Archives: April 2005

Gina at Lifehacker linked to this article on how to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, in case you just loved this post I wrote up but wanted some more information.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion's Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook's Morin Oluwole, and bitly's Tim Devane. Register now.

Copy editor Jim Kelly gives a nice little lesson on the correct use of the word “respectively” in his blog Scripta Viri Commenticii today.

Here are the topics that have got MB readers discussing amongst themselves this fine Friday:
What to expect if you move to the Weider Publication area.

“Outside the Box” interviewing and “Not so outside the box” thank you notes.
And what to wear on those interviews, too.
How big time does an author have to be for you to listen to their writing advice? It doesn’t matter how big the author is, as long as the teaching is valuable…
What exactly is a partial, what do you do with it and what does it mean?
Some insider gossip on who rules and who doesn’t in animal writing. Also, more information on that, ahem, here.
The poop on Conde Nast internships.
Finally, let it all out: how much abuse have you taken? Aaw, poor thing. Get the best revenge of all: a thinly veiled account of your experience!

Writers continue to pity, revile, chastise laugh at and doubt the veracity of the existence of Krystal Grow, the North Adams Transcript writer who chronicled her unhappiness at being rejected for an internship at SPIN. We’ve all made our errors in our youth. A reader sent me the link to another article (from the WSJ) about an early career potential gaffe, which is probably actually helpful to other journalists in that it gives advice on how to soften the blow of moving to a strange new place.
Update: Slate has a take now on Miss Krystal.

A happy ending to the story of the confused invoicer from yesterday:

I just want to let you know that your advice yesterday got me an extra $25 for the piece I wrote. After I sent the editor an email like you suggested, he wrote back, “Oh man, I’m sorry, I really f–’ed up,” and he sent me a new contract. There wasn’t really an explanation but he added $25 to my fee.

All in a day’s work.

New publications, and so on
Newsweek.com now to post articles on a daily basis, featuring “in-depth coverage of a different topic–such as health, business, or political affairs–each day of the week.”
Every Day with Rachael Ray, coming soon to newsstands. Do not confuse this with any of Martha’s “Everyday” publications or you will mysteriously ‘disappear.’
Like true crime? Check out Justice magazine, debuting in June. Oh by the way, here are some tips on crime writing if you’re so inclined.
Want to publish an op-ed? Take on “the shrill tone of the blogosphere.” Ouch.
Tough times for business reporters.

Today I chat with Jim Windolf, a Vanity Fair contributing editor who previously was a writer for The New York Observer.Can you tell us how you got to your spot at Vanity Fair today? Where did you get your journalistic start?
I got a Master’s in English at University of Texas at Austin in 1990, then taught English at Friends Seminary high school in New York for a year. After that I sent out my college newspaper clips to 25 or 30 newspapers and magazines. I got all no’s, except for one–The New York Observer, a weekly paper in Manhattan, asked me to interview. Graydon Carter, now editor of Vanity Fair, had just taken over The Observer following his departure from Spy magazine. I loved Spy and knew it cold, which helped me not make an idiot of myself in the interview. I was hired as an intern. I did research, fact checking, coffee fetching, wrote a few articles, and even got to drive the van. I stayed at The Observer nine years–as media columnist, features writer, and then executive editor. Graydon Carter, who had moved on to Vanity Fair, had been keeping an eye on my Observer work, and I got a job as one of the magazine’s articles editors in 2000. I stayed in that job three years, before becoming a contributing editor for the magazine. I now write five or six long feature stories a year.

Read more

The radio ad is sort of the red-headed stepchild of advertising. It’s all around us, yet it’s not nearly as lauded or talked-about as extravagant Super Bowl ads or expensive print inserts. However, if you do have a copywriting job or find yourself writing ads for freelance, it’s something good to know how to do.
Writing a radio ad isn’t that difficult, especially if you have funny ideas and a client that is open-minded. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of getting information across and following a format.
If you’re writing your first ad, flip around the stations and listen to the different varieties you’ll hear. Some are straightforward 30 second spots. Others are “donuts,” where a standard beginning and end is used but the middle is utilized to drop in changing information.
If you’ve written in script format, you’ll be pretty comfortable writing in radio format. Check out a few samples. If you haven’t written script, this article has some tips on how to add voices, what tone to use, and so on.
Before you turn in your script, read it out loud, slowly, in front of a clock with a second hand so that you know that it’s as short as it needs to be. Also, think of the extras. What type of voices would you like reading the script? Will sound effects be needed? How about music? Especially if you are thinking about a particular song in the background but you can’t get the rights, it’s helpful to describe the tone of the music in mind so engineers can find something similar.
Here is an article on how writing radio ads can make you a better writer. This I guess is debatable but it is an interesting exercise in trying to get as much information across as you can in in a small amount of time. And here is a site for radio copywriters where you can see what people are talking about and using to brainstorm.

Even though I totally abhor the use of the word ‘muse,’ Writers Weekly features an article on a little exercise you can give yourself to try to branch out to new and unique publications.

Q: I’m new to freelancing but recently had a humor piece accepted by a local magazine. I was told I would be paid X amount of dollars, but when the editor e-mailed me the contract, it had all the previous writer’s info, including his rate, which was $75 higher than what the editor had originally said. Should I stick with what what he originally told me or should I ask what to put?
A: It’s not uncommon for publications to pay new writers less than ones they’ve worked with before or more “big name” writers. So don’t feel bad about getting less money than your predecessor. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t attempt to make this error work in your favor. Ask, innocently, “I just want to be sure what to put down. You told me “X” dollars but on this contract it says “X+50″ dollars,” so I just wanted to double check. The editor made a mistake and he may be embarrassed by it and give you the benefit of his error. Just play dumb and polite. And enjoy the fact that everyone makes stupid mistakes sometimes, including editors.