A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
kitty54: “I am in the process of starting a new blog how do you get people to notice, do you send out press releases, announcements what?”
A~: “Write well, write relevantly, have lots of photos (they show up on Google Image searches), update often, exchange links.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: How do you create buzz about your blog
Also: Help breaking in magazines after a break
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
pleiades: “Are people really writing 1,000-word stories (that require sometimes-heavy research and in-person interviews) for $150?”
maphop: “Pleiades, my guess is that you may also well be seeing re-sell. For my national outlets, I average $1.50 to $2.25/word but I often resell pieces (often truncated to half their size, etc.) for $.50/word or similar. Or, I’ll dash off a short, 500-word piece or even a 1000-word piece on a story subject for $.75/word if I’m also, simultaneously, interviewing the subjects…”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: low-pay magazines & top writers
Also: insight into lack of job offer?
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
GirlGoesGlobal: “I know some of you are seasoned writers. But what was your first BIG byline…the one mom hung on the fridge and you mailed to everyone you ever knew?”
Collier: “My big break, I have to say, wasn’t all that big. I was in my first newspaper job for a 20,000-circ paper. I was living with my parents because my salary was $17,000 a year. Five weeks after graduating from college, I wrote a five-day series that won a first place award in the state press association contest. My parents framed the paper from the first day, and though it’s hanging in closet somewhere, I still look at it and remember how good it felt to know that I had done something. Even as a 21-year-old. Really, I wish I could recapture that excitement every time I write a big front-pager today.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: First Big Break
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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
midwestwriter: “Does it work? I have only had success cold pitching smaller mags and newspapers. So far, cold pitching big mags has only brought me the cold shoulder.”
aestone: “Surprisingly, cold pitching does work so long as you have an idea that the magazine wants. I’ve written for Bon Appétit, Health and Cooking Light without knowing anyone at those magazines.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Cold Pitching Big Mags
Also: Two Pitches — Send Both or Wait a Week on One
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
Rhonda4: ” I’d love what I do too much to leave, but hate so many aspects of the job that I don’t know how longer I can stay without losing my sanity… Am I your typical disgruntled journalist?”
Lucyloo: “I didn’t know any journalist in those raw years who didn’t question what they heck they were doing. Usually it was over pitchers of cheap beer… But here’s the thing: It gets better. ”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Career schizophrenia: Typical?
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
bebe: “I am trying to pitch more and also come up with more ideas. This seems overwhelming to me. How do you keep track of everything?”
jlm920: “I keep folders (the smaller expandable versions that can stand up) for different things – ideas go in one, pending pitches in another, current work (separate folders for each assignment) in others, tax info (receipts and such) in another.”
Metro Writer: “…Check out Julie Hood’s website, The Organized Writer.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: How do you organize your writing life?
Also: trouble pitching
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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
HisGirlFriday: “I recently started doing a weekly story for a longtime editor but now realize the stories are taking way too much time and effort, causing major stress and are detracting from other (better-paying) work. So I’m ready to tell him I’m not going to do it anymore but it just feels so weird.”
Lotus665: “I think we need to take a leaf from Arianna Huffington and be Fearless! Life’s too short, we gotta do what we gotta do and not everyone will like it but they’ll survive. ”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: How to bail on a freelance gig
Also: length of novel manuscript?
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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
ubitiq: “I am looking for other databases besides Profnet.com..Anyone aware of others?”
belinda: “Forget ‘experts’ Web sites. People pay to be listed as experts on them. It is a form of p.r./promotion.”
Stressed: “I often look up books on the subject matter on Amazon and pick out a recent one one that has been written by some university academic with a string of letters after their name.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: How to connect with expert sources?
Also: Trade mag per word rates?
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
presspass: “I’m wondering what the rule of thumb is regarding salary talks. When you are at a job interview and they ask how much you want to make or how much you currently make, what is the best response?”
Cyrus: “My first response to this question is always to make an effort to avoid showing your “cards” first. Ask them how much they have in mind and see what they say…Your responsibility to yourself is to make sure you’re getting what you feel is a fair salary, so say what you have in mind.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Salary
Also: trouble pitching
For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb discussion boards

A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:
Lynda: “What do you think of moving to a lower job title than the one you’re on to get to a better magazine? For example, going from three years as a senior editor on one magazine to an associate editor on a more prestigious one?”
courtneyjossart: “I did this several years ago when I worked in book publishing…and never regretted the decision.”
Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Moving to a lower job title?
Also: freelancing outside NYC–help!
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