In five short years, entertainment reporter Jane Boursaw has gone from doing the typical freelancer thing — picking up gigs catch as catch can — to creating a series of syndicated columns that now run in more than 300 publications and Web sites nationwide. Boursaw, the author behind Reel Life with Jane, focuses on family films and TV shows, and her syndicated TV and movie reviews appear in regional and parenting publications nationwide. She’s also kept up a vibrant freelancing career, often penning profiles of child celebrities, including, most recently, a profile of Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere that appeared in American Eagle’s Latitudes magazine. The kicker? Boursaw is no typical Tinsel Town scribe. Instead, she does it all from her home near Traverse City, Michigan.
mediabistro.com caught up with Boursaw to ask her how she landed her syndication gigs and how she stays on top of the latest Hollywood shenanigans from 2,000 miles away.
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How did you get the idea to start covering Hollywood from Michigan?
I’ve always loved movies, TV and celebrities, and I had one of those “If I could do anything, what would it be?” moments. What I’m doing now is what I envisioned when I posed that question many years ago.
How did you get the idea to create a syndicated column?
I saw a need for a good family movie column for the many regional family publications in existence. I love family movies and enjoy seeing them with my own kids, so it seemed like a natural path for me.
How did you get started?
My first column was on MommaSaid.net, owned by Jen Singer (author of 14 Hours ‘Til Bedtime). Jen has been my loyal supporter from the beginning, and she was more than happy to launch my column on her wonderful parenting site.
Any false starts in getting this underway?
Not really. I think you just have to be patient and not expect that it will happen all at once. It takes a long time to establish yourself and build a presence in any given niche. I’ve never had a time when I had 50 new markets come in all at once. It’s more like two here, three there — the goal is to keep marketing all the time and building slow and steady.
| Always market yourself — try and do some sort of marketing every day. Keep building a good Web presence and keep networking in a lot of different areas. |
When did you start feeling like you had momentum?
Probably a couple of years ago. I hired a professional Web designer to redo my Web site, and that helped to solidify my brand, Reel Life With Jane, on the Web.
What’s the key to being a successful syndicator?
Always market yourself — try and do some sort of marketing every day. Keep building a good Web presence and keep networking in a lot of different areas. Aside from the syndicated column, I write for a variety of markets, providing TV, movie and celebrity content. All my articles and bios include a tagline with info on the syndicated column. So even if it’s a celebrity profile in Latitudes, an editor for a regional family publication might see my tagline and contact me about the syndicated column.
Which of your columns is the most successful?
The weekly family movie review — an in-depth review of a new family movie each week. Most regional family pubs have an online presence, and many use this review for their Web site. I think there was a need for an affordable, down-to-earth column that would tell parents which movies are OK — and not OK — for their kids. Parents can’t see every movie before their kids do. I have a responsibility to offer parents good info that they can trust. The MPAA ratings system isn’t always black and white, so there may be some PG-rated movies that aren’t appropriate for kids. That’s why my reviews include detailed content on profanity, violence, and sexual innuendo. It’s amazing how many PG-rated animated movies contain all of these elements.
What are editors looking for from a syndicator?
Someone who’s reliable, delivers clean copy on time all the time, and isn’t priced out of the ballpark. Most regional family publications don’t have a huge budget, and I’m happy to work within their budgets. I concentrate on building a good client base, so that I’m not dependent on a few markets to keep me solvent.
What’s hard about covering Hollywood from 2,000 miles away?
My particular niche doesn’t require me to live in LA or NYC. I’m well-connected within the industry, so I generally get intel regarding movies, TV shows and many celebrities before it reaches the general public anyway.
Do you ever get any pushback by folks in Hollywood, because you’re not on their home turf?
Never.
What’s the key to staying in the loop?
Being connected doesn’t necessarily mean living in LA or NYC. It means building good contacts with publicists, TV networks, and movie production and distribution companies. I’ve spent years doing that and feel like I have a pretty good handle on the inside track. Also try to diversify yourself as much as possible. During the past few years, I’ve focused on having a variety of clients. Good markets end all the time, for reasons beyond our control. You don’t ever want to be in a position of having all your eggs in one or two baskets.
You covered Spinal Tap actor Michael McKean from Michigan for a Southern California magazine. How come the editor didn’t just go with a local writer?
Editors are looking for good writers who deliver clean copy on time. I’m a phone call away from any celebrity, so I don’t think you necessarily have to meet with profile subjects face to face. Other than my Web site, I’m listed in a variety of places, including Freelance Success, ASJA, mediabistro.com, JournalismJobs, and others. All of my listings give editors a good idea of the types of work I do, and I still query editors with ideas, as well. I also belong to several online writers’ groups. Those give you a built-in networking community.
How do clients find you?
Many clients come to me through referrals from current clients or via my Web site. My Web designer has done a fabulous job of placing me high in the search engines, using keywords for my niche. But I’m always marketing, scanning job boards for new clients and possible gigs, and all my writing buddies send me job opportunities that seem like a good fit for me.
In addition to the three columns and assorted freelance assignments, you also contribute to five blogs (including your own Reel Life With Jane, Ruby Shoes, and Film Gecko). How do you find the time?
I’m really geeky when it comes to using lots of different tools to streamline my work, but it’s a necessity to keep track of everything. For overall planning, I use both a hard-copy calendar on my desk, as well as Franklin Covey’s PlanPlus on my computer. I use Google Reader to collect news items and intel from at least 300 sources every day. That keeps me up-to-date on the inside scoop from pubs like The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, IMDB.com and a variety of RSS feeds.
I use an offline editor (Windows Live Writer) for composing blog items, which streamlines the blogging process tremendously. That program allows you to easily compose blogs, add photos, videos, Amazon links, hyperlinks, tags and other necessities. Right now, I have five blogs on Windows Live Writer, each in their own file.
I use multiple spreadsheets to keep track of what’s been blogged where and how many blog posts I’ve done on any given day. More specifically, for FilmGecko.com, I have a spreadsheet with upcoming movies for the year, and each movie has a column for trailers, news items, interviews, casting news, previews, reviews, contests, etc. That way, I can know at a glance what I’ve covered for a given movie and what still needs to be covered.
Best Hollywood reporting moment?
I think a lot of people feel like celebrities live in another world from the rest of us. But all the celebs I’ve interviewed are just regular people with families, schoolwork, and jobs they go to every day. Because we see them in the press all the time, I think there’s a tendency to feel like they’re somehow different. But I haven’t found that to be the case. Most are friendly and down-to-earth and just trying to get by like the rest of us.
Tips for starting a syndicated column:
1. Offer options: I offer two versions of the syndicated column. The monthly version includes short synopses of upcoming family movies. The weekly column is a detailed review of a new family movie released each week. If there are no new theater releases, I’ll do a DVD review. I find that most editors like the monthly column for their print pub and the weekly for their Web site.
2. Market continually: I market all the time, usually every day, in one form or another. I send emails, scan writing job boards for family pubs, and work from a couple of reliable contact lists.
3. Work within their budgets: The rates for my syndicated family movie column vary from $5/mo. for really small pubs to $100/mo. for larger pubs. I’m OK with that. I’m here to serve them, not the other way around.
4. Offer them something they can’t find elsewhere: In my case, I have a particular voice to my writing that’s chatty and conversational. Again, I’m here to serve the clients and offer their readers something interesting they won’t find anywhere else: Me.
E.B. Boyd is a freelance writer based in San Francisco.
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