to The Christian Science Monitor. -- Katherine Tolford, freelance writer

"Lew was great. Since Boot Camp, I have published 62 pieces for TheStreet.com, will be completing a masters at Columbia J-School in 3 weeks and took a job as a reporter in the Washington bureau of Reuters beginning June 1." -- Joel Rothstein, former boot camper