Here are your hot Friday topics:

First, the MBToolBox-sponsored topic of the week: "You submit a well-thought-out query to an editor for a publication that you're convinced you have the perfect piece for. Your editor rejects you, but with encouraging words. Many of us quit, or take our pitch and retool it for another publication. But have you ever asked the editor to reconsider? Does this work--and if so, how do you do it without sounding like a petulant whiner? Or is this simply 'not done'? Do any of you have any success or mortification stories to share based on a time you 'talked back' to an editor (politely or not?)"

"Do I bite the bullet and go for the editorial assistant jobs, or is there a better way for someone with my background?"

"What's the best way to work with copy editors from a writer's stance ? I have a writing job that puts me on the receiving end of a lot of copy issues. Any thoughts or tips or anecdotes ?"

"I'm considering taking a job at the local newspaper in the town I live in. We're talking a smaaalllll weekly here, that can't possibly have a circ of more than 20,000. My background is metropolitan/national dailies. Any ideas of what would be a good salary for a reporter/copy editor? Would $40,000 be ok?"

"I Need Help Choosing A Head Shot".

"Is there some kind of formula where you can look at what a pub is charging per-page for an ad and translate that into what they should be paying their writers per page?"

"How long do I stick it out here in New York waiting for the big break? How do I support myself in the meantime?"