As a development executive for a reality television production company, I get dozens of submissions every week from people who want me to consider their show ideas, and every week I throw most of those ideas straight into the garbage. The company I work for, along with most production companies and television networks in Hollywood, does not accept unsolicited submissions. Most places won’t take a pitch seriously if it isn’t coming from someone they already know or who has solid credits under their belt. Breaking in as an outsider can be difficult and daunting, but there are ways that, with a lot of hard work and creativity, Hollywood newcomers can get past the unsolicited submissions barrier and get their shows into the hands of the right people.

Work hard and bounce back from rejection

As media jobs disappear by the thousands, some creative professionals may be thinking of diversifying their skill sets and trying to break into other arenas such as reality TV. If you’re serious about pitching a reality show, there is something you need to know before you start: There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are more experienced, more creative, better connected, and more qualified to sell a TV show than you are. It’s harsh, I know. I don’t say it to be discouraging, but rather as a reality check.

Think about it this way: The most successful producers in the industry spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on development staffs and research departments, they read ratings and trend reports, they have hit shows on the air, and despite all this, the ratio of shows they develop to what they sell is still minuscule. Jennifer Kulp is vice president of development for LMNO Productions, a longtime provider of reality and documentary TV, and also my employer. In LMNO’s case, Kulp says, “Probably one out of every 60 ideas we develop ever makes it to pilot. It’s an incredible ratio.”

Selling a reality TV show is hard — plain and simple. If you really want to make it happen, you must work hard and be prepared for rejection. Some of the biggest hits on the air, such as Survivor and Dancing With The Stars, were pitched for years before they were bought.

Find original ways to present your concept

I laugh every time someone prefaces their pitch by saying that I’ve never heard anything like it, because the chances are that I probably have. “There are no original ideas anymore,” says Kulp. “Just thousands of producers with different sensibilities who put their own spin on a concept.” In this increasingly competitive marketplace, you need so much more than just a good idea to succeed. “Ideas just aren’t enough,” Kulp continues. “Five years ago, a log line would sell a concept with a quick phone call. That is just not true anymore.” As an independent producer, you should not expect to sell a show based purely on the strength of an idea. While it’s not impossible, there are things you can do to improve the strength of your pitch and increase the odds of a development executive taking the time to look at your show.

Scout unforgettable talent

Without prior experience, a network or production company won’t have much reason to work with you, but if you bring them talent they want to be in business with, your appeal will improve dramatically. Tom Huffman, director of development at Shed Media US (formerly Ricochet, the company behind ABC’s Supernanny), says that when pitching reality, “You want to have some sort of asset attached to the project only you can secure, such as talent. If you can bring a network the next Roloff Family [from TLC’s Little People, Big World] you’ll receive your creator and/or EP [executive producer] credit and can launch the rest of your career from there.”

“Great tape goes a long way. It’s one thing to have a great idea or a great world, but it’s another if you can show me.”

Talent in a reality show can be anyone from a celebrity, an interesting family as Huffman discusses, a company (American Chopper, Miami Ink) or ordinary people who do extraordinary things (Deadliest Catch). There are great characters everywhere, and finding them is a great way to break into reality TV.

Prove your primetime potential with premium footage

There is no better way to convey the concept of a television show than with a short mini-pilot or “sizzle reel.” A five-minute DVD is a great way to introduce the idea of the show, present the talent in action, and to show off your vision as a producer. Joe Weinstock, director of original series at Spike TV, says that he receives an average of 20 pitches every week, and the best ones are those with a reel. “Great tape goes a long way,” Weinstock says. “It’s one thing to have a great idea or a great world, but it’s another if you can show me.” Make sure your reel is no longer than five or six minutes, because attention spans among TV professionals tend to be short.

Target your pitch to the appropriate person

Once you’re confident with your idea, talent, and tape, the next thing you should do is identify the appropriate networks your show could potentially sell to. Do this by watching TV, analyzing each network’s programming and by looking in trade journals such as The Hollywood Reporter and Variety to see what projects the networks are buying. Secondly, make a list of similar shows that are on the air and find the production companies that produce these shows. You can find the producer either in the end credits if you’re watching the show on TV or on IMDB.com. To find the people that work at these companies, find a copy of The Hollywood Creative Directory or look on subscription-based Web sites such as StudioSystem.com and CableU.tv for their contact information.

You’re more likely to talk your way into the doors of production companies than those of the networks. Even in the event that a network executive is interested in your show, they are not going to trust a first-time producer with hundreds of thousands of dollars of their development money. Because of this, my advice is to start with the development departments at the production houses.

Work the phones to snare a response

Do not waste your time with mass emails or mailers: Blind submissions via email and snail mail are passive and won’t get you anywhere. You are more likely to get a response over the phone. You may have to call multiple times or charm assistants in order to get a call back, but if you are polite and persistent, you should be able to get someone to speak to you.

Once you get in touch with the person you want to pitch, be courteous, enthusiastic, and make sure to listen to any suggestions they give you. Don’t exaggerate your experience or connections. Most people who do development have good B.S. meters. Be honest about who you are, why you chose to develop the project, and ask if they will take five minutes to hear you out or review your pitch materials.

Make your presence known at industry events

A tactic better than cold-calling is meeting people and forming relationships within the industry. Alan Moore, an agent in the reality department at the Agency for Performing Arts (APA), encourages anyone looking to break into television to start networking. Moore says, “If you don’t know anyone, the best place to get feedback and possibly get noticed is at pitch festivals.” There are various events throughout the year, most in Los Angeles, where executives from networks and production companies, agents, and managers come to hear pitches from any hopeful producer who signs up. These pitch festivals are similar to speed dating: Typically the “pitcher” gets five minutes to share their idea with the “catcher”, then, a notice is given and the pitchers change tables. This is a great way to capture the ear of industry professionals and make great business relationships.

The two largest pitch festivals are put on by the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), and Fade In magazine. Both festivals consist of speakers, panel discussions, networking events, pitch coaching, and the Pitch Pits. The West Coast Documentary and Reality Conference, or WestDoc, is a new festival that advertises all the same offerings. The Junior Hollywood Radio & Television Society (JHRTS) is another group that holds various panel discussions and networking events throughout the year in Los Angeles.

Know what to negotiate for and expect a realistic payout

If you do end up selling an idea to a production company, expect to enter into an option agreement with the company for your idea. In these deals, the producer should get two to five percent of the production budget based on experience, what you bring to the table, and how badly the company wants the show. In addition, you should negotiate for a piece of the “back end” — profits generated from the show after it airs, i.e. DVD sales, merchandising, etc. Getting money upfront, known as an option fee, is unusual for greener producers, so don’t expect to get paid until the show sells to a network and goes into production. With reality budgets ranging from $100,000 an episode for low-end cable to more than $1 million for broadcast network shows, you’re looking at earning anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000 per episode of your produced reality show.

Creating and selling reality TV shows is a tough business, but in success it can be a fun and lucrative way to make a living.

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Jeremiah Smith is a development executive for LMNO Productions in Los Angeles, as well as a freelance writer. He blogs at PretendYouDontCare.com.

It’s no secret that times are tough and perhaps no more so than in the media industry. Every day, it seems that news of more media company layoffs, mergers or bankruptcies are becoming fodder for hallway, cafeteria, water cooler and watering hole conversation.

Worried media professionals who are either already without a job or fear the worst are turning to new sources of income, often turning to long-forgotten or cast-aside passions. Fortunately, forced to think creatively about revenue options, many are coming up with unique and innovative ways to make, or augment, a living.

Pursue your passion, in a different medium
Trishann Couvillion, an event photographer, says that when 2009 hit, many clients began to pull back upcoming contracts for event work. “So, I’ve decided to hold workshops teaching various aspects of photography,” she says. “Teaching has always been of interest, and I’m finding that in this tough economy, people are more interested in educating themselves and are focused on indulging in areas of interest that — prior to this year — [they] did not have the time to pursue.” That’s been a financial boon for her: “This is the perfect time to gain income teaching.”

“I have a degree in PR and journalism, as well as music. Recently, I’ve had to rely on my music gigs more than my agency paycheck.”

Some endeavors are even more far afield from original media careers: Vladimir Lapin has worked at a midsize public relations and marketing firm in Purchase, N.Y., for two years. Last month, the entire staff took a pay cut. To make ends meet, Lapin has turned to singing! “I’ve been getting more and more gigs as a classical singer, especially in churches,” he says. “I have a degree in PR and journalism, as well as music. Recently, I’ve had to rely on my music gigs more than my agency paycheck.”

Chad Clinton Freeman spent 15 years in the newspaper business, but was recently the victim of a buyout and has been looking for employment. In the meantime, he says, “I decided to take the opportunity to follow a lifelong dream of becoming a filmmaker.” Based in Las Vegas, Freeman recently announced the launch of his production company, Polly Staffle Films. It’s a company that produces material “from the dark side,” Freeman says. Freeman originally built a following through a Web site, PollyStaffle.com, generating more than 100,000 visitors a month. The site has become a haven for “filmmakers on the edge.” Although he says he can’t divulge any details at this time, his current project has “a top director of photography with multiple feature films under his belt, a talented special effects/makeup department, an editor with two features, a rapidly rising Scream Queen, a super fantastic location, cool stuff for the soundtrack and a number of other talented people on the cast and crew.”

Find inspiration in difficult times

Job loss itself can serve as the basis for new ideas and opportunities. Jason Rivera launched SlipSquad.com, a “source for pink slip parties” based in San Francisco, after “reading the many articles regarding the growing trend of layoffs,” he says. “Slip Squad is a way for me to ‘pay it forward’ to the millions greatly affected by the global economic crisis. It is a light, casual community where individuals can share their touching stories, share a laugh, find a job, sharpen their resume and connect with local professionals.” He says the Web site is “dedicated to all the recovering robots,” adding, “I want to make sure these people ‘reboot with dignity’ and jump right back into the workforce as soon as possible.”

As CEO of Slip Squad, Rivera says he has personally experienced the ups and downs of the strenuous layoff process but feels that “difficult times can inspire one to pursue lifelong goals.”

“Business owners are wary of investing in large-scale PR efforts, so I was forced to find other ways of providing affordable services to help market small-budget businesses during a recession.”

Of course, these days, a number of recent graduates who have not yet even held a “real job” find themselves in limbo while the market continues to tighten. What to do? Rachel Keslensky, who graduated in December 2008, is working on freelance artwork and a weekly Web comic called Last Res0rt, about Jigsaw Forte, “a young vampire playing in a deadly reality show with several dangerous criminals, all vying for survival.” Keslensky has been drawing the comic at the rate of a page a week and figures she’ll be close to having a first volume ready for release as a book later this year.

David Garland, CEO of The Rise to the Top says, “I’ve noticed that there is certainly a trend towards media professionals becoming entrepreneurs right out of college.” Garland writes, produces and hosts a TV show, and his entire workforce is built of “young, independent contractors in the areas of video, design, Web, editing,” and more. “These media professionals are ready to take on any project on a per-project basis, which has led from a progression of just doing a TV show to being able to handle any project with our team of professionals.” It allows, he says, “everyone to make a nice income in a crazy way.”

Adapt your array of services
Others are finding revenue streams by thinking creatively about different ways of offering their services.

When Natasha Biasell graduated from college, she got a job working “for a reputable PR firm in Los Angeles.” Then she moved to Napa, Calif., where, she says, “there are virtually no PR firms or PR jobs outside the wine industry.” Two years ago, she started her own PR consulting business and was successful for a time. “But the recent economic downturn has made it increasingly difficult to attract new clients,” she says. “Business owners are wary of investing in large-scale PR efforts, so I was forced to find other ways of providing affordable services to help market small-budget businesses during a recession.” She’s come up with a number of alternative options to her traditional service offerings: Pay-per-placement PR (“you only pay a stipend fee; if I actually garner editorial coverage in the media.”); low-cost, effective, Google AdWords accounts based on any budget; creating e-newsletters and targeted marketing emails; drafting and distributing SEO press releases; updating Web and other content.

The keys to success, say those who have followed their dreams, are: Being forced to do it, being willing to take a risk, and not giving up. It is possible that these are the best times to pursue “crazy dreams.” As Freeman notes, “historically, many of the most successful companies have started in recessions. “Take a negative and make it into a positive. That’s a theme I love in movies, and that’s exactly what I have decided to do.”

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Lin Grensing-Pophal is a freelance business journalist and independent marketing communication consultant.

Unless you have been living on a deserted island with no Wi-Fi connection, you know that news is increasingly being consumed by online audiences. As evidence, look no further than the decline of print newspapers and their evolution to online content delivery. It makes sense then for media professionals to explore the potential behind serving up important media events online, too.

This spring, we saw President Barack Obama hold an interactive public press conference on the White House Web site — the first of any presidential administration — that solicited questions from citizens (the press were not allowed to participate). This type of virtual outreach will no doubt serve as a model for media professionals who are seeking to test the possibilities of “new media” events. So, how do you launch a successful online news conference?

Before you can answer that question, you will need to first weigh a variety of strategic and tactical questions to make sure this approach is suitable for your particular announcement or media event. Many of those considerations boil down to who your audience is and how to control your message — already the hallmarks of good media relations planning.

Prepare for a greater level of unpredictability

David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing, and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly, believes holding a news conference online is an ideal way to spread your message far and wide. But be prepared for a greater level of unpredictability in how information trickles down through the various media channels for consumption.

“I’m just a huge believer in, I use this phrase, ‘organizations losing control,’ and that requires from the strategic perspective casting the net a lot further than most people usually have done, and further than a lot of organizations at this stage are comfortable doing,” says Meerman Scott.

This, of course, means opening up the online press forum to non-mainstream media. “Meaning the people who are attending are not just people who are going to listen politely, ask a few questions, and go back and write up a broadcast or story after having thought about it a while,” says Meerman Scott. “That challenge is a little bit difficult for some organizations that are used to exerting control over their messaging to get their arms around [it].”

Part of what’s behind the notion of “losing control of the message” is the inherent dynamic nature of online mediums; bloggers and social networking gadflies can easily tune into an online news conference and live blog or Tweet about it as it is happening, says Meerman Scott.

“Traditional press conferences have expectations that have been built over decades that cannot be forgotten: feeling of exclusivity, real interaction, a sense of community with other journalists. Those expectations need to be ported over into the online environment.”

Scott Schneider, director of Ruder Finn Interactive, acknowledges this risk — the potential to lose control of your message — and says the online news conference model may not be for everyone. “In this case, it really depends on the sector or industry you are working in. Some sectors simply tend to be more sensitive than others and information access needs more control, therefore that raises issues online,” he says.

Promote participation on a global level

Other strategic considerations involve the advantages the medium itself offers. Key advantages of going digital with your news conference are “convenience and geographic irrelevance for the attendees,” Schneider says. Media professionals and amateurs alike are “very busy, so anything that can help attendance is a plus,” he says.

Meerman Scott agrees. “I think what’s so exciting about something like this is that people can participate from anywhere, and that means there may be people who would be compelled to participate who the organization doesn’t even know,” he says.

One downside to the online news conference format is the loss of the “in-person” camaraderie to which the media are accustomed. Schneider says that “traditional press conferences have expectations that have been built over decades that cannot be forgotten: feeling of exclusivity, real interaction, a sense of community with other journalists. Those expectations need to be ported over into the online environment.”

But the opportunity to spread your message beyond traditional news outlets may override the storied history behind typical news conferences. As a blogger himself at WebInkNow.com, Meerman Scott opines about online media strategy to an audience of approximately 20- to 30,000. “If I’m not invited to a news conference, but then I happen to see it happening because I find it on Google through a search, or somebody Tweets about it and I find out about it that way and I participate, that’s providing the organizers with a potential audience that they didn’t even think about. So it has a really good opportunity to spread the exposure to what it is the organization wants to say beyond their known media.”

Know how your audience consumes content

For Scott Monty, global digital and multimedia communications manager at Ford Motor Company, it’s all about knowing your audience. He suggests media and PR professionals make sure that the people they are trying to reach are in fact connected online. It may be obvious to say, but many media professionals who get caught up in the buzz and novelty of social networking and Webcasting could easily overlook that key piece of online press conference planning. “There is no sense in spending your time doing that if you are not going to have any kind of effect,” he says.

Monty, who advises on all strategy involving social media activities at Ford, also suggests determining how your audience likes to consume their online content. “If you are going to do an online news conference, make your content is available in as many media as possible. People are busy these days and some like to consume audio content so they can multi-task,” for example, he says.

That could mean making the old-fashioned press release available online next to the link to the news conference Webcast, along with perhaps an audio podcast of the media event. “You need to, again, assess what your audience is capable of, what they expect, and provide it to them,” Monty says.

Design a smart moderating plan

If you choose to open up your online news conference to the world, it is important to have a plan in place on how to moderate questions. Scott suggests designating a moderator — or two — on the media relations team whose job it is to monitor all incoming Web-based questions from email, Twitter, instant messenger, and the like and field them to the spokesperson. That same person or another team member should monitor the phone line or the actual room where the news conference is taking place for questions if it’s also being done in a live setting.

Either way, “I think it is a really good idea to ask a question that came in from a blogger or that came in from somebody on an online channel so that it’s clear to bloggers that this organization is open to answering questions from anybody,” Meerman Scott says.

“The ‘nuts and bolts’ do seem trivial at first, but much like anything, it is the user experience that can make or break the event, so these can’t be seen as ‘just details.'”

In an era of tight travel budgets, media professionals may also appreciate the “economic efficiency” of online press conferences, whether they choose to target just a few media outlets, or spread their message far and wide.

“You cut down on the travel costs of journalists who have to attend your event, who would usually storm the podium after, say, an executive gives a talk,” Monty says. In terms of setup, online press conferences are really no different than quarterly conference calls that are commonly conducted by companies to report their financial statements, he says, with analysts queued up on the phone to ask questions.

Technical tools and logistics

Technically-speaking, when launching an online news conference, it is not critical to have a video component, but it helps in making the media event that much more “live.” Work closely with your information technology department to set up the capability to stream video, or, if you are on a tight budget and doing this solo, investigate free streaming Web sites such as Ustream.tv or CamStreams.com.

“The ‘nuts and bolts’ do seem trivial at first, but much like anything, it is the user experience that can make or break the event, so these can’t be seen as ‘just details,'” Schneider says.

Other logistical requirements include a unique URL to promote, and if you want to track attendance, a place for reporters to register their RSVP. If you want the conference to be exclusive, set it up so a password is required to gain entry to the URL.

There are no hard and fast rules that always apply to how to set up the online press conference, Schneider says. Each organization or company will have its own individual needs and limitations, since logistical considerations such as screening, moderation, and broadcast options depend on available budget and resources.

Having a support network in place that will not be overwhelmed if attendance exceeds expectations is also important. “Details of closed online events can easily be leaked online via Twitter and other tools, so it’s important to consider,” Schneider says.

Is an online press conference an advantageous business decision?

Launching a press conference online is clearly good for democracy, but is it good for business?

“There is no question in my mind that getting information out quickly and with transparency is a really good thing. But I would give some thought to what is the kind of news that you are trying to get out there and is this method the right method to get that information out there,” Scott says.

“I can imagine a company, if they had to deliver a bad earnings report, they’d have to think twice if about whether they want to open up this channel. I would still recommend doing it because you get the information out more quickly, you show that you are willing to answer those questions, and you show that you are willing to answer them of anybody, not just hand-picked people. But that’s certainly a consideration of whether that’s the right approach for all organizations.”

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Jennifer Pullinger is a Richmond, Va.-based writer and communications professional with more than 10 years of experience in marketing, media relations, and journalism.

One of the first mentors I had when I started freelance writing gave me some excellent advice. Like most young freelancers, I wanted nothing more than to pen features for all the best magazines, but my mentor didn’t pitch to these idolized books, unlike many of her similarly-abled peers. According to her, editors at many of these popular publications wouldn’t respond to her pitches.

Of course, I was familiar with the process of months and months of following up on pitches by email and phone that probably borders on stalking. But my mentor knew that her hours spent working at her desk were highly valuable, and she wasn’t going to do the things that freelancers often do to try to up their chances of being published in the best books, like pitching to editors who don’t respond to pitches they’re not interested in, corresponding with editors who always want to see more research on ideas outlined in pitches but also don’t respond if they’re not intrigued by the pages of research you just turned in, or working with editors who routinely require that front-of-book pieces be rewritten three times.

So many freelance writers, raised with the mantra of “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again,” keep pitching to editors at their favorite publications, even if it may be a waste of work hours. So, what’s a savvy freelancer to do?

Overcome freelancer frustrations

Stephanie Nolasco, a widely-published New York-based freelance writer, hasn’t seen success — or clips — come effortlessly. “There have been times where I’ve pitched some great ideas to well-known publications. Although I followed up via email… I didn’t receive a response. A few months later, my idea was featured in their magazine, but with a different twist. Recently, I composed an 800-word story and submitted it to a publication that was expecting it. After all that writing and research, nothing! It was such a frustrating situation to be in.”

Nolasco understands that editors have tons of responsibilities and that they are often strapped for free time at the office, “but writers should also get the same respect for discovering overlooked stories, researching, battling writers block, editing for hours, and finally submitting [the piece]. If editors want to build a solid relationship with a particular writer, they need to recognize the worth and value of their work.” Nolasco thinks that it’s important for editors to send freelancers a quick “no” on a pitch and write a simple email to explain why an on-spec story or an assignment was killed. “Writers are passionate and eager people who’re ready to collaborate with their editors, but this can only be done successfully if the chance is given.”

Make the most of your work hours

Michelle Goodman, the author of My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire, thinks it’s important for writers to understand what they want out of their careers so they can pitch accordingly. “If there’s a writing credit that you really want, a highly coveted publication — they know that they are that and if their editors have a reputation for putting freelancers through the ringer, there may not be that much you can do to combat that. You have to just keep pitching cold if you really want it. But there are so many credits out there!”

“I contact editors from all my favorite magazines, briefly introduce myself via email, and submit some clips that best reflect the magazine’s voice. I then begin pitching ideas to them in a week.”

Goodman recommends that writers develop relationships with a number of editors who they can regularly work on stories with… and if freelancers feel so inclined, they can reserve a limited number of work hours working on cold pitches for vaunted publications that are much harder sells. “You can spend four hours doing the minimal amount of research for a pitch and nothing might happen. This is something I would only do every few weeks.” To Goodman, cold pitches are generally a “no” for writers who want to see major results coming from their work days. “I am not someone who does a lot of cold pitches. I know they work and I have done it before, but I am put off by the whole process. I would rather pitch an editor that I have a connection to — and I know there’s that conundrum.”

Stephanie Nolasco also sees that networking gives her a better chance of getting assignments. “I contact editors from all my favorite magazines, briefly introduce myself via email, and submit some clips that best reflect the magazine’s voice. I then begin pitching ideas to them in a week… I often set up informational meetings [with editors] over lunch (where I buy!) or in their offices, where I ask them questions about how they got started in journalism, and for advice on pitching for that magazine…” Nolasco senses that this proactive approach bumps up her chances of getting published.

Give overworked mag staffs some credit

“As frustrating as it is waiting to hear back from editors, I really can’t be upset with them,” says Rachel, a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer who has worked on staff at various regional and national magazines and newspapers. “Magazines are just so understaffed that there really is no way for editors to respond quickly to all queries. Rachel recalls that when she was on staff at one magazine, she would “feel so sick” when she looked at the huge stack of papers in the submissions basket. “There was nothing I could do. We were on deadline! I recommend that magazines just hire a batch of interns whose primary responsibility is to read and answer pitches.”

Brian Parks, the arts and culture editor at the Village Voice, receives between 20 and 25 pitches every week from new writers and tries his best to correspond with them: “I like to be as responsive as possible. But I honestly do not have the time to respond to all the pitches and other emails and calls I receive — I’d spend all my day emailing and not doing the rest of my editing job. In general, I’d say it’s fine to follow up if you have not heard back from an editor, but never to nag, which is counterproductive. If an editor has not replied to you after a couple emails, just accept that as a ‘no’ and move on,” he says. However, Parks is very sympathetic to writers trying to break into their favorite NYC-based publications: “Know that it’s hard to break in, not because the papers and sites are being snobby, but because we receive many more pitches than we could ever accommodate.” Parks recommends working as an intern or a fact-checker, as a gig like this is a “solid way to become familiar with both that publication and the general NYC scene, and is a good way to make contacts.”

But, there is an upside to the freelancer’s dilemma: Writers are continuously getting new clips at the best publications, and someone has to write for them. Perhaps the issue here is that it isn’t impossible to be a widely-published freelance writer, but no one ever said it was going to be easy.

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Liz Funk is a Manhattan-based freelance writer who has written for USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, and CosmoGIRL!. Her first book, Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls, was published by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone/Fireside imprint in March 2009.

Congratulations — you’ve published a nonfiction book. But so have thousands of other writers this month alone. And with the explosion of self-publishing options in the last few years, putting your book on Amazon is like placing your prized needle in a haystack. More accurately, it’s like placing your hay in a haystack. So how do you get your book exposure beyond your Mom’s reading club and your own list of Facebook friends? The good news is that most authors don’t know how to aggressively publicize their own books, or even that they should, so there’s plenty of opportunity to separate yourself from the stack.

First, don’t rely on your assigned publicist to do your marketing for you. Unless you’re already famous, your publicist is about as reliable as that slacker lab partner you had in high school. Your book’s best publicist is you. Think about it: You’re the person most passionate and knowledgeable about the material. You’re the person most invested in the book’s success, and you’re the person editors most want to hear from, not your publicist. So let your publicist do his/her thing if you have one, but also get busy yourself.

The following five tips (six if you add “write a damn good book!”) were culled from my experiences as a new author, a public relations executive, an author publicity consultant, and a mediabistro.com instructor in this area. The success of your publicity campaign is directly related to how much time and effort you personally put into it. But spend that time wisely.

1. It’s not about getting people to buy your book; it’s about getting people to promote it

Sure, you can sell a few copies at a bookstore signing, but if you want to reach people en masse, you need to find individuals and media entities with built-in audiences, or as they say in the publishing business, platforms: bloggers, podcasters, magazine and newspaper editors, and radio and television producers. When you find them, remember…

2. Don’t sell your book; sell your mission

No one in the media is interested in selling your book for you, unless you have blood family in the media. Professional and amateur book reviewers will review your book if they feel so inclined, but your book has to get in a very long and competitive line. For the rest of the media world, you need to sell them on something more instantly interesting then the book itself: your mission. If you haven’t already defined a mission, consider how your book uniquely and superlatively counsels people, fixes an institution, saves the world, enlightens the public, or performs some compelling function other than holding up short table legs and pressing flowers. A mission implicitly sells your book, while a description merely describes it, so work your mission into all of your marketing materials. When your mission is ready for prime time…

3. Turn your mission into a sellable article

Put your writer’s hat back on and create a 500-word personal essay, list of tips, Top 10 list, or a self-quiz that showcases your mission and/or expertise. These pieces, unlike your book pitch, are appealing (and sellable) to local and national newspapers, magazines, media Web sites, and some radio shows. You can then mention (and link to) your book in your byline. Having clips like these instantly improves your media credibility. Some editors advertise their editorial needs on Web sites like HARO.com (Help a Reporter Out) and PitchRate.com. I recommend registering for these free sites to catch publishing opportunities. Remember: Any media mention is a marketing ally. And speaking of marketing allies…

4. The Web is your friend, but that doesn’t mean you need to start a blog

Start by creating your own book Web page using a free or low-cost Web-building site (I use Yahoo, but there are others). You should also create a Facebook fan page, and “suggest” it to as many people as possible. If you don’t know how to do that, consult your teenage kid, a friend’s teenage kid, or a nearby college intern (and get used to some eye-rolling).

On your Web site, place your book cover, your blurbs, your bio, and your description. Then, purchase low-cost URLs for that page using keywords related to your mission (not just your book title). For my book of collected essays on divorced fatherhood, for example, I bought “divorceddadbook.com” from GoDaddy. Insert key language as many places on the page as possible, and link back to this page on all of your published work and marketing materials. This is how I got my book’s Web site at the top of Google search results for “divorced dad book.”

5. Don’t work for the blogosphere; put the blogosphere to work for you

Unless you’ve been blogging for a year with an established and loyal audience, it’s just not worth it to start a blog from scratch. That’s just more hay in the haystack. But established bloggers, especially those focusing on your niche (the niche-ier, the better) need a steady diet of new ideas to talk about. Often, bloggers will take a free book PDF in exchange for a link, a mention, a review, an interview, or something else that’ll help promote your book to their key audience. And their key audience is your key audience. All you have to do is find them.

In my case, I researched and found bloggers who focused on fatherhood and parenthood, pitched them (armed only with a PDF, my credits, and my email charm), and was eventually featured in many of the most popular parenting blogs on the Internet. Remember: the point is not to get bloggers to buy your book; the point is to have them promote it, so don’t be hesitant to send a PDF or a galley copy.

When you finished writing your book, you became more than an author; you earned a graduate degree in your book’s subject, and became a foremost expert in your book’s mission. It’s your job and — for the most part — your job alone to leverage that status to get your book the kind of recognition you’ve already spent so much of your writing time fantasizing about.

So roll up those sleeves again, hit that laptop, grab your pitchfork, and be your own best publicist.

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Joel Schwartzberg is an award-winning freelance essayist and author of The 40-Year-Old Version: Humoirs of a Divorced Dad.

In the business world, you often hear people say, “It’s just business.”

In the world of journalism, the business of reporting and writing about business can mean big business. More specifically, those who can find a niche covering business topics can uncover a wealth of writing and career opportunities.

That’s what four writers from across the country have done, utilizing their experience as reporters, writers and editors to move into careers covering the business of real estate, finance and sports for prominent local and national publications. While all four have vastly different backgrounds, they share a common bond: They believe that the same traits that make a reporter good are the same no matter what topic you are covering, and they all started out in another aspect of journalism or business, honing and developing their craft and abilities, before transferring over into the specific niche they have been able to turn into a rewarding career.

Seek out your specialty on the job

Mary Umberger is a Chicago-based freelance writer and real estate reporter who spent 30 years at the Chicago Tribune before taking a buyout last year. She still writes a weekly real estate column for the Tribune and also contributes to the Los Angeles Times, St. Petersburg Times and Inman.com, a real estate news Web site. She also does twice-weekly real estate news spots on WGN radio in Chicago.

She spent about two-thirds of her career at the Tribune as an editor before taking a real estate writing job there. “I thought the beat would be short-term and that I would move into general features writing,” says Umberger. “Turned out, I really liked covering real estate.”

Umberger is a self-described “house person” and says there are plenty of people like her out there who find the whole topic and all its permutations to be fascinating. But she still thinks her experience as an editor (she was a copy editor, ran a copy desk, worked as an assistant in some features sections and was editor in chief of two features sections at the Trib) served as the training grounds for her move to a business writing niche in real estate.

“As an editor, I re-wrote so much bad writing by other people that I developed a strong sense of what works and what doesn’t, about pacing and style.”

“Make yourself able to converse confidently with the experts in the field when you interview them. They’ll remember that you knew something about their business, because a lot of reporters approach them cold.”

Umberger says one can learn a lot about the business of real estate and what consumers experience by writing service-oriented how-to stories: how to apply for a mortgage, how to pick a neighborhood. But they get old quick, she says.

Parlay your existing skills to make the transition

“What turns it into an interesting beat is writing about the people,” says Umberger. “I never tried to be Mike Royko; I just wanted to write readable stories.”

That’s what Richard Koreto, a Tallman, New York-based freelance journalist, has done during his more than 20 years covering the financial industry. Koreto admits his entry into financial writing was almost an accident: He wanted to move into magazine work, and the job he got was at the Journal of Accountancy, a publication for CPAs. He started as a copy editor and eventually became a staff writer and editor. As Koreto progressed, he wasn’t shy about asking questions, and he started researching the technical details of the business to learn additional and more in-depth skills.

“It shows you can get into a new field with some work and luck,” says Koreto. “My background was not business-related at all. I was an English and Latin major and never even took a college-level business or economics course.”

Now his background includes stints as editor-in-chief of Wealth Manager, executive editor of Financial Planning, and senior editor of the Journal of Accountancy. Koreto’s work on Financial-Planning.com earned him a Gold Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Network and research to prove your chops

Umberger has long been associated with the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE), and the networking opportunities and connections she has made through that industry has led to additional freelance opportunities and the chance to connect with speakers and other who have turned into terrific sources.

“If you don’t have the writing ability, you’ll blend into the wall in a very short period,” she says. “You’d get the real estate and business knowledge over time, but you have to be able to give it a little jazz to make the topic readable.”

Koreto agrees. “In these times, you have to show you have the knowledge,” he says. “I was fortunate in having a patient editor who let me get up to speed. At most publications, especially today, you’re expected to hit the ground running. No one wants to spend time explaining the difference between a “put” and a “call.” Fortunately, there are a lot of business and investing books out there. If you want to get into financial reporting and already have good experience as a journalist, get yourself up to speed before you start interviewing or pitching ideas.”

Maury Brown, president of Portland, Ore.-based Bizball LLC and founder and president of the Business of Sports Network, a series of expansive resources, dedicated to the business of sports, echoes Koreto’s sentiments.

Both passionate and knowledgeable about sports and the business of sports, Brown has combined the two into a professional writing, research and consulting career. Brown assisted the MLB To Portland effort, which included a group of Portland-based business leaders attempting to help the Montreal Expos relocate to Portland earlier this decade. He is also the former co-chair of SABR’s Business of Baseball committee, a contributor to Baseball Prospectus, was formerly on the staff of The Hardball Times, writes occasionally at Maury Brown’s Biz of Sports and has contributed to numerous sports-related books.

“In many ways, I’m a researcher, first and foremost, that happened to be an opinionated researcher,” says Brown. “I have always believed that sports outside the lines was as important as what was occurring on the field. The business side is becoming more and more of interest to the average fan. Hopefully, we’re making the content entertaining enough to bring in a broad audience.”

“There are a lot of sports economists that know a heck of a lot more than I do, but when I read their work, it comes across as targeted to academics.”

When not doing consulting work, Brown says he could write five to 10 articles per day. That honed his writing skills, and always produced the fresh content readers of his Web sites wanted. He gave them a reason to return.

Brown has never covered “just” sports or “just” business — his career has always tied the two together. But his knowledge of sports and interest in the business side of things has been the key to his success.

“There are a lot of sports economists that know a heck of a lot more than I do, but when I read their work, it comes across as targeted to academics,” says Brown. “There is certainly a much needed place for that, but the ability to express yourself at the fan level is very valuable. As far as sports and business as separate, they seemed fused together — joined at the hip. I would say that knowing sports business is critical while having a broad understanding of business and sports separate, as well.”

Bill King, a senior writer for special projects for the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) in Charlotte, North Carolina, took the traditional path to a career in sports journalism. He attended the University of Florida and earned a journalism degree. Upon graduation in the mid 1980’s, he took a job at the Tampa Tribune and covered among other things, Florida Gators sports, the Florida Marlins and the Orlando Magic. He also wrote feature stories and columns. As he put it, it was everything he wanted to do since he was 10 years old.

But in 1998, he gave up the life of a sports writer to move into a career covering the business of sports for the Sports Business Journal. He gave up working nights and weekends covering the biggest sporting events, to working daytime hours covering the business side of the world of sports. He came to the SBJ as the only sports writer who didn’t have a business writing background. The rest of the staff were business writers hired to cover the business of sports.

“In a game, there is a score. Well, a company’s quarterly financial reports have a score — it’s up by this much revenue, or down this much revenue. It’s reporting, just with different subject matter in different ways.”

But that didn’t hinder King and his quest to succeed in this profession. “The biggest thing is that it’s all storytelling,” says King. “Those are two tools and skills anyone needs to succeed regardless of what you are covering or writing about. In my opinion, a good journalist should be able to cover a court case, a commission meeting, or a fire for that matter, just as well as they can a sporting event or business issue. In this case, sports and business is just the topic; you apply the same skills, just in a different way.”

To help learn his craft, King read The Wall Street Journal — something he still does every day. He read what other business journalists were writing and reporting about and noted what was good, what stood out, and what he needed to improve on.

“In a game, there is a score,” says King. “Well, a company’s quarterly financial reports have a score — it’s up by this much revenue, or down this much revenue. It’s reporting, just with different subject matter in different ways.”

Understanding sports and business can lead to a career in sports business reporting, but when it all comes down to it, understanding basic reporting and writing skills is what will get one started in this career, whether it be sports, finance or real estate, says King.

“Do your research, check your facts, be accurate [and] fair, and tell the story. That’s all it is.”

Five tips on how to succeed as a niche business reporter:

1. Pick a beat — and learn all you can about it. “Pick a beat — it doesn’t have to be housing — and drill down, read everything you can that’s in an industry’s trade journals,” says Umberger. “Make yourself able to converse confidently with the experts in the field when you interview them. They’ll remember that you knew something about their business, because a lot of reporters approach them cold. They’ll return your calls and let you in on their news first.”
2. Network, network, network. “Yes, you have to be good at your job, but with so many layoffs and cutbacks, it’s become mostly about personal contacts,” says Koreto, who pays $50 per year to belong to the New York Financial Writers’ Association. “Nervous editors only work with those they know, or who are recommended by people they know. I pitched one publication (not a large or prestigious one) on topics I had a lot of experience in. They told me they wouldn’t even talk to me about writing unless I took a long and elaborate test that essentially meant I wrote them a free article. It’s heavily about networking and personal connection today.”
3. Learn how to write quickly — and for the Web. “Everything is moving online,” says Koreto. “People want their business and financial information right away. If you can show you have Web writing skills, you will be ahead of others, even if your experience is in another subject.”
4. Learn the trade first, and worry about money second. Brown says don’t get into sports business for money — there is not a pot of gold at the end of it, so do it because you enjoy it. In time, the money will come. “I love the color of it — the ever-changing hue of sports,” he says. “The intense drama that sports has, and how it is a thread that has flowed through generations that gets passed down. When tying it to business, you get larger-than-life characters running franchises, and players making millions of dollars. It’s an intoxicating elixir for me. If you are patient, driven, and knowledgeable, a paycheck will follow.”
5. Be prepared for a transition period. In King’s opinion, the transition to a sports business reporter is easier for the sports writer than it is for the business writer who needs to learn the sports aspect of things. “I always felt it was a benefit to know the history of the sports and be up to date on who the big names, players and successes were,” he said. “When talking to executives in the sport, it always gives me something to talk about, something to bridge any gaps in the discussions. If you don’t know your sports or aren’t up to date on what’s happening, you might sound like you don’t know what you are talking about even if you know the business side. That might change the way they perceive you.”

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Matt Krumrie is a freelance writer and communications professional.

I’ll get right to the point: PR is not the dark side any more.

As a reporter for a plethora of publications in the hard-to-remember ’80s, I do recall titters from my colleagues when I defected to PR. I had to make more money and I couldn’t cope with holier-than-thou editors. I’d written for USA Today, New York Daily News, The New York Times, Crains NY, Editor & Publisher, Us… and all I got was a T-shirt that said, “Someone read my article.”

A lot of PR peers were once reporters who failed in the new gig because PR was immoral or beneath them (don’t get me started!). You have to think of yourself in the highest esteem to make it as a journalist — I get it — but in order to make the leap into public relations, just cut out that attitude with a scalpel. If you want to be great and make money, you need to passionate about the work. And you just can’t fake passion — unless you’re in porn.

Ever since I switched teams, I have met PR folks who started sentences with, “Back when I was a reporter…” Most were let go from reporting duties by slimming corporations. But some proved to not be so good at either profession.

To do well in the PR industry, you need to make a tough job look easy. You’ve got to have many balls in the air at one time. A lot seem to juggle well, except for those tasks you didn’t come up with on your own.

Here is how to determine whether you’ve got the goods to make it in our town.

You belong in PR if…

You have attention to detail (or ATD)
Those devilish details are required. Consistency is everything, and if you’re careless or sloppy, we beseech you stay away. But if you can spot a mistake from a mile away — and stop it from attacking — please join the PR association.

A guy employed at RLM PR previously worked at a terrible agency and came equipped with bad habits. He would write a mediocre draft, and when I said rewrite it, he shrugged, “Why? The client won’t notice.” He’s at The Gap now.

You can write — and edit
You hate wimpy words like “accepts,” “offers,” and “ensures.” You are all about full and clear sentences. You say what you mean to say, and you aren’t that cretin always trying to “come up with a good way to say X.” You use lowercase and capital letters correctly. Come on down.

Writing is rewriting. There was a — ahem — creative type in our office who loved to write as though he were pontificating. He was a college professor, so he said. It’s one thing to love to hear your own voice, but on paper, that’s useless.

You need to see everything to its rightful conclusion
Reporters can write bad copy, hand it to an editor, and think, “S/he’ll fix it.” If you can’t stomach that though, then join “the lighter side.” You know the colleague who figures someone else will finish the product? That guy disgusts you, right?
You’re the one who ambles into a PR office and says, “What’s it going to take to get this done?!?” We call it Gumby — you never shrug or roll your eyes! You’re our type.

You don’t get scared at B-movies (or several simultaneous deadlines)
You would have never said, “I can’t do more than one story at a time,” as a journalist, and you can manage many screaming babies at once.

A reporter acquaintance came to work and freaked out because our computers were down. He was gone by lunch on day one.

You never call yourself “a people person”
You deal with words; people are secondary. Of course you’re a team player, but will you sit down and create something? From scratch?

In Detroit, “GM Nod” occurs when people come to meetings and say yes to every new fantastic idea until they leave the room and murmur, “That ain’t going to happen.” In PR, you always have to sell in your ideas to clients and colleagues.

How can you tell if you’re right for this evolving field that happens to be hiring? You have an innate ability to leave your ego at the door and you can take a message to the people without editorializing!

You don’t belong anywhere near PR if…

You think it’s a breeze
Oh puh-leeze. I work my ass off and answer to a ton of chieftains: editors, reporters, producers — and those clients who send passive aggressive emails all day long! Nothing we do is easy. Don’t apply here. You already aren’t applying yourself.

We ask applicants from the field of journalism why they want to be in PR. They say it’s because they know how reporters work. The last one we hired answered, “because I want to make more money, and I’m not afraid to work hard.” We love you!

You’ve dealt with PR folks so you’ve got mad skills
What’s that — incessant babbling against an onslaught of cheery PR types? We already put up with you at one job.

We hired an ex-producer who made an excellent first impression, but the second she arrived, she spent gobs of time saying why pitches wouldn’t work and had a nonstop, almost obsessive need to communicate developments. She didn’t let the elevator door hit her on the…

It’s your way — forget the highway
You are so darn flexible, you can do handstands! When push comes to shove, you’ve never met an answer you didn’t know. Two words: shoe salesman.

If the person doing most of the talking in meetings is you, then we’re just not that into you. The best PR people ask lots of questions and listen to answers.

Your mother told you everything you do is precious
Your mom was wrong, and you’ve got no stomach for PR because you are as thin-skinned as Bill O’Reilly.

I once hired “The Smartest Person In The World,” albeit temporarily. When errors were astutely pointed out to him, instead of learning from them, I got fistfuls of vociferous arguments. His mother worships him; he Tweets about it all the time.

You need someone to hold your hand because an editor did
A lot of applicants ask: Will you show me the way? Yes, if I was Peter Frampton! You don’t have the “pit bull” self-starter thing going on, so let’s not.

One of my firm’s most successful PR pros arrived from a journalism career in Europe. He asks a ton of questions, but not before trying to find the answer himself. God helps those who help themselves. And we believe in him (lowercase “him” — the guy we hired).

There are exceptions: You can write a scintillating press release, but still have an ego like Montana? Your ADD is stuck, and your ATD is phenomenal? Hang a hat here!

During these fast four years of co-crafting the notorious Bad Pitch Blog, we made it a home for reporters to articulately moan about PR simpletons. But through the most maudlin of economies, more than half of BPB’s e-correspondence has been you people (journalists) asking if this snickered-at field could be a home for your needy selves! Letters say, “I can do this, no sweat. I know what’s good because, gosh, I’ve turned down so many pitches!”

You know what I think? You could turn down a bed!

So it appears our two divergent careers have finally fallen in love. Now you have to decide if you’re a sweet-grapes person who wants to learn and influence the public while connecting to always-busy people for 10 (you heard 10!) hours each day. If you see yourself pacing in that cubicle, you are a PR person who was once a full-time scribe.

That does not mean call me for a job. Contact me to get the goods on my clients while you’re still a somewhat employed journalist. I’ll take the call.

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Richard Laermer is the author of Full Frontal PR, Punk Marketing and 2011: Trendspotting. He was once a proud full-time “reporter type” who spend 24 hours a day writing for around 35 publications — too many to bother naming. Now he’s the CEO and bathroom tidier of veteran RLM PR. He also writes for HuffPo, Laermer.com, and — here. Laermer also co-blogs at Bad Pitch Blog, and Tweets at @laermer.

In the dark and stormy night of American journalism — 5,900 reporting and editing positions lost at newspapers last year, according to the Society of American News Editors — a small but seemingly watertight shelter still stands: the humble community newspaper.

Long denigrated as a relic of old-fashioned, small-town America, community newspapers — loosely defined as dailies and weeklies with circulations under 75,000, though usually far smaller — have held up far better than their big metro cousins during the double downer of a collapsing economy and rising Internet competition.

Weathering the ad sales decline

“Community newspapers are not in a crisis,” said Nancy Lane, president of Suburban Newspapers of America. They’ve been less affected by the advertising decline brought on by the recession and competition from the Internet. That’s because they never relied as much as metros on big national advertisers and classified ads, which have been clobbered by the Web and the economy. The SNA’s figures show that its members’ advertising revenues fell by just 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the same period of 2008, when ad spend for the industry overall fell 21 percent.

“Hyperlocal news has not flooded online in a major way. It’s impossible because of the money and resources and time for a startup to come into a community and hire 10 or 12 reporters and make any kind of money on a hyperlocal Web site.”

On the news side, community papers have also enjoyed some immunity. While readers can find a bonanza of free national and international stories online, local stories are a rarer commodity.

“Hyperlocal news has not flooded online in a major way,” Lane said. “It’s impossible because of the money and resources and time for a startup to come into a community and hire 10 or 12 reporters and make any kind of money on a hyperlocal Web site.” That leaves existing community newspapers free to milk their print cash cows while they monetize their Web sites, even as innovators try to create hyperlocal news sites with workable business models.

As a result, though community newspapers aren’t exactly thriving, they’re not tanking either, like the big dailies. Jobs at community newspapers have held steady, Lane said.

“By and large, the community newspaper industry has not had layoffs,” she said. “There have been a few exceptions. But I know of very few that have actually experienced layoffs, and I actually know of some that are still in a growth mode and have added new products and new positions.”

In general, family-owned community papers have fared better than those owned by publicly traded corporations that took on more debt than they should have and have been slashing staff across their media properties as they deleverage. But at most community newspapers, Lane said, when staff is cut, it’s usually by attrition, rather than by the mass firings that have become recurring nightmares at metros. In some cases, community newspapers are actually hiring — more often than not, she said, when they decide to develop new products and Web offerings. Some standouts: Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., a company based in Birmingham, Ala., that owns media properties in 150 towns and small cities; Rust Communications, based in Cape Girardeau, Mo.; and Holden Landmark, a small company in central Massachusetts.

Lean operations afford steady jobs

Though new digital ventures may create the most job opportunities at community newspapers, plenty of community newspapers still stress the old-fashioned virtues of reporting, writing and the ability to handle a camera — traditional hallmarks of the well-rounded community journalist.

“When you go to newspaper conferences, everyone talks about what the next Facebook will be. We’re focused on giving the reader better content, giving readers something they can read.”

In Fort Myers, Fla., for instance, where three former employees of Gannett’s daily News-Press left their jobs to form Florida Weekly in 2007, the emphasis is on writing rather than snazzy Web gimmicks, according to Jeff Cull, vice president and executive editor.

“Our people are total reporters,” Cull said. “They don’t have to go out and shoot video and write blogs. I am just not interested in what some 26-year-old reporter’s opinion is about something.”

Cull figures that his paper’s job is to analyze and interpret the news as much as to report it, and that his journalists can accomplish those tasks better in print.

“When you go to newspaper conferences, everyone talks about what the next Facebook will be,” Cull said. “We’re focused on giving the reader better content, giving readers something they can read. We don’t cover the usual PTA and Kiwanis Club types of things that most community papers do. We tackle the big issues and boil them down so readers can understand them.” The weekly also devotes lots of space to social photos and the arts. The feature-heavy content has led Cull’s father to describe the paper as a “news-azine.”

So far, the approach seems to be working. Even as dailies in Southwest Florida have laid off employees, Florida Weekly has hired more than 20 staffers and uses about 20 freelancers. Since the group began the flagship paper in Fort Myers, it’s launched a second newspaper in nearby Naples and a third in the small retirement community of Punta Gorda, which have brought additional hires.

For some, the obligation of employees to wear many hats at a community newspaper — for a reporter, for example, not only to report and write stories, but to tote a 35-mm. camera and, in some cases, a video camera — is a less attractive part of the job. But others see it as fun way to build career skills.

“Everybody does a little of everything,” on community newspapers, SNA’s Lane said. “As a result, I think you’re more well-rounded. You have more of a skill set. You learn a lot more in a shorter period of time because you have to, because there’s not as big of a staff. When Web sites were being developed and people had to become multimedia reporters, it didn’t faze the community newspaper staffs because they were already used to doing a little of this, a little of that. That attitude prevails at a community paper, which is much different from a metro.”

Despite smaller paychecks, bigger payoffs

There’s another big difference between working for community newspapers and metros, Lane conceded: pay. Salaries at community newspapers simply are a whole lot lower. Though the SNA doesn’t track pay scales, Lane contended that differences depend as much on geographical location and union representation as on whether someone’s working at a community paper or a metro.

Susan Mermelstein, an editor at The New York Times, enjoyed a whopping salary increase when she moved to the Times from the East Hampton Star, a weekly on Eastern Long Island, in 1986. Today, editors and reporters starting at the Times typically make about $85,000, she said. That’s two or three times as much as they could expect if starting at most community papers — even factoring in the recent 5 percent temporary pay cuts at the Times.

Beyond salary, there are lots of differences between community papers and metros, Mermelstein added, and community papers don’t always come off badly in the comparison.

“There is a very different sensibility,” she said. “It’s fascinating to see how The New York Times works. It’s fascinating to be part of that big-world picture.” On the other hand, “you definitely feel like a small person in a big machine at the Times, whereas you’re a big shot in town when you’re at a small community newspaper.”

As a reporter and editor at the Star, Mermelstein enjoyed writing about the many people in town she knew, though that small-town familiarity of course could work both ways: She fretted about possible conflicts of interest when she wrote about friends who happened to work in local government. But as part of the Star‘s small staff, she also got plum assignments she never would have landed at the Times: interviews with the folk singer Tom Paxton, the director Sidney Lumet, and the actor Christopher Reeve, for instance.

A friendly informality existed in the Star‘s office, a cozy old two-story wooden building across from a pond and the village cemetery. Reporters and editors brought their dogs to work. “That wouldn’t go over at the Times, if you walked in with your dog,” Mermelstein noted. The Times‘ expensive new tower in Manhattan has only added a “very corporate and sterile feel” to working at the big metro, she said.

“When you’re working at a small newspaper office like the Star, it’s like working out of your home, almost,” Mermelstein recalled. Yet all is not sweetness and light, even at community newspaper offices. At the Star, one famous anecdote repeated down the years and trickling to the far corners of the town tells of an editor hurling a pizza at a wayward reporter in a fit of pique.

Mermelstein doesn’t regret the years she spent working there, however.

“At the time when I left the Star, I actually thought this is the best job I’ll ever have,” she said. “And in some respects, that’s true. It really is in many ways a dream job.”

If that’s so, Jack Graves has been living the dream for many years now. In his 42nd year at the Star, his career path is almost a mirror image of Mermelstein’s. He started out as a copyboy at The New York Times, then worked as a stringer for the Long Island Press (a daily now long defunct). When he was hired at the Star in 1967, Graves was the sole reporter. He worked under the paper’s lone editor, Everett Rattray, on a staff that, including the business office, totaled six.

Now the Star has some 40 employees, including three editors, seven reporters, and numerous stringers and freelancers in far-flung villages. Even so, hit by Wall Street fallout and the real-estate recession, the paper recently trimmed staff salaries. Unlike the Times and many metros, however, it has not laid off anyone.

Graves’ boss and mentor at the Long Island Press warned him that he was “committing career suicide” when he accepted the Star‘s weekly salary offer of $140 (job benefits in those days also included a Christmas turkey). In his early years as a reporter at the Star, Graves wrote practically everything: obits, police news, a column called “Point of View” (he’s now written more than 2,000 of them), features, and stories about Jackie O’s eccentric relatives the Beales and their disheveled home in East Hampton, Grey Gardens. His editor, working in a cubbyhole at the back of the office, stationed Graves by the door, where he would “take the brunt of angry readers when they came in.” No one’s ever tried to slug him in his long career, though one opponent in a softball game threatened to run him down after reading a story. “I gingerly stepped off the bag after he told me that,” said Graves, who’s now the Star‘s sports editor.

Still, despite the low pay and other slings and arrows of the community journalist’s fortune, he’s satisfied that he made the right choice.

“It was a pretty place,” Graves said of East Hampton, “and I wanted a sense of intellectual freedom.”

He mostly got what he bargained for, he said: “It has by and large been fun. Where else but at a country newspaper can you write pretty much what you please? I never have regretted working at the Star. It is a writers’ paper. I write extremely long and wordy, and I get away with it.”

Though the pay has remained anemic over the years — Graves said his lifestyle improved markedly when he became eligible for Social Security checks a few years ago — the benefits of working at a community newspaper have included rewards beyond those of the freedom to write.

“You are such a part of the community,” he said. “Some people love you. Some people hate you. But they all know you, and you’re a part of the community. I think I’ll continue here until I drop. I can’t afford to quit. And I’ve had a chance to say what I wanted to say.”

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Daniel Lindley is a writer and editor who divides his time between Naples, Fla., and Montauk, N.Y.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just Google your next job? Or, if you’re an employer, your next prime job candidate?

The concept may not be so far-fetched. That’s largely due to the rise of search engine marketing and search engine optimization in recruiting. (SEO refers to free, “organic” or “natural” listings that predominate on the main part of search pages; SEM includes the small paid ads usually above and to the right of the organic results.) Taken together, they could become more popular as job-search tools than traditional jobs boards within several years. A newspaper editor might Google up a replacement copy editor without having to advertise on Monster.com; writers could land their next gig without having to slog through dozens of different job boards.

Candidates and recruiters fire up search engines
Though still small — SEM accounted for just 3 percent of hires among Fortune 500 companies surveyed by the career consulting company CareerXroads last year — search is growing — up from just 1 percent in 2007. What’s more, job boards have peaked, according to the same study, plateauing at 12 percent for the last several years. Recruiters and employers told the study’s authors, Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler, that they’ll incorporate more Web searches into their recruitment strategies as they push to find better candidates on their own rather than sifting through thousands of resumes from often unqualified candidates that pour in from job boards. Search, according to Crispin, could have a devastating effect on job boards and eventually “disintermediate” job boards.

Crispin isn’t alone in his predictions. “I would say that search is still in its infancy,” said Joel Cheesman, self-described “head cheese” at Cheezhead.com, the influential recruiting blog. “But I do think the number’s going to go up.”

Indeed, a lot of people are in the search pool already. Google Analytics reported nearly 300 million job-related searches in the U.S. in September.

Among the reasons for search’s increasing popularity among recruiters and employers, according to Cheesman and other recruiting-industry experts:

It’s often cheaper than advertising on traditional job boards.

Return on investment tends to be better, in that it can yield more and better job candidates per dollar invested.

While search helps a company find candidates, it’s also providing brand exposure while the company hunts employees on the Internet.

Search, in particular SEM, could be a good way to hook highly sought-after passive candidates — those potential employees who aren’t necessarily looking for a job but who might be tempted into taking one with a well-crafted SEM campaign that catches their eye while they’re researching industry-related keywords.

Rank-and-file recruitment
There are plenty of potential benefits for job-seekers too, according to the experts. Search-engine job hunting offers one-stop shopping; a candidate can find bunches of jobs in one search rather than roaming around dozens of job boards. They can refine their search by pinpointing keywords.

Still, that doesn’t mean that job-seekers can easily Google a gig right now. Basically, the job boards have a lock — for the moment at least — on top rankings in job-related search results on the big search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.

“Currently most job posts don’t get indexed with a search engine,” said Alison Engelsman, senior strategist at Shaker Recruitment Advertising & Communications. “So if a candidate’s looking for related information and they type in, for instance, nursing jobs, the first results they’re going to see, probably three pages deep, are from job boards.” That’s a big problem, she added, because most Web users don’t bother to drill down past the first page of search results.

Thus, most won’t get real-time job postings with a Web search. A few years ago Google tried to launch a more traditional job vertical, called Google Base, which would have offered up more postings, but it flopped; recently it’s been experimenting with Google Profiles, which is more like social and career networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook than traditional job boards.

For job-seekers who want to use search to cut right to live postings, experts like Engelsman and Cheesman say, the best option is to use big job aggregators — also called vertical search engines — like SimplyHired and Indeed. These aggregators scrape job postings from multiple job boards and post them on their own sites, where they can be searched in all sorts of ways by people looking for work. Like the big search engines, such sites make part of their living by selling SEM ads that run alongside the free postings.

Job boards’ domination of organic search results could change, Engelsman said, as emloyers learn to use SEO to move their Web sites higher in search results. Ultimately, she said, companies with good SEO could cut out job boards as the middlemen for recruitment because they’ll be able to get their own corporate job sites on the first page of search results.

And there are plenty of companies, including well-known names like Jobs2Web, that are very willing to help businesses get their sites noticed in the Web’s ever-expanding information universe. But SEO isn’t cheap. It costs about $10,000 for a company to get its site optimized. Even then, there’s no guarantee that it will rise to the first page. The very fluidity of the Web, with sites and algorithms constantly changing, ensures that rankings will change daily, even with the best SEO, and that further investments in SEO may be needed to stay near the top of the rankings.

SEM vs. SEO: Do paid ads pay?
SEM offers a much more conservative approach for employers. Because it’s a paid ad, it’s guaranteed to show up on a page with the corresponding keyword. Advertisers set limits on what they’ll spend, and the cost per candidate usually is lower than the traditional “post and pray” method of listing a job on an employment site — though that could change. SEM’s ad cost is determined in auctions, and the price of good keywords could rise as SEM becomes more popular.

Good keywords aren’t always that easy to find, either, and subtle changes can make a big difference. Jason Gorham, CEO of Sharkstrike, which helps companies with SEM, SEO, social networks, and candidate sourcing, said that one campaign for entry-level jobs got far more clicks and conversions for entry-level jobs with a hyphen than for entry-level jobs without one. He’s still not sure why. “There’s a human factor in search,” he said. Finding the right keyword, or combination of keywords, is as much art as science, but it’s a crucial exercise for search. “There’s so much noise right now that if you’re not standing out in the space, then you’re lost,” he said.

Trolling for top candidates
Search also presents some unusual tactics for employers: the potential to poach employees from other companies, for example. “I can serve a job ad to somebody who works at The New York Times because I can see their IP address and say, OK, this person works at The New York Times, and I can serve them a Washington Post ad,” Gorham said. It’s a hypothetical example, though Gorham’s done the real thing with competitors like Home Depot and Lowe’s.

In similar fashion, Cheesman pointed out, employers can use SEM on sites like Facebook to troll for employees who work for competitors. “If I know that USA Today has people that I, The New York Times, want to hire, I can actually target them via my Facebook advertising and say, hey, jobs at The New York Times, come and check out what a great atmosphere we have, or whatever. It’s a neat kind of way to target that search engines don’t really give you.”

Perhaps the biggest attraction search advertising could have for employers is that it could make traditional job boards almost completely unnecessary — just as the advent of job boards in 1995 eventually made newspaper help-wanteds practically a relic.

“Hitwise did a report that said a third of Monster’s traffic comes from pay-per-click advertising,” Cheesman noted. “With that knowledge, you’re saying, why can’t I do that to drive traffic directly to me instead of using Monster as a middleman? People are putting together the dots. It’s not going to happen overnight, but more and more people are getting turned on to SEO and pay-per-click.”

For job-seekers, search offers a “push-pull” strategy, according to Gorham, that will outdistance perusing the postings on traditional big sites like Monster.com. “From an SEM standpoint, if you’re spending time reading about your job and your industry, you’ll get captured by the right keywords. In SEO, you can go and pull data from a search engine,” he said. SEO tends to reel in active job-seekers who include work-related words in their searches, while SEM typically trolls for passive job-seekers researching industry-related terms. A typical SEO job-seeker might type “reporting jobs” into a search box, while a passive candidate might merely be researching a media-related topic — proofreading or freelance writing, say — and SEM ads will pop up with job opportunities.

So, will we all soon be Googling our way to better jobs and better workers? “Yeah,” Gorham said. “The crossroads is here and now. If you were doing classified advertising with your local paper and it was working, now it doesn’t exist anymore. So people will be forced into new media, whether they like it or not.”

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Daniel Lindley is the author of Ambrose Bierce Takes on the Railroad: The Journalist as Muckraker and Cynic, and co-author, with George Manos, of The President’s Pianist: My Term with Truman and My Life in Music.

Far from soccer moms and picket fences, regional and suburban titles crave fresh, edgy profiles and service stories with strong local connections

We’re all familiar with city magazines, from venerable weekly New York magazine to monthlies like Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago. But freelance opportunities at these titles tend to be notoriously scarce for newcomers — and since rough times for retail mean skinny city books, breaking in isn’t getting any easier.

But there are still opportunities aplenty for those who know their geography, in the form of a number of increasingly stylish suburban and exurban regional titles with all the polish of city magazines, but with editorial focuses that lie explicitly outside the city center.

A long way from the flimsy old suburban monthlies, these lifestyle-heavy glossies focus on affluent (or at least aspiring) corridors that have sprung up in recent decades, like Orange County or the Inland Empire in Southern California, or Northern Virginia’s fast-growing string of Washington, D.C., bedroom communities. Others zero in on resort destinations, like Sun Valley or Aspen.

The key to getting a foot in the door at one of these magazines isn’t too different from the first rule in real estate: “It’s always about local, local, local,” says Hobart Rowland, editor-in-chief of Main Line Today, a 20,000-circulation lifestyle monthly covering Philadelphia’s wealthy western suburbs, with 30 to 40 percent freelance-driven content.

“We’re looking for stories that are organically Orange County… We get too many pitches where someone has manufactured a connection.”

Lynn Norusis, managing editor of 50-percent freelance Northern Virginia Magazine, which launched three years ago and claims a monthly readership of 150,000, agrees: “A lot of people will pitch me bars or events in Washington, D.C., and I kindly write back that we are Northern Virginia Magazine and we do not cover the D.C. area.” A story that did make the cut recently was a piece about Washington Redskins player Chris Cooley, who not only lives in northern Virginia but also recently financed a shoot on location there.

And forcing a local hook onto a story won’t do the job either, explains Martin J. Smith, editor-in-chief of Orange Coast, a 57,000-circulation monthly that’s about 50 percent freelance written. Recent freelance pieces include a profile on the local company that makes the full-body swimsuits favored by Olympic champions, and recently banned by the International Swimming Federation.

“We’re looking for stories that are organically Orange County. Just because you put an Orange County hook on it doesn’t mean it says something about life in Orange County,” Smith says. “We get too many pitches where someone has manufactured a connection.”

But find the right story and you could find a home for great local reporting.

Start close to home

Try pitching publications near where you live currently or have put down roots in the past — and explain that connection in your bio. Editors want to know that their writers understand the unique culture of their region. Orange Coast’s Smith says he can trust that a writer from Southern California will at least understand the difference between Orange County and Los Angeles. “They need a fair grounding in the people, the history and the culture of the place.”

Know the magazine

At Northern Virginia Magazine and Main Line Today, for example, all food stories are written in-house, but features, profiles and some service stories are fair game.

And at Orange Coast, knowing where your story could fit into the book is crucial, as the magazine is packed with formatted features like “Trade Secrets,” a business-oriented Q-and-A; “Top Shop,” which profiles a local boutique; “Voices,” a style-focused Q-and-A; and the “Monthly Guide,” a list of 10 places in a category like waterfront dining or independent bookstores. “People that aren’t familiar with the format are flying blind,’ says Smith. “Imagine where something would go in the magazine, and tell us where it would go when you pitch it.”

Skip obvious story fodder

When you’re working on a three-to-six month lead-time, the last thing you want is to be behind the curve on a well-covered story. So find fresh angles, and look for “stories that you’re not seeing a lot but are really intriguing, and that could make a huge impact for the region as a whole,” says Norusis. “It all comes down to, ‘Tell me something I don’t know.'”

Focus on the people

Stories need to hold a mirror up to the readers in the region, and then do more: draw connections, highlight the inspirational and delve into the tough issues. If an incident occurred in one neighborhood, says Norusis, find out how it’s relevant across the region, and “get local people involved” in your reporting.

Rowland says “local boy makes good” stories can work — but the subject had better have made really good, and research should include local sources that capture the trajectory of his journey, as in a recent profile on Hollywood comic and writer Adam McKay. “The pitches that seem to get me are interesting local people that are doing something that has been recognized on a national scale,” he says.

Table traditional travel pitches

Regional editors get tons of travel pitches — but unless a magazine has a specific travel section or its editorial calendar lists a travel issue, these can be a long shot. Try little-known local sites of interest instead.

Keep an open mind

Pitches may need some work to fit the specific regional mold — try to go with it, Smith says. “The magazine has a fairly good sense of its audience and its place in the universe. So we need freelancers to be very open-minded about their stories, to be prepared to discuss a story quite a bit before we can make an assignment.”

Follow up
Editors at small regional titles tend to be stretched incredibly thin, so email, don’t call. But if you don’t hear back, don’t be afraid to follow up and try to catch them at a better time.

Pay rate
Northern Virginia pays from $100 to $1,000, depending on the type of article, word count and the writer’s experience. Orange Coast pays $200-$300 for front-of-book departments and formatted features, and $1,000 to $1,800 for feature articles, which rarely exceed 3,000 words. Main Line Today pays from $50 for a 100-word calendar item to $800 for a feature article.

Lead times
At least four months in advance; Orange Coast prefers pitches six months in advance.

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Samantha Melamed is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She blogs about vegetarian cooking at SeitanWorship.wordpress.com.