4 Pitch Letter Must-Haves That Get Editors to Say Yes

Simple tips for writing a killer pitch letter

Amanda Layman is a B2B tech content writer and strategist with over 15 years of experience creating content for startups and enterprise brands. She founded Tigris, a content agency serving leading tech companies, and authored The New Freelance: A Book for Writers.

7 min read • Originally published June 28, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

7 min read • Originally published June 28, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Every seasoned writer has a pitch letter or two that they regretted sending off. I’ve probably committed every pitching no-no in the book: failing to address the correct editor, sending off a half-baked idea, even overlooking a grammatical error or two (cue my cowering in shame). The truth is your pitch letter is even more important than the first draft of your piece.

Why?

You only get one chance. You have to sell both your idea and your credibility as a writer in roughly 250 words. Fortunately, there are only a handful of must-haves for your pitch letter— and if you master these elements, you’re on the road to earning a readership and getting that check in the mail.

Ready? Here’s what your pitch letter needs.

1. A hook.

A good editor will know at the beginning of a pitch whether she’s interested in the story or not.

Author and book doctor David Henry Sterry says the beginning of your pitch letter is “like when you walk in the grocery store and there [are] those little pieces of cheese with toothpicks in them, and you pick one up and you eat it and you go, ‘Damn, that’s some good cheese. I’m gonna buy me some of that cheese.’ That’s exactly what you want in the beginning of your pitch.”

I like to get right to the point in my pitch letters: “You probably think bobby pins are just a hair accessory, but I have 20 more uses for the basic bobby pin that will blow your mind.”

Or how about, “I nearly drowned on my first attempt at scuba diving, and I can’t wait to get back in the water.” A shocking statistic, a new perspective or a turn of phrase are all great ways to start your pitch letters and convince that editor to buy the whole chunk of cheese.

2. An angle.

Now that you have the editor’s attention, it’s time to show him your angle. Your angle can be any variety of things, but it has to be easily explained in about a sentence.

It’s like your thesis statement (did I just bring back memories of writing term papers at 2 a.m.?). For instance, my angle on this article would be: “You need four essential things to craft a killer pitch letter and land a paying assignment.”

On the other hand, here’s an example of something that wouldn’t work as an angle: “Writing a pitch letter is a grueling process.”

Think of an angle in terms of your readership. What will my readers learn from this? How will this piece make them think differently? How will this piece entertain, infuriate, or enrich them?

For the first article, Maria Guido (blogger at Guerilla Mom) sold, her goal was to entertain her readers. She reflected it in her angle, which was to write “about how not reading Fifty Shades of Grey made me feel like a total prude. And I think that I just got my voice across… I know what my strength is, and my strength is I’m a storyteller.”

Play to your strengths. If you’re an entertainer, your angle should be entertaining. If you’re a muckraking journalist, your angle should reveal some dark secret.

3. Interesting stats.

Season your pitch letter with statistics, sound bites from experts, and bold statements informing the editor about your piece’s essence.

I like to put my supporting information in bullet points. Here’s a real, concise example of a personal essay pitch that I sold recently:

It took me a year and a half after having my child to realize what I needed most out of life: The sense of purpose, influence, and creativity I could only get from pursuing my abandoned career. My essay will cover:

The societal guilt I felt in transitioning from the “perfect stay-at-home mom” to the full-time worker
The hellish months it took to acclimate my daughter to daycare during the peak of her separation anxiety
The steady building of my confidence through work, creative endeavors and a new, intense hobby—rock climbing
The sense of fulfillment I have now that I’ve put myself first and how it has nearly eradicated my postpartum depression and strengthened the mother-daughter bond

My goal with this piece is to help other depressed women stop martyring themselves and to really pause and reflect on what’s missing in their lives.

I want to remove the stigma from the term “putting yourself first” when it comes to being a mother because the only way you can love your child fully is if you take care of yourself first.

Now, if I had been writing an informational piece detailing a new study that has proven that PPD women can overcome depression by going back to work, I would have included an expert quote and the basic conclusions of the study. My supporting information would’ve looked something like this (this is all invented, of course):

According to 2013 University of America Research, 85 percent of PPD moms saw improvement of their depression symptoms over a two-month period of going back to work.
Dr. Jane Doe, the leader of this study, states that “For these particular women, their depression has to do with feeling like they’re missing something in their lives… and some of them actually responded better to a lifestyle change than an increase in medication.”

4. Market knowledge.

Sending a stellar pitch to the wrong publication or editor won’t get you anywhere. Before pitching a publication, freelance writer C. Hope Clark studies the masthead to find out who does what.

She also reads archives of articles. “I will also glance at the advertising in the publication or online to get a strong feel of the readership,” she says.

I’ve had the best luck selling articles to publications that I read regularly. But getting a feel for the tone of a publication is only half the process. The other half is being aware of how much of a magazine or website is freelance-driven.

There are both large and small pubs that rarely accept submissions from freelancers—and many from which the majority of their writing comes from freelancers.

Email or write (don’t call!) an editorial assistant at the magazine to find out if it takes pitches from freelancers, what the guidelines are and to whom you should address your pitch.

Subscribe to magazines like Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers to stay informed on publishing trends and changing technology. There are plenty of websites and newsletters that alert you to paying markets in need of stories, like the ones found at FundsForWriters.com, WritersWeekly.com and WritersDigest.com.

5. Tailor-Made Pitching.

Let’s dive into the art of personalizing your pitch – because, let’s face it, one-size-fits-all is for hats, not for pitch letters. When you’re wooing an editor, think bespoke suit, not off-the-rack.

First, know your editor and their publication like your new BFF. Stalk them (professionally, of course!) on social media, and devour their publication’s content like it’s your favorite flavor of ice cream. Get a feel for their style, their likes, their dislikes. Is the editor all about hard-hitting investigative pieces, or do they lean towards quirky, light-hearted stories?

Next, let’s talk about crafting your pitch. This isn’t about flattery but showing that you’ve done your homework. Mention a recent article from the publication that resonated with you. Something like, “Your piece on urban beekeeping was the bee’s knees, and I think your readers would love to dive deeper into the world of rooftop gardens.” Maybe that’s a little cheesy, but you get the point.

Now, let’s get personal – but not too personal. No editor needs to know about your childhood fear of clowns (unless you’re pitching a story about it). What you want is to forge a connection. Maybe you’ve got a background in the subject you’re pitching, or perhaps you’ve noticed the editor’s penchant for stories that challenge the status quo, and your piece does just that.

Remember, the goal here is to make the editor feel like this pitch is crafted just for them and their publication. It’s like you’re saying, “Hey, I see you. I get what you’re about and have something that fits your style perfectly.”

So there you have it. Personalize that pitch and make it as unique as your story. After all, in a sea of generic pitch letters, yours should be the one that sparkles with a little bit of you and a whole lot of them.

Pitch perfect.

The format of the pitch is up to you. While a couple of plain-text paragraphs is often all you need, sometimes it helps to incorporate bullet points for your content ideas below an emboldened headline and dek (the little summary of a piece you might see on a website) to help the editor visualize what the live article might look like.

And always adhere to a publication’s specific guidelines: some require you to fill out a form rather than email them directly, while others would rather you include your finished piece rather than sending a pitch letter.

Whatever your story, go forth and sell it—and when you do, turn around and pitch them again!

Topics:

Business Basics, Go Freelance

Business Basics

How to Keep Track of Your Freelance Work Without Losing Your Mind

Organize your freelance career into one spreadsheet

By Paula Vasan

Paula Vasan is a four-time Emmy-winning investigative journalist and communications strategist whose reporting has influenced legislation and reached millions across broadcast and digital platforms. Her career spans Wall Street reporting at Yahoo Finance, senior investigative roles at TEGNA, and communications leadership at TEDx, with bylines in The Atlantic, CNBC, and The Boston Globe.

3 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Paula Vasan

3 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Freelancers need to keep track of dozens of moving parts from day to day. Stories are at different stages of progression, being worked on at the same time. Various editors have specific preferences of how articles are styled and submitted. And while you’re working on assignments, a countless number of other story ideas are likely percolating in your head. So how do you manage it all — and maintain your sanity?

A few months ago, when I started freelancing full time, I would scribble a story idea on an index card and tape it to the fridge. I’d email myself ideas or write them as notes in my iPhone. I was waiting to be paid on a couple of articles and needed to submit an invoice to be paid on another. Eventually, I felt severely disorganized. There had to be a better system! I talked with a handful of successful freelancers about their methods and incorporated some of my own ideas to create a more thorough story-tracking method for myself, and to write this article.

Writers have their own individual systems of keeping track of assignments, but I’ve learned a good-ole spreadsheet, using Google Sheets, for example, is a standard essential. It’s just a matter of finding a format that works best for you.

Freelancer Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who now has contributor writer contracts with The New York Times Magazine and GQ agrees. On her Excel spreadsheet, a basic approach, the columns are labeled as follows: Story Idea, Editor, Pitch Date, Follow Up, Assigned?, Word Rate and Word Count. And once the story is handed in and Brodesser-Akner has been paid, she italicizes the line to indicate that assignment is complete.

Full-time freelancer Ann Friedman said she formats an Excel spreadsheet into four main groups, which are: Pitched, Assigned/In Progress, Filed/To Be Invoiced and Invoiced/Waiting on Payment. A particular story will progress from the top of the spreadsheet to the bottom from start (as an idea) to finish (a published story with a check deposited into Friedman’s bank account). See sample below.

According to Ann, this method helps her to keep track of each story’s status, a necessary process because there are a variety of stories she’s working on at once for various publications, all in different stages of development.

As for me, the more detailed spreadsheet I use with Google Sheets tracks each story’s different elements and ideas. Following the progression of each story helps me make sure I’m not repetitive with any specific editor or publication, and allows me to pay attention to the ideas that worked and those that didn’t.

To replicate it, use four tabs for your document, and create columns for the following bulleted items:

Tab 1: Assigned Stories

• Publication

• Title of story

• Point of contact

• Section

• Words

• Rate

• Date published

• URL (if applicable)

• Payment date

• Notes (feedback/preferences from editor)

Tab 2: Pitches

• Story idea

• Working title

• Submitted (Yes?/No?)

• Pitched to (list publications you pitched)

Here’s a sample sheet:

The last two tabs can help you for accounting purposes:

Tab 3: Amount Earned

Use a pivot table to automatically calculate the amount earned per month (or whatever time periods you want to look at), based on the rate information from Tab 1. You can do this in Excel or in Google Sheets. (Here’s how to create a pivot table in a Google doc, which will allow you to access your information wherever you are logged in to your Google account.)

Tab 4: Write-offs

Finally, here’s where you can keep track of anything you can write off as a business expense. Include costs associated with networking lunches, money spent to work and use Wi-Fi in coffee shops, home Internet bills, office supplies, etc.

Many full time freelancers say their job requires a certain amount of entrepreneurial spirit — they treat their freelancing as a business that they must grow and take ownership of. Keeping track of your work as a freelancer, from publish dates to word counts and pay, will help you analyze how you progressed over weeks, months and years.

Topics:

Business Basics, Go Freelance

Business Basics

Bookkeeping 101: A Freelancer’s Guide to Better Business Finances

Get organized on your own terms

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

7 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

7 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

So you’re a super-talented writer able to weave concepts into compelling narratives, interviews into stories of interest and ideas into novels. But how are your bookkeeping skills?

We spoke with three freelance writers at various stages in their careers, all of whom have totally different approaches to bookkeeping. Below, check out their tips and glean some insights from their spreadsheet wisdom.

Use an organization system that works for you.

When you’re thinking about your approach to bookkeeping, it’s good to look deep inside yourself and figure out how you stay organized in other areas of your life. For example, do you store all of your music and books on physical shelves? Is everything digital? Do you routinely alphabetize and rearrange, or are you more likely to have a major spring cleaning session once a month, or once a year? Whatever you do in your ordinary life is likely to impact your professional approach, so keep that in mind when you’re developing a bookkeeping system and routine.

Freelance writer Carie Sherman speaks fondly of her “piles” system. “I’m not a naturally organized person, but I just kind of have to go with the way I work, and the way I work is that I put things in piles,” she says. That means she keeps her receipts, contracts and tax information in different physical piles so she knows where to access them later. On the other hand, freelancer Davina van Buren keeps a folder for just about everything. “I have folders of receipts, folders for any equipment I buy or newsletters for my profession,” she says. She adds that she does this, in part, to make things easier on her certified public accountant (CPA). But the process also saves her time and money: “I want to maximize my time in there with him… so they don’t end up charging me for organizing my things!”

My approach to bookkeeping, like my approach to life, is sort of all-or-nothing. I’ll passively dump all of my stuff throughout the week into its general spot, whether on my computer’s desktop or directly into my Google Drive, then I’ll inevitably get a burst of motivation that carries me through the remainder of the organization process and delivers a clean series of numerically ordered electronic folders. I don’t keep much paper anymore because I’m somewhat of a minimalist (my physical office fits in a backpack).

So think about it. Are you more of a “files” person or a “piles” person? You may even be a little of both, like me. Either way, you’ll be the most successful if you do what feels natural to you.

Track items in these three basic categories.

Whether you’re a newbie freelancer or you’ve been grappling with this stuff for years, it’s better to keep things as simple as possible. Here are the basic things you’ll need to keep track of:

• Assignments
• Payments
• Tax stuff

Seem simple? It is. Of course there are plenty of subcategories to each of these, and depending on the type and quantity of work you do, there are plenty of other things you may need to integrate into your system. But if you’re just getting started as a writer, these are the three most important things. Let’s dive into each.

Assignments: First, you need some method for tracking the status of your assignments. This includes the pitch letters, queries and job applications you’ve sent out, in addition to important dates like assignment deadlines, project timelines and scheduled interviews.

I like using my Google Calendar to track all of my deadlines and interviews. I also use a spreadsheet to track my submissions, pitch letters, job applications and other “outreach” types of actions. I keep it very basic: just a description of the item, the date I submitted something and the current status of it. I recently added a “Follow up by” column to remind me to check back with editors or other professionals after a week has passed. Whether you track these things with an old-fashioned wall calendar or have a complex database in your computer, follow the golden rule of freelance bookkeeping—do what works for you!

Payments: Next, you have to have a solid system for tracking payments. This includes a place to keep all of your invoices, and a list or spreadsheet detailing the status of each invoice. Don’t even know how to create an invoice? Try downloading a template from MS Word, or using one of the many invoicing sites like Invoiced, Zoho or Freshbooks (AG members get $20 off this service with a paid subscription) to generate them for you.

Sherman emphasizes the importance of sending an invoice as soon as the work is complete. “If I say I’m going to do it later, I won’t! I really will forget about it. Nobody can pay you if you’re not doing your invoicing,” she says. When Sherman was starting out, she forgot to send an invoice to a client and she didn’t have a solid bookkeeping process in place. “I didn’t enter [the invoice information] into my online system, and they said that they paid me—but in my heart of hearts, I believe I wasn’t paid, but I don’t have any way of proving it.”

Adds Betsy Farber, editor of an online trade mag who’s planning to return to freelancing soon: if you’re waiting for a payment, “it’s so easy to take it personally… [but] you just have to follow up with these people.” Although there are times when processes get delayed by the editor or by accounting, she suggests you do everything you can as a writer to keep things moving. “When a pub or editor sends you the paperwork, I would just get that back to them as soon as possible, so when it does come time to be paid you’re accounted for… they’re not waiting around for you to send your W9 or a contract,” she advises.

It may seem silly when you’re getting started and you have just one client or maybe all of your work is unpaid, but believe me, developing a system now will save you from serious migraines later.

Taxes: The third major requirement for solid bookkeeping is tax stuff. Just the word “tax” still gives me the heebie-jeebies, but if you’re a full-time freelancer, you’re far better off paying taxes quarterly or monthly than getting slammed with a massive bill at the end of the year. Van Buren doesn’t take any chances when it comes to Uncle Sam. She’s been working with a CPA for two years, and though she may venture out and begin doing them on her own, she says, “for now, I feel more comfortable having a professional do it so I don’t leave anything out, and so I can maximize my final deductions.”

However, if you like the idea of handling it yourself, there are a variety of ways to manage it. I use QuickBooks: I like how I can link my accounts to the app and mark my income and outgo as either business, personal or both. Based on my entries, the platform automatically calculates about how much I’ll owe in taxes to date—and gives me the option to pay them now if I want.

However, you don’t have to use a computer program. Farber has her own system that works for her: “I have a folder for each publication on my desktop, and I’m really diligent about invoicing and naming them, and when I get paid I always keep the paystubs so that come the end of the year, I’ll have all that in order,” she says. You don’t need anything fancy to track your freelance income and expenses. Many writers still use the old shoebox method, in which you toss all of your paystubs and business receipts into a box and sort them out at the end of the year.

Run a better business with better bookkeeping.

The bottom line is that the more reliable and functional your bookkeeping system is (files or piles), the easier time you’ll have with running your business overall. It’s especially helpful to know where everything is in case you run into a problem with a client.

Sherman shares her recent story about handling a client who won’t pay: “I’m far more organized now, I have the estimate, I have the approval of work, all of those things; it’s just a matter of a client not paying.” She may wind up taking this situation to small claims court, and if she does, she has all of the supporting paperwork to prove she signed a contract and performed the work.

Strong bookkeeping skills will also make your day-to-day life easier. I’ve had countless instances in which clients need me to conjure up an old draft, an invoice, something someone said in an email, or the exact date that something occurred in the past. It’s much easier on the brain and the nerves when everything’s in its place—and as you know, functioning brains and nerves are essential to survival as a freelance writer.

Topics:

Business Basics, Get a Media Job, Go Freelance

Resumes & Cover Letters

7 Red Flags on Your Resume (And How to Fix Them Fast)

Make sure your resume is free of these transgressions

By Brittany Taylor

Brittany Taylor is an enterprise marketing manager and content strategist with over a decade of experience in B2B content marketing, brand building, and ghostwriting, with bylines in SELF, Teen Vogue, and Mediabistro. She currently leads content and branding across multiple brands at HireQuest Inc.

7 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Brittany Taylor

7 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

You’ve been sending out applications left and right and yet there’s been nary a nibble. It’s not you—you’re great. You match all the job requirements (and quite a few of the “nice to have” skills, too). You wrote an engaging cover letter. Your background itself is on-point. So what gives?

It might just be your resume. What looks perfect to you, your school’s career adviser, or even some of your colleagues can come off as gimmicky, careless or unhelpful to the folks doing the hiring. So what are they really looking for? We chatted with four hiring managers and recruiters: Aimée Starck, recruiter at Creative Circle; Sandy Pinos-Chin, director of human resources at About.com; Yair Riemer, chief marketing officer at HR tech company CareerArc; and David Waring, cofounder and editor at FitSmallBusiness.com, who has used Mediabistro’s own job board to hire writers and marketing executives. Here, they reveal applicants’ biggest resume blunders.

1. Easily avoidable mistakes.

Typos, misspelled words and grammar errors are at the top of all four experts’ stop-reading-right-now lists. And it doesn’t matter if the role you’re applying for is content- or editorial-related—no mistakes.

“[Whether you are] applying for a coding job, a writing job, a design job, if you are not spell checking and making sure that content is correct on your resume, I am really not interested,” Starck says. “Don’t tell me you’re detail oriented but you can’t pay attention to your grammar on a one-page resume.”

For those getting creative, aim for consistency above all. “Make sure the bullets are the same size and they’re indented the same amount of space from the margin,” Starck says. “If you’re using periods at the end of your bullets, make sure that every bullet has a period.”

And don’t think you can get away with widows just because you’re not an InDesign pro. “If you have a couple of lines that flow into the next page, there’s a way to make it shorter,” Pinos-Chin says. “I know that’s a pet peeve of recruiters, to have to print out empty pages or a page with one line is annoying. I’ve had resumes that come in and it’s like, ‘You couldn’t delete the extra space? I just printed out 13 pages of nothing.’ It comes across as careless.”

Finally, for the love of all that is aesthetically pleasing, save your .doc as a PDF. If it’s a huge file, compress it.

2. Confusing chronology or formatting.

We know, it’s boring, but the general format for resumes hasn’t undergone a huge evolution—so don’t go crazy manipulating yours.

“We’re still looking for a bulleted itemization of the major types of responsibilities you had at each of your employers,” Pinos-Chin says. “One of the things I see a lot is that instead of organizing their resume chronologically, they’ll organize it based on their skills and then make a short list of their employers. That, for me, is a turn-off because it’s hard to understand the progression of the things you worked on. It’s also hard to understand if you used a skill at your first job or more recently or across the board.”

Sometimes resume experts suggest using skill-based formatting to hide employment gaps. However, recruiter Starck urges applicants to just be honest. “They’re going to get to the bottom of it regardless, so I would be up front about it,” she says, whether [the gaps are] due to family obligations, illness or unemployment.

Employers do want to make sure you’re not out of the loop, so be sure to stay informed about your industry. “It’s important to… make sure that if you’re trying to get back into the industry that you can talk intelligently about [trends],” says Starck.

And in case you were wondering: Comic Sans MS? Still a no-no. Graphics? Keep them in your portfolio. Head shots? Save for your dating profile. While Riemer is willing to make exceptions for art directors or graphic designers, he says it’s still best not to take risks that may distract your resume’s reader.

3. Exceeding one page without years of relevant experience to back it up.

“You don’t have to include all of your work experience—only the relevant work experience,” says Riemer. “If you worked as a lifeguard or summer camp counselor five years ago, but since then have interned at three Internet startups in the marketing department, and you’re applying for a full-time, entry-level job at an Internet company, it’s probably OK to leave out that your summer camp group won the annual kickball tournament.”

Starck echoes the sentiment of brevity. “I have 10-plus years of experience under my belt,” she shares, “and I still have a one-page resume. You should really be curating and tailoring your resume to reflect the job you’re applying for.”

In the same vein, there is such a thing as sharing too much work history.

On the decade cut-off, Waring is in agreement. “However,” he says, “if you have experience that is particularly relevant to the position that you are applying for that goes back further than this, I would include it.”

4. Padding for length (or any reason).

We’ve heard the one-page rule so many times, it feels like an absolute. And while most of the hand-wringing comes from folks trying to squeeze their life onto a single sheet of paper, applicants who are fresh out of college or who are looking for internships have the opposite problem: what if there isn’t enough to fill a page?

“I would personally rather see a resume that is less than one page than a full-page resume that is full of fluff,” Waring says. “If they are applying to a position they feel might require experience they do not have, then why they are still a good fit should be in the cover letter.”

Waring suggests that students and recent grads include the following areas: education, relevant coursework, leadership and interests, achievements and skills. Think: Adobe Creative Suite, Tweetdeck, fluent in Spanish, not soft skills like “is a team player” or “possesses meticulous attention to detail” —Starck says these are things you have to show, not tell.

“Academic accomplishments are key,” Riemer emphasizes, “specifically if you have studied or researched any of the elements required for a job. Something as tangential as a research project or paper in school can separate you from someone else with little practical experience because it at least shows an interest in the role.”

5. Obvious objective statements.

Some recruiters love seeing objectives, Pinos-Chin says, while others loathe them. However, the objective as a whole has transformed from the redundant “I’m looking for a fulfilling career in children’s publishing with growth potential where I can build on my leadership skills” to more of a value statement about yourself.

“I am a self-motivated leader with a knack for problem-solving” might work for a developer position, Pinos-Chin offers as an example.

“Tell me something that’s useful to me,” Pinos-Chin adds. “What’s useful to me is an elevator pitch about why you’re awesome.”

6. Getting too personal.

Should you include the hours you’ve clocked at the homeless shelter? What about your love for Korean barbeque? Waring says he likes seeing a smidgeon of personal information in a hobbies or general interests section, but “no more than one or two lines, unless the experience is particularly relevant to the position.”

Riemer says that in some cases, “if you’ve done research on the company culture and see that volunteering or team-building activities are core to the specific firm you’re applying for,” adding a section that highlights your interests there can give you a boost.

Pinos-Chin agrees that understanding your audience is key. She cautions applicants not stray into TMI territory, however. This means avoiding anything politically charged or divisive. “It’s about mitigating the prospect of, ‘What if I’m applying and the person who reads my resume happens to be somebody on the complete other end of the spectrum,'” she explains. “Just be aware and consider that it might not be the distraction you want to add to your resume.”

7. Forgoing keywords.

You need to include keywords, and not just because some large companies use programs to pick and choose applicants that check certain boxes. Put them in your bullet points, not just in the bottom “skills” section.

“As recruiters, we don’t have time to look at every little thing. We’re going through hundreds and hundreds of resumes and LinkedIn profiles and all kinds of things,” Pinos-Chin says.

“I judge [the lack of keywords] more harshly on content-related people, especially in the digital space,” Pinos-Chin adds. “Being able to optimize content for the Web and for search is so essential. Keywords should be a natural part of how you think. You need to make that association—and not making it shows a lack of awareness.”

Riemer agrees. “This is an important point,” he says. “Keywords matter, but you shouldn’t write your resume for a machine. If you have expressed the key components of the role and industry, then that will kill two birds with one stone—and also take care of any algorithms looking for those keywords.”

The bottom line is your resume isn’t a task list; it’s a sales sheet.

“An effective resume markets you and identifies your accomplishments and strengths,” Riemer says. “Hiring managers want to see that you’ve achieved success, not just shown up and completed tasks. Consider the document an opportunity to really impress and craft a strong introduction about yourself, rather than just a summary of work history.”

Topics:

Get a Media Job, Get Hired, Resumes & Cover Letters

Business Basics

Should Freelancers Hire a CPA? Here’s How to Decide

Find out why hiring a CPA could help save your sanity

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

5 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

5 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Every freelancer gets to a point in her career where she must ask herself: Am I finally ready to treat this like a real business and hire an accountant? The consensus after speaking with two writers and a certified public accountant (CPA) is if you’re willing and able to pay up, having an expert manage your ledger is a valuable investment.

Read on for their advice.

Find the right match.

Although you don’t necessarily have to seek out a CPA who deeply understands every writer-ly woe, there is a resounding sentiment among writers with accountants that you’ll feel most comfortable and satisfied with a CPA who has some experience working with people in your field.

Freelance graphic designer and writer Preston D. Lee made the mistake of picking his first CPA at random. “That didn’t pay off,” he says. “They were not extremely helpful and I found I was basically doing all the real work and paying them simply to file the information together in one place.” He persisted in his search, however, and found a private CPA who didn’t work for a firm and established a strong working relationship with the accountant.

“Thousands of people can do the technical work a CPA can do,” Lee says, “but only a few people will really understand and appreciate my business the way I need them to. For me, it’s about getting the right people on board in all areas. Finance is no different.”

Independent writer Davina van Buren found her CPA through a referral from a fellow freelancer. “I specifically tried to find someone who worked with freelance writers. I’ve worked with him for two years so far. It makes me feel more comfortable that he remembers me.” On finding a CPA with experience working with writers, she says, “CPAs are kind of like writers: they have their specialties as well. For me, it made me feel better to work with someone who’s used to working with writers and [who knows] all the things we can write off [when filing taxes].”

Says Brittany Hopp of York and Hopp CPAs, “You’re definitely going to be more willing to call someone throughout the year if you feel like you can trust that person.” Hopp emphasizes calling around, getting referrals and actually interviewing CPAs or tax preparers to find the one that suits your specific needs.

Learn how a CPA can help.

Some writers may not seek out CPAs simply because they don’t know how a professional could help them. Hopp says in addition to tax preparation, a CPA can help freelancers with general bookkeeping, managing numbers and staying on top of receipts. She adds that some creatives are intimidated by CPAs, but she reassures “we’re really just people and we want to help our clients— even if it’s just education on the front end to figure out what you want to be doing.”

A CPA is also very useful if you have income from several different sources. Van Buren shares what inspired her to seek out the help of a CPA: “The first year I was freelancing, I had a staff job the first part of the year, I was freelancing the second part of the year and the whole year I was also working as a waitress. I had a lot of different things going on.”

I went through a similar scenario. During my first year of freelancing, I was newly married and had income both from freelance work and from my former employer. Instead of attempting to file taxes myself, I took my information to a professional and it helped immensely.

Aside from help during tax time, you can utilize a CPA as often or as little as you need. Lee says, “We don’t meet often. I basically spend a total of 30 to 60 minutes on the phone with my bookkeeping person and accountant once a month.”

Get the facts on service costs.

The catch, of course, even if you’re delighted by the idea of handing your books off to a professional, is the cost of hiring him or her. As you know, running a business for which you’re the only employee means your budget might be a little tight. Therefore, it may be less than appealing to think about spending that precious income on much else beyond your domain name, magazine subscriptions and your Mediabistro AvantGuild membership. So what if you’re interested in hiring a CPA, but the cost is holding you back?

First, don’t just think in terms of money, but consider the time you could save and frustration you could avoid by enlisting help. Van Buren says, “[Hiring a CPA] definitely saves my sanity… I could make this [amount of money] in a quarter of my work day, so it’s worth it to me.”

Lee has a similar outlook. He says every minute he’s spending on bookkeeping and taxes is a minute he could be spending on freelance work.

And you may find the actual cost isn’t as high as you may have initially thought. Hopp says, “Sometimes it’s surprising how affordable a CPA can be, if you ask the right questions and figure out exactly what you need.” CPAs typically charge by the hour. Depending on where you live and the level of experience of your CPA, you could be spending anywhere from $90 an hour to $300 an hour. If this fee seems daunting, consider other ways to save. Students in CPA programs at local colleges may be able to provide the counsel you need. Or, consider a virtual CPA: search for virtual or online CPAs to find a team that can answer any basic questions you might have.

Just bear in mind that finding the cheapest per-hour rate doesn’t guarantee the greatest savings. If you’re working with an inexpensive professional who takes hours to accomplish what a more experienced CPA could do in minutes, you’re better off shelling out for the more experienced pro.

Although there’s no definite rule that will help you determine whether a CPA is right for you, an assessment of your available time, budget and skill set will help guide you. Van Buren puts it succinctly: “Numbers are not my thing. Words are my thing. So, to me, it’s worth it to just pay somebody and not have to worry about my math or whether I left something out.”

Topics:

Business Basics, Get a Media Job, Go Freelance

Job Search

How to Use LinkedIn to Launch Your Media Career

Kick your job search into high gear with help from the experts

By Brittany Taylor

5 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Brittany Taylor

5 min read • Originally published June 30, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Sure, you’ve got yourself a LinkedIn profile. And, yes, maybe you joined a few professional groups way back when. But are you doing everything you can to maximize your presence on the top social media platform for job seekers? Probably not, according to our experts. Whether you’re looking to get your foot in the door or want to start climbing the career ladder, optimizing your LinkedIn experience is a snap, as long as you know where to go and what to do.

Not convinced? Here’s a statistic for you: 96 percent of recruiters look for talent on LinkedIn, says Lisa Rangel, an official moderator on LinkedIn’s Job Search group. Your goal, she says, is to be found. Want your online business card in front of professionals of all types and levels—including CEOs, editors in chief and creative directors? It’s time to maximize your profile and get in the game. Here’s how.

Use the job title field wisely.

The headline, aka the job title field, is especially important because it pops up with your name in searches, status updates and comments you leave throughout the site. You don’t have to use this space for your current job title—that can be found in the body of your profile. Consider your headline from the perspective of the person searching for someone like you, Rangel suggests.

Think first about the title for which you want to be discovered. Marketing director? Graphic artist? Copywriter? Then add in your location (New York, Brooklyn, Virtual World) and your industry or areas of expertise (sales copy, infographics, finance reporting). The cherry on top is a unique descriptor. Rangel urges users to avoid superlatives and aim for precision—it should be click-generating and buzz-producing. Just get it all done in 120 characters, which is LinkedIn’s character allotment for headlines.

Be creative with keywords.

Let’s say you consider yourself a motivated, passionate and creative editor. That’s great, but are these really the words you want to splash all over your profile? Not according to LinkedIn’s career expert Catherine Fisher, who likens these superficial descriptors as the kind that make recruiters say “meh” and move on to the next candidate. She adds that too many people say these things about themselves. In fact, LinkedIn’s Official Blog featured a top 10 list of the most overused and underwhelming buzzwords on profiles in 2014. “Motivated” clocked in at No. 1. Other words and phrases to avoid: “driven,” “extensive experience” and “strategic.”

So what keywords will make hiring managers take notice? “The best way to find strong keywords is by finding a couple of job descriptions that match your skills and using a word cloud generator [e.g. Tagxedo, WordItOut, Wordle or TagCrowd] to generate keywords for your profile and resume,” says Ron Nash, a LinkedIn preferred trainer at The In Academy.

Join a variety of groups within your industry.

There are more than 1 million groups on LinkedIn of varying levels of activity and membership. Some are broad (“Media Professionals Worldwide”) and some are narrow (“Business journalists in India”).

One of the best features of LinkedIn groups is they expand your network, giving you a perfect opportunity to connect with people you don’t actually know, but would want to get in touch with. Plus, as Nash points out, group members may post jobs they’re currently recruiting for—jobs that aren’t listed elsewhere.

Where should you start? Rangel suggests choosing groups across your industry, profession, geographic location and hobbies and then whittling them down. One item to note: Don’t stick to just what you know.

“Networking with other professions within your industry, such as finance and human resources, can expand your cross-functional network,” Rangel says, giving you more connections that you might be able to tap one day.

Nash adds that before you share anything with your group, sit back and observe what’s being communicated. Some groups have rules about what outside links can be posted where, and what discussions are relevant to the group as a whole. If you disobey the group’s bylaws, you might get ejected (ouch!).

And much like a face-to-face network, groups are all about service. Post articles that are beneficial or offer advice to those asking for it—and before assuming someone else in the group would be happy to be your new industry mentor, ask him or her first.

Mine your connections.

As you import contacts into LinkedIn, you might start off with 30 or 50 industry professionals you actually know. But the value of the platform sneaks in with its second, third and group connections—people you know through other people.

If you play your cards right, you can snag new connections online that just might help you get a leg up in your career. So how do you go from a third connection to a first connection? Ask—nicely.

Rangel suggests sending something along the lines of, “I see we have some mutual connections on LinkedIn, and I wanted to reach out….” Alternatively, Fisher urges users to ask their immediate connections for introductions. “Your mutual connection validates you as a professional,” she says.

No matter how close the connection is, though, do not ask about job openings on your first message to someone. Rangel equates it to asking someone you meet on a blind date to marry you—awkward!

Send off some InMail.

If you’re looking to boost your connections, The InMail feature is a helpful tool, though it does require a Premium LinkedIn account. Whether you want to set up an informational interview or network your way into your dream company, Nash says sending the perfect InMail message is about personalization.

“Don’t use a generic subject line. Don’t use a generic message,” he says. “And don’t send them a long message. Ask for permission to have a phone call,” which you should be prepared for before you even ask the question. You never know when that possible connection will have an opening in their schedule the afternoon you send the message and want to talk to you ASAP.

After you communicate, adds Nash, don’t forget to thank your connection for his time and say, “If there is anything that I can ever do for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know.'”

After all, you give what you get. And to get the most out of LinkedIn, Nash says, you’ve got to be a giver.

Topics:

Get a Media Job, Get Hired, Job Search

Business Basics

How Freelancers Can Save for Retirement and Unexpected Expenses

Have your nest egg and freelance too with these tips

By Eric Rosenberg

6 min read • Originally published July 27, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Eric Rosenberg

6 min read • Originally published July 27, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Freelancing is not just for writers and designers anymore. More than one-third of the American workforce is doing freelance work, according to a 2014 survey published by the Freelancers Union, an advocacy group for independent contractors.

With an increasing number of people making a career out of freelance work, it’s important that they continue to focus on retirement and savings, and to address the challenges of long-term personal-finance goals. Unlike most salaried income, freelance income can be irregular and doesn’t include a company-sponsored 401(k) plan. But these tips can help anyone get on the path to better personal-finance management.

Set a budget based on your average income.

Typical budgets use the same number each month for the income and expense categories. However, freelancers are quick to learn that income can be unpredictable or seasonal, with some months consistently stronger than others. With no steady paycheck, it’s important to adjust a budget to match. This means freelancers should look at their average income each month rather than actual income each month.

“I recommend taking your previous year of income and dividing it by 12, so you can come up with your estimated monthly income,” says Deacon Hayes, a personal-finance blogger at Well Kept Wallet. “That way, you can pay yourself each month and know that you can cover your bills. If you make more money one month, put it in savings for the months where less money comes in.”

Save for retirement using a percentage of income.

In most cases, company employees can automatically invest a percentage of each paycheck into a 401(k) or similar retirement account. While freelancers can’t count on an employer to make that transfer for them, they can still save a fixed percentage of income each month toward their nest egg.

At a large company, saving 6 percent is common—and an employer often matches dollar-for-dollar toward that first 6 percent, which helps build savings for salaried workers.

There’s no rule of thumb for freelancers because each person’s financial situation is different. To be safe and build savings comparable to what they might receive at a large company, freelancers should take a close look at their annual income and current savings.

For example, consider Josh, a 34-year-old freelancer living in New York City who already has $15,000 in retirement savings. He is now earning $68,000* as a writer and saving $8,000 per year for retirement.

With that savings rate, he can expect to have $43,000 per year in spending money in retirement after age 68.** If he saves $12,000 per year, his retirement spending increases to $54,000 per year. Whatever amount he decides to save, he can use a SEP-IRA, or a combination of a SEP-IRA and Roth IRA. (More on these plans below.)

Choose the right retirement plan for your needs.

Once you’ve determined the amount to save, you’ll need a place to put all of that money to grow for the future. There is no perfect investment account for everyone, so you will need a good handle on your income and savings goals. You should always consult your tax professional to determine what plan or plans may be best for your circumstances.

Your options include a simplified employee pension (SEP) plan, as well as traditional and Roth individual retirement arrangements (IRAs). The SEP-IRA is a tax-advantaged account for retirement and aimed at self-employed workers such as freelancers. Contributions to a SEP are tax deductible, and savers do not pay taxes on investment growth.

“Don’t jump right to a traditional [IRA] or SEP-IRA,” says Alex Benke, CFP, director of advice products at Betterment, an automated investing service. Benke says freelancers and other self-employed workers get hooked on business deductions and go right for a deductible IRA contribution. But a tax-advantaged Roth, for which contributions are not tax deductible, may be better, if a freelancer’s income level qualifies.

“If you think your current tax bracket is lower than it will be in retirement, do a Roth,” Benke advises. “A Roth IRA also has an added benefit, which is that contributions can be withdrawn tax and penalty free in the case of an emergency.” However, beware that any gains withdrawn will be taxed and penalized by the IRS, Benke adds.

Early withdrawals are generally not recommended because they can set back your retirement savings; however, the option can come in handy in a cash crunch caused by variable income.

One reason to use both types of IRA is to spread the tax benefit across this year and the future.

For workers who can and want to save more than $5,500 ($6,500 if you’re 50 or older) in 2015—the Roth IRA contribution limit—the simplest option is to use a SEP-IRA, which has no special plan setup or filing requirements. SEP-IRAs also make sense for higher earners who don’t qualify for a Roth. They have much higher contribution limits than traditional IRAs.

Speaking of contributions, Benke suggests making IRA contributions throughout the year, not only at the end (or around when you pay your quarterly taxes), in order to maximize time in the market.

Create an emergency fund.

Emergency savings is a fundamental part of managing money well, and it can be extra important for freelancers because their cash flow can be irregular. “Money won’t always flow in as it does some months,” says John Rampton, a freelancer for online invoicing tool Due.com.

There are two key decisions for saving for a rainy day: (1) how much to save and (2) where to save it.

To figure out how much to save, first determine how many months you might be out of work, says Benke. It’s recommended by most financial experts that full-time employees have three to six months’ worth of expenses saved, but it could be more for freelancers. Adjust this amount based on work history and experience.

Next, estimate the smallest amount you’d be able to live on month-to-month. This includes expenses related to housing, food, clothing, transportation, health insurance and essential liabilities (utilities, loan payments, etc.). Add these up to get the sum of your monthly expenditure, and multiply by the number of months determined in the first step.

Finally, consider where to save this money. It shouldn’t be in a place where you could spend it (like a checking account), but where it can be accessed easily should the need arise. One option is a safety net fund, designed as a low-risk investment for money earmarked for emergencies. Another option is keeping money in an interest-earning savings account.

If you think you will only have a very temporary cash flow shortage, it can also be useful to have an available line of credit to be used only for emergencies.

Hire a CPA if you need more peace of mind.

Personal finance matters can get complicated, and you might not want to try to manage everything yourself. Outsourcing complex financial tasks like bookkeeping and quarterly tax payments saves you time and mental energy—and could save you money as well.

“Make sure you spend the time to learn the tax rules or hire a certified public accountant (CPA) who specializes in your area of practice,” says Lance Cothern, a finance expert from Money Manifesto. “The money or time spent will be well worth it when you make the correct estimated tax payments and you don’t have to worry about a surprise tax bill because you didn’t fully understand what you would owe on tax day.”

Freelancing can offer a new kind of lifestyle—one that isn’t inhibited by the strict schedule of a traditional 9-to-5 job. Perhaps one of its bigger disadvantages is it requires you to pick up many of the financial responsibilities that an employer typically provides. But with the right planning and financial tools in place, you can enjoy the flexibility a freelancer’s lifestyle while still feeling confident and secure about your future.

* The mean annual income for a writer in 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

**This example is based on Betterment’s RetireGuide advice model. It assumes a retirement age of 68 and longevity of age 90, 3 percent inflation and a portfolio allocated according to Betterment’s advice for someone age 34. It assumes $15,000 in existing savings and that $19,000 a year will come from Social Security benefits.

Topics:

Business Basics, Go Freelance

Resumes & Cover Letters

The Keys to Writing a Cover Letter That Gets You Hired

Hiring managers reveal cover letter must-haves

By Dana Robinson

Dana Robinson is a freelance health, beauty, and culture writer with 20 years of experience creating content for publications including Shape, WeightWatchers, Wine Enthusiast, AARP, and Southwest: The Magazine. She holds a master's degree in mass communication from California State University-Northridge.

6 min read • Originally published July 29, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Dana Robinson

6 min read • Originally published July 29, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

A resume can be thought of as a summation of your professional life on a page—cold, hard facts about your education; start and end dates of various jobs; lists of software programs you’ve mastered along the way. It’s your sales tool that will hopefully bump you ahead to the interview stage of the hiring process by offering gatekeepers vital statistics about your work history.

But when was the last time you saw a car commercial that relied on mere facts to get customers onto the showroom floor? Instead, advertisers typically use a mixed bag of tactics that help potential customers develop an emotional connection with a car.

It’s then transformed from a mere utilitarian vehicle to a must-have item that demands a closer look. And that’s the role of a cover letter. It provides supplemental information to entice hiring managers to look at your resume and determine if you’re the type of car… er, employee that best suits their needs.

“Cover letters provide important context to your application, answering questions like, ‘Why are you looking for a new job? What are you hoping to accomplish? If you live in Montana, why are you applying for a job in San Francisco?'” says Sarah Dabby, head of talent at ClickTime, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. “The digital age provides answers to many things, but hiring managers can’t find the answers to these questions in an online search.”

Never underestimate the power of a knockout presentation, and make sure your cover letter has these elements in place:

Flawless Writing

Recruiters of media professionals are especially going to be looking carefully at your cover letter, so this is your time to shine.

When applying for a job, you can’t rely on good looks or charm to win over your potential employer. All you’ve got going for you in the pre-interview stage is your ability to succinctly convey your talents in a letter. And that letter had better be error free.

“Everyone working as a journalist is expected to have superior communication skills,” says Glen Loveland, a recruiter for China Central Television. “For these reasons, a cover letter has to be absolutely perfect. That means not a single typo or misplaced comma.”

And let’s not forget that scanners are doing a hefty amount of the hiring workload these days. A robot won’t pick up a misspelled keyword, so make sure that you have somebody proofread your letter before hitting “send.”

Links to Your Work

“I’d definitely put links to your other online platforms in your cover letter,” continues Loveland. “Chances are that you’re going to be Googled anyway. You might as well make it easy for the company to find other examples of your professional work.”

Graphic designers and writers can link to blogs or any other location where their work is housed. And for those looking for work as on-air talent, Loveland recommends linking to a professionally edited reel on YouTube or Vimeo.

“It is vital that your on-air work can be downloaded, as HR may be shopping around your file to other departments,” says Loveland. Note that all of these links can be embedded onto your LinkedIn profile.

Speaking of your LinkedIn profile, it’s imperative that everything is up-to-date. “I have to stress the importance of having a fully filled-out LinkedIn profile,” says Loveland. Why? When someone applies for a position, a summary of that applicant’s experience is sent to HR, so for more information the hiring manager will often turn to the online network.

If you haven’t filled out your entire career history, you may look unqualified. In addition, adds Loveland, “When HR or a hiring manager are sorting upwards of 100 applicants a day they are not going to take the time to open every attachment.”

Bullet Points

In a mobile world where listicles, memes and six-second Vine videos have captured the attention of the masses, it’s safe to assume that you don’t have a heck of a lot of time to capture a hiring manager’s attention. Therefore, it’s best to get your message across quickly.

And bullet points may be the answer. “Bullet points can be useful for a cover letter if there are multiple things to explain,” says Elatia Abate, career coach and former recruiter for Dow Jones. “If one is going to use them, they should have the same strength in writing as a well-written resume—powerful verbs, information that is quantified, etc.,” she explains.

Abate adds that bullet points are a good way to illustrate how you’ve stayed in touch with what’s going on in your industry if, for example, you’re trying to reenter the job market after a lengthy hiatus:

As you can see on my resume, I took time off from X date to Y date in order to care for an elderly parent. Although I was attending to family business, I kept abreast of the market in the following ways:

• Chaired local 45-member writers’ association board, meeting biweekly
• Co-wrote a white paper presented at Columbia University’s Advanced Journalism Techniques seminar to 150 aspiring journalists
• Launched a weekly blog [link to blog], followed by 350 people, about digital journalism techniques

Customization

Your job search can also be thought of as a high-stakes dating game. Companies aren’t looking to recruit just anyone. They want that special someone who has all of the qualities they’re looking for, and then some.

And customizing your cover letter to the specific job is one of the best ways to convince the company you’re the best fit for the position. So steer clear of one-size-fits-all cover letters, especially since their generic tone is evident to most hiring managers and often perceived as lazy attempts by job seekers.

Also avoid the dreaded “To Whom It May Concern” greeting. Take the time to find out the name of the person who will be reviewing your application and address them properly (don’t forget to triple-check the spelling of his or her name!).

“One of the best cover letters I ever got was for a digital research role,” says Bonnie Zaben, COO of AC Lion, an executive search firm. “The candidate mentioned my alma mater in the cover letter—that really got my attention.” Given that the position was for a research role, Zaben was impressed by the fact the candidate had taken the time to look her up on LinkedIn. “[It] show[ed] that he naturally went the extra mile, dug deeper. That resonated with me, and I hired him.”

Zaben suggests tactics like mentioning the company name and the position that interests you, showing you know something about the company (an award, a recent account win, etc.) and of course, checking out the contact on LinkedIn and mentioning any common connections.

The media job-hunting race is always tight, so using every tip and technique in your arsenal isn’t just a requirement—it’s a survival skill. By following these recommendations, your cover letter can be the first step down a path that leads to a resume review, a face-to-face interview and the coveted full-time salary with benefits. So get going and good luck!

If you’d like your cover letter to stand out even more, consider getting the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a quick cover letter edit to several sessions of career counseling to tackle your cover letter, networking skills, career transition and more.

Topics:

Get a Media Job, Get Hired, Resumes & Cover Letters

Journalism Advice

7 Essential Tips Every Aspiring Journalist Needs to Know

Follow these simple steps to long-term success in a journalism career

By Jillian Richardson

6 min read • Originally published August 5, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Jillian Richardson

6 min read • Originally published August 5, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Gone are the days of His Girl Friday when journalists only needed a bold personality, a notepad and a well-cut suit in order to make it. In the 21st century, writers need to master entirely new skillsets just so they can compete. With this in mind, we asked a few veteran journalists about the essential tools that every aspiring writer should keep under his or her belt.

Once you’ve checked off everything on this list, you’ll be well on your way to earning that reporter’s hat.

1. Hone your digital skills.

Writing and editing skills are obviously a must in the journalism industry. Yet having those abilities isn’t going to get you to stand out for employers. You need to master the digital aspects of the trade as well. A firm understanding of WordPress, Photoshop and various social media platforms will ensure that you’re more marketable as a writer.

“It’s important to learn the basics of video and audio editing and photography,” says Andrew Bowen, a freelance radio journalist. “Every journalist has to be [experienced in] multimedia.”

If the idea of teaching yourself how to master a slew of different programs is intimidating, then you might want to consider taking an online training program. Mediabistro offers courses that can help you hone your digital media skills. And if you need to zero in on a specific platform, such as Photoshop, you can also find beginner-level tutorials on YouTube.

2. Find your niche.

The term “journalist” covers a wide range of jobs. To develop your beat, find a topic you’re qualified to cover, and then write about it as much as you can. Whether you’re interested in finance, music or the environment, becoming an expert in your field will give you the credentials that will make media companies interested in your work.

As Bowen explains, “I think it’s important for journalists to figure out what kind of stories they’re drawn to and interested in. When you’re interviewing for a job, think of your career like a story you’re writing—with a beginning, a middle and an end—and a theme that connects it all.”

This list, “101 Niches to Write About,” is a great place to start figuring out what you might want your specialty to be.

3. Set up a website.

There’s no getting around it. Journalists these days need an online space to highlight their work. As soon as you can, set up a virtual portfolio. Once it’s finished, link to it in all of your professional email correspondence and on your social media accounts. Your pitches will gain a whole new level of credibility when an editor or employer can click on a link and see that you’ve amassed an impressive amount of editorial clips.

For those of you who want to make your portfolio as visually appealing as possible, websites like Pressfolios and Clippings.me are great places to start.

Still compiling those clips? Consider joining Mediabistro’s Freelance Marketplace, a database where editors and managers looking to assign short or long-term freelance projects can check out your profile and immediately start a dialogue.

Bonus points for platforms like Contently, which connects to your social media accounts and automatically pulls your published Web articles into your portfolio, as well as the number of shares, tweets and Facebook likes your work has received. (Full disclosure: I am a writer for Contently.) These days, publishers love journalists with an online following, especially those who frequently share with followers links to their work (and, thus, to the publishers’ site).

4. Learn a different language.

Knowing at least one other language will do wonders to set you apart from your competition and help you interact with your sources on a deeper level.

Bowen has experienced this firsthand: “Even when you’re pursuing a source who speaks fluent English, approaching them in their [native language] can be disarming, and can open up new levels of communication,” Bowen says. “And being able to read press coverage in another language can also help you approach a topic from a different angle.”

Journalist Caroline Mortimer has had a similar experience to Bowen, which she explains on the Wannabe Hacks blog: “I am a researcher at a TV company at the moment, working on a documentary…I make inquiries and conduct interviews in slightly nervous French and broken Italian but I am able to reach people I would not have been able to if I had just shouted down the phone in English.”

5. Be a good communicator…

Like it or not, journalism is an art that involves a lot of interaction with other people. If this idea alone makes you uncomfortable, then you might want to consider a different career path. On the other hand, there are a variety of ways to improve your people skills.

According to CNN International and CNN.com reporter Susanna Capelouto, learning how to communicate—to anyone—is one of the most crucial skills a journalist can have. “Be friendly when you talk to receptionists, secretaries, PR flacks or any gatekeeper who is your ticket to getting that interview you need for your story,” Capelouto says. “Show respect and call them by their name.”

On the flip side, journalists should be comfortable prodding their sources for more information and viewing issues from multiple perspectives. “Be willing to challenge yourself to understand and analyze arguments on all sides of issues—especially the most polarizing ones,” explains Patricia Phalen, associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.

6. And a good listener.

While it’s a journalist’s job to ask the tough questions, listening is just as important in this role. After all, how else are you supposed to get people to open up to you? Sometimes a listening ear is all someone needs to feel comfortable enough to give you the information you’re seeking.

“This is particularly true for working in the one-dimensional world of audio, where we constantly look for that emotional soundbite,” Capelouto says. “It’s not just what people say, but how they say it. If you listen carefully, you will be able to get what we still call ‘really good tape.'”

7. Don’t take rejection personally.

Having thick skin is another essential tool of a successful journalist, as is not letting negative feedback or constructive criticism deter you.

Radio producer Jess Engebretson stated it best: “As an aspiring journalist, you will be rejected a lot. Your pitches, your job applications, your grant applications—most of the time, they will be rejected. Remember two things.

One, the rejection may have nothing to do with the quality of your work or your journalistic potential. The publication may have run a similar story two weeks ago, or have funded a similar grant proposal last year. Two, even if the rejection does have to do with the quality of your work, don’t despair.

One person’s judgment of a particular piece of your work is not a referendum on your worth as a human being. The skills you need can be learned. Ask for feedback. Listen to it. Keep trying.”

With this in mind, get out there, future journalists!

Topics:

Go Freelance, Journalism Advice

Productivity

5 Podcasts Every Writer Should Be Listening To

Hone skills, find inspiration by adding these podcasts to your playlist

By Jillian Richardson

5 min read • Originally published August 13, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Jillian Richardson

5 min read • Originally published August 13, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

If you’re a freelance writer or beat reporter, you likely spend a lot of time on the go, either meeting with new clients or chasing your next assignment. You listen to music in the car, read a book on the subway and maybe check your email while you wait for your Uber ride. But have you considered downloading some podcasts that can help make you a better writer? If you haven’t hopped on the podcast train yet, it’s about time you did.

Chicago-based reporter Robin Amer says she feels podcasts help emphasize the importance of keeping it simple. “Radio [personalities] and podcasters have to be good at explaining things in an easy-to-process language,” Amer says. “Unlike with print, the listener only has one chance to understand what you’re talking about, so you have to make it simple right from the start. Having that mentality helps me communicate more effectively in print, too.”

Public radio journalist Stacy Bond, who is currently developing her own podcast for writers, agrees. “Podcasts can be entertaining companions for writers who have unusual schedules or spend a great deal of time alone,” Bond says. “They’re also a great way to learn. You can tune into a podcast and listen to how fellow writers approach a problem or brush up on a topic you plan to write about.”

To give you a head start, here are five of the best podcasts for writers we’ve found.

1. Longform Podcast
Description: The Longform Podcast, which is produced by the same people who run long-form platform The Atavist, is among Amer’s personal favorites. The show, says Amer, includes interviews with “everyone from Buzz Bissinger to Masha Gessen to Emily Bazelon, and each interview delves into process and the economics of their coverage in a way I find very useful and informative.”
Must-hear episode: Episode #142 features New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir. She explains, step by step, how she broke and reported the stories of abused nail salon workers in New York City.
Excerpt: “The idea of a discount luxury is an oxymoron. And it’s an oxymoron for a reason: because someone is bearing the cost of that discount. In nail salons it’s always the person doing your nails, my investigation found. That has put a new lens on the world for me.”

2. Writing Excuses
Description: Writing Excuses is one of the first and longest-running podcasts about writing. It launched in 2008 and is in its 11th season. Yet you can still power through the entire series in a relatively short time. Episodes are just long enough to give listeners solid information in an entertaining format. To get an idea of the voice, the podcast’s tongue-in-cheek tagline is: “Fifteen minutes long, because you’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart.”
Must-hear episode: Season 9, Episode 47: Conversation With a Bookseller. In this episode, guest Sara Glassman, a bookseller and reviewer, advises on query letters, book covers, book signings and how to make your first page stand out to retailers. This is an important listen for writers in need of ways to market their final product.
Excerpt: “For self-published authors, being able to engage with the customers [in a bookstore] and say, ‘Hi, would you like to take a look at my book’ or ‘How are you doing today?’ is great. But don’t say, ‘Do you want to buy my book?”

3. The Writing Show
Description: This pod ended in 2012, but audio is forever! Hosted by Paula Berinstein, The Writing Show covers a wide range of subjects that are of interest to writers, such as presenting yourself online and overcoming bad habits like procrastination. While the podcast is no longer releasing new episodes, the old shows are still highly relevant.
Must-hear episode: The Secret Rules of Hollywood Screenwriting with screenplay consultant Michele Wallerstein is this podcast’s most popular episode, and with good reason. The show debunks the myth that it’s impossible to get your script read in Hollywood and explains how to get your work into the right hands.
Excerpt: “You have to continue to be actively involved in pushing your own career, forever, as a writer… You have to be writing another spec screenplay. Otherwise, you get very cold, very fast. You fall right off the hot list. So, in terms of proving yourself, [have] new ideas to pitch, consistently [write] new material [and come up] with new ideas that you talk to your agent about.”

4. I Should Be Writing
Description: This podcast is fantastic because it focuses on the journey of a writer from amateur to professional. Consequently, I Should Be Writing (ISBW) has the entertainment value of a storytelling podcast, combined with the hard info of an interview-based show. Even better, it’s hosted by author Mur Lafferty, winner of the 2013 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Must-hear episode: Stop Kicking Your Own Ass features literary agent and author Jen Udden, who gives writers the kind of pep talk we need to hear every once in a while—along the lines of, “You’re not a worthless pile of writer garbage. You can do this!”
Excerpt: “If you’re not writing, you’re not writing for a reason. Find the reason and figure out how to get around it. Either write at a different time or write a different part of your story. Write when the people in your house are asleep. Write when they’re gone. Write on the weekends. There are so many options that exist beyond kicking your own ass.”

5. The Dead Robots’ Society Podcast
Description: The Dead Robots’ Society was created by Justin Macumber to offer advice and support to other aspiring writers. In fact, it was partially inspired by Lafferty’s I Should Be Writing podcast (see above). The ultimate goal of the podcast, according to its mission statement, is to get writers to “the promised land of publication.”
Must-hear episode: Being Good At Being Bad focuses on how important it is for writers to create great antagonists in fiction writing.
Excerpt: “You have far more time in terms of percentage of your story to develop your hero when your hero is struggling against overwhelming odds that are faceless; whereas, when you have fully developed villains the story becomes less about the hero and more about the relationship between the hero and the villain. It’s not that it’s a more difficult story to write, as much as it’s a different set of mental gears that you have to engage as a writer.”

Go ahead, make your commute more productive by bypassing the streaming music for once in favor of one or more of these podcasts. Who knows, maybe you’ll think of an idea for your next great novel while sitting in traffic tomorrow!

Topics:

Be Inspired, Productivity

1. A hook.

2. An angle.

3. Interesting stats.

4. Market knowledge.

5. Tailor-Made Pitching.

Pitch perfect.

Use an organization system that works for you.

Track items in these three basic categories.

Run a better business with better bookkeeping.

1. Easily avoidable mistakes.

2. Confusing chronology or formatting.

3. Exceeding one page without years of relevant experience to back it up.

4. Padding for length (or any reason).

5. Obvious objective statements.

6. Getting too personal.

7. Forgoing keywords.

Find the right match.

Learn how a CPA can help.

Get the facts on service costs.

Use the job title field wisely.

Be creative with keywords.

Join a variety of groups within your industry.

Mine your connections.

Send off some InMail.

Set a budget based on your average income.

Save for retirement using a percentage of income.

Choose the right retirement plan for your needs.

Create an emergency fund.

Hire a CPA if you need more peace of mind.

Flawless Writing

Links to Your Work

Bullet Points

Customization

1. Hone your digital skills.

2. Find your niche.

3. Set up a website.

4. Learn a different language.

5. Be a good communicator…

6. And a good listener.

7. Don’t take rejection personally.

Randi Donahue