A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

D_S: "To write a profile, do you really need to interview the subject in person? What if I don't want to travel? Is it possible to write such pieces based on phone or even e-mail interviews?"

candylilacs: "Email is never to be used as an interview technique. You can't hear intonation, don't understand who that person is and your quotes will be drier than the Mojave in May."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Doing profiles

Also: Subject line when pitching

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

pulp fiction: "Sooner or later -- actually, it's sooner, as my sanity's rapidly dwindling -- i'll be leaving my magazine job. problem is, it's my first real publishing staff job (i've worked it nearly a year), and i have no idea how to go about it."

WritingEd: "Agreed about the need to do this in-person. Having the letter prepared will help. Rather than focus on your plans, your reasons, etc. during the conversation, focus on how you will help the magazine transition. If you leave things in order you are much less likely to burn the bridge."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: When Winners Quit (How To Leave A Job With Grace?)

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

pentup: "I know that, in general, it's not good to submit a pitch for the same article to multiple outlets, but what about short stories? I've finally written one that I'm proud of and thought I'd sent it out. But it seems like all the places that publish fiction take months to get back to you."

catlondon: "Unless the publication says "No simultaneous submissions" send it everywhere you want. If it does get accepted, just make sure you alert everyone else you are withdrawing it from consideration."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Awkward interview question

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

mad fingers: "Recently wrote a story for a magazine I won't name. When I picked up the issue, I was mortified. The edit is awful. The piece peppered with sentences I didn't write, as well as grammatical errors and embarrassing redundancies. The story was long, so they cut it for space, but now the transitions are, to put it mildly, woeful."

Marie: "Unless there's factual errors that need correction, I would let this go. But if you get another assignment from this magazine, insist on seeing the edit befor it goes to print. Then you can tactfully bring up what you object to."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Really bad edit

Also: Burnt out or ready to move on?

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

fixxion: "I am an international student and will have to get [a working vises] in order to get a job in one of them. Condé Nast, TimeInc, Hearst and NicheMedia are the ones that interest me"

Foreigner: "I first came to the U.S. on a J1 visa, which was a paid "internship." I had to write an essay explaining how the visit would advance journalism in my home country and in the U.S. The idea was to offer cultural exchanges... I flew to the US for a vacation and hit the ground running, introducing myself to prospective employers, showing my clips."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Which Publishers sponsor H1 working visas?

Also: Subject line when pitching

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

Puzzled: "Recently I was commissioned to write a magazine feature that was to be one in a series (by various writers). I met the deadline for the first draft then never heard from the company again, despite the company saying, upfront, that they would send me back an edited version and require a final draft by a certian date, which passed nearly a month ago."

Metro Writer: "You should know the following: write for hire arrangements are awful, but you can still change the contract. Always strike out anything that doesn't give you something in return. Example: All rights."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: The sound of silence

Also: Negotiating salary

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

brooklynwriter2002: "NYC Councilmember James Oddo of Staten Island. Slammed the phone on me because I dared to ask him background questions on self-certification. Nice man. Any nasty interview subjects for y'all?"

caitlinkelly: "some health flack for the state in Albany, shouted at me -- shouted? -- when I was at the Daily News."

Chamsah: "Steve Buscemi once told my friend that her questions were stupid."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Nasty interview subjects

Also: Corporate writing

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

neugirl: "Does anyone know the best software to use for creating a website?"

anonamice: "mac's iweb is pretty easy to make sites. its hard uploading to your actual server, tho. id give a B, since its free..."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: Website building software

Also: Proposal for (second) non-fiction book

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

writesonwater: "What do you do when someone (say, 1 of 25 or 50 subjects interviewed) wants to read the part that applies to them before a BOOK is published? "

deadline: "I am writing my first book and offered to let my sources read chapters about them before it goes to print. The subject is sensitive, and they all do want the book written. However, it is their lives I am stepping into."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: When subjects want to read yr book first

Also: How to make the best of job rejection

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A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

ConfidentDesigner: "I have a current boss who is always referring to hiring 20-somethings (ie "cheaper") to take over major responsibilities in our dept. while two of my coworkers are over 40 and I am over 50... Has anyone experienced an age discrimination situation before and if so, how did you handle it?"

Marie: "Do not appoach HR. You want this guy to keep making these damaging comments, so that you can continue documenting them. I would consult a lawyer, which you'll need much more than HR if and when you're let go."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: On age discrimination

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