End of Year Pitches

December: The month when we all stop for a full week to hit holiday parties and exchange gifts and eat lots and lots of cookies .....

Or do we?

If you're trying to run a freelance writing business, this month is your prime opportunity to line up work for the coming year so that you're not scrambling month to month.

Don't know where to start? That's okay, I'm here to help. Here's what I do:

1) Make a list of all of your current clients. Check out their calendars for the coming year and for any themes that will be prevalent in each monthly issue. Contact them and find out if they will entertain a list of story ideas from you.

2) When you hear back from each client (who will always say, "Yes! Send us ideas!"), work on a list of 10-12 topics. This usually takes me about eight hours to research, but if I net just one or two assignments for specific months, I'm able to schedule that and know with certainty that it's money in the bank. It's not wasted time if it results in a $1,000-$2,000 assignment, is it?

3) After you've nailed work with current clients, now research new markets. Make sure your Web site is current (in this case, I'm revamping mine this year), and go through the same process that you did with the current clients. Look at each publication's editorial calendar. Send an email to each magazine asking if they'll accept pitches. When you hear back from each one, research topics based on the calendar and send 10-12 story ideas.

This may sound like it's time-consuming, but think of it this way: If you handle this during December every night for just one hour after you sign a few Christmas cards, you'll start seeing results.

Get the work on the calendar before the year begins.

As the snow begins falling, you'll watch the assignments snowball.

Libeling "The Hobbit" - A Former AP Reporter's Take

I don't pursue stories about movies or celebrities, because it's too close to my personal interests and quite frankly would be a conflict of interest for me to cover.

But this week when a story broke about animals being mistreated on the film set of "The Hobbit," I raised an eyebrow and put my coffee cup down on the table, a little stunned.

The first part of the problem was that the source for the information was the animal rights group PETA. The second part of the problem was that the news organization that broke the story was where I used to work in the mid- to late-'90s: The Associated Press.

Understand this.

When I was with the Associated Press covering politics in the statehouse of Pennsylvania, these folks would sometimes drop in for a visit. We'd take their press releases with straight faces, but the minute they were gone, the paper was crumpled into a ball and used for hoop shooting practice with the nearest trash can.

I tell you this, because it took a lot for us to take PETA seriously.  In fact, I once was sent out on an investigation to discover whether horses that were being auctioned were being mistreated. The editor sat on my story for a full four months and didn't run it. I went on vacation, and while I was gone, a state legislator held a committee hearing on the issue. So another reporter took my work, added updated information, slapped her byline on my copy and made it her story.

This is how we treated the stories that PETA brought to us. They were afterthoughts. We did not give them credence, and we held at arm's length every ounce of information and disdainfully looked at it with the greatest amount of skepticism you can imagine. Think of a 5-year-old Shirley Temple in a pink tutu holding a dead rat by the tail. There ya go.

And here this week ... is a story going world-wide, with an Associated Press byline no less ... about PETA allegations and a film I have anticipated for months.

I'm on the fence about this whole thing. Knowing what I know about how we tiptoed around PETA as if it was a biological weapon placed on a Manhattan subway, for AP to run this story gave it instant credibility with me.

And then I read what filmmaker Peter Jackson put out on Facebook ... and I read the accounts of the owners of the animals in question, who emphatically stated that in no way were their pets mistreated. Add to this the weighing in of some of the film actors on Twitter about this, and my doubt reached new heights.

I see a few problems with the AP account. They buried the Jackson response to the allegations deep in the copy. They also quoted people who had been fired and who had chosen to speak up on the cusp of the film opening and who had an obvious axe to grind. They didn't interview the owners of the animals, either.

As a fellow journalist who worked for AP for 4 1/2 years, my initial reaction is always to go to the defense of the journalist who reported the story. I know what it's like to be the "eyes on the ground," to interview those with the concerns, to ferret out the liars and those with secret agendas, to thoroughly question and provoke with questions in order to ascertain the truth. I know how to push buttons and read body language, anger and evasiveness. And I know that when I worked for AP, we never would have run that story if we thought there was any doubt to its veracity.

But that was then.

I have seen a cavalier attitude that has been brought about by the Internet and bloggers and people who fashion themselves as "journalists" because they put pen to paper but have no training or experience other than spouting their opinions for a wide audience.

I can't vouch anymore for the strength of the journalistic integrity of an organization like the AP like I once could. And having read the statements from the Jackson camp, I am chagrined at what seems to be a rush to be the first with the story rather than a careful vetting of the facts.

Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye, and the AP hasn't yet written it. But their silence on story followup is deafening and speaks for itself.

Either way, this is a disturbing type of story: It either shines a light on mistreatment of animals during one of the most highly anticipated films of the year ... or it shines a light on egregious reporting that borders on libel.

We have entered a new era of journalism.

Clearly.

Sadly.

Sickeningly.

Making it Sizzle

Is your keyboard sizzling?

Straight up, and no joke -- if you want to make it in this business, you need to be turning copy so fast that your fingers hurt typing.

If an editor says, "I have a story for you, but I need it Monday ..." and it's a Tuesday .... can you turn it around in six days?

Most magazine writers might sigh and complain and say it's absolutely not a possibility.

And that's what separates those of us who can from those of us who can't.

When I was in my 20s, I heard this anecdote about a journalist who learned to write sizzling leads in the back seat of a taxi. He was in a huge metropolitan area, and on his way back to the paper after every assignment, he'd jump into the nearest cab and furiously start scribbling. By the time he reached his desk, he'd just pound out the prose.

I practiced writing as fast as I could, and I would speak out loud to myself the leads of the stories I was covering, right on the spot. I hit my stride when I joined The Associated Press in Philadelphia ... and guess what ... I started writing my leads in the back seats of taxis. I grabbed on to that anecdote, and I became that person.

If you can't craft a lead in five minutes or less, then practice doing it. Listen. Your lead is the hardest part of the story that you'll ever have to write. Once you're done with that lead, IT FLOWS. It just rattles off your brain like a stream of consciousness.

OK ... now for those of you who are still dubious, I'll give you a little exercise that my J School prof taught me back in the day:

Every day, she gave us a story to research. We were not allowed to write it. We were to collect our facts. The next day, we came in with our information and sat down at our desks. She'd set a timer. For five minutes, we had to scribble out our stories, long-hand. If we lost a train of thought, we were to write, "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, don't stop ...." over and over and over again ... until the story thread picked up in our minds.

If she saw the pencil stop -- immediate five point dock.

Let me tell you, that I did this for four years with this J School prof. I really believe she's the reason I can do this ... but it takes practice.

So the next time an editor says, "I have a last minute assignment, but it's due in 2 days ...." TAKE IT.

And practice writing your leads in five minutes so that you won't be intimidated by such an offer.

Pretty soon, your keyboard will be sizzling so much that you won't be able to stand the heat on your fingertips.

Doing Away with Vampire Clients

It might surprise you that money isn't the top priority for me when vetting potential clients.

I do have clients who pay upwards of $1 per word ... and I have others who pay no more than 30 cents per word.

Why the mix?

My first priority is always the client's interpersonal skills when dealing with writers.

In short, I don't work for vampires.

As writers, we are a sensitive lot. We're like the proverbial pound puppies that wag our tails enthusiastically and bark, "Pick me! Pick me!" to any editor that will glance our way. We're gluttons for bylines, gluttons for ego, gluttons for pats on the back, gluttons for praise. We easily cast aside self respect in favor of acknowledgement that what we cobbled together is a poetic masterpiece.

And as a result, we are a vulnerable lot.

I can't tell you how many times during my career span I have encountered really emotionally abusive editors. I'm not sure what it is about our industry that attracts this type of individual. But I have observed over and over again how writers are continually bludgeoned. And unfortunately, those who wield the power to accept or disapprove of a person's work can take an unhealthily gleeful approach to beating someone down. This has a couple of psychological effects: 1) It throws someone off balance psychologically so that they are unsure of the quality of their work and 2) It keeps someone from demanding fair compensation.

There have been a lot of times when I've recognized this happening to me personally. But I haven't always been very good at pinpointing that the issue lies with the person dispensing criticism or praise, and less to do with my personal standards of excellence and conscientious hard work.

My personal conclusion is that to survive as a freelancer in this economic climate, I can and should only work for nice people and shun the vampires.

If someone pays less money, but they're kind, that goes a lot farther with me than someone who pays $2 a word and belittles me. I have more energy to create. I have more confidence. I have more enthusiasm. I have more stick-to-it-iveness. I have more drive. I have more imagination.

And I'm more productive.

In the short term, something as little as 30 cents a word may seem less profitable. But if I'm writing for someone who thanks me, praises me, encourages me ... my productivity heightens. Suddenly, I'm churning out copy at such a rate that my typing fingers can't keep up with my racing thoughts.

I sat down and calculated whether a story at a higher pay rate would net me more financially than doing several stories paying much less. If the editor with the higher rate is, for lack of a better word, a psychopath, is it ultimately worth it to do more work for them and less for the person who is generous with appreciation and quick to pay me?

Nope.

I do more work for the individual who is generous with kindness, and I'm motivated to give them a better product.

This comes down to a quality of life issue.

If you're struggling with working for someone who is treating you more like a slave than a colleague, do yourself a favor. Evaluate the relationship. If they're sucking you dry like a vampire, cut them off and move towards the people who will always greet you with a smile and a kindness.

Kindness goes a long way, and in my case, that's both in terms of emotional well being and financial common sense.

Freelancing & Thinking Outside the Box for New Clients

I've been freelancing since 2001, and I consistently receive the question:

"How do you find your clients?"

Right now I'm shaking up my apple cart and thought this would be a good time to address it.

The first thing, right off the bat, is a no-brainer:

You have to make cold calls. And I'm not talking about a few. The percentage of return is 1. So for every 100 cold calls you make, expect one client. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you want to make it in this business and this economy, this is required. Set aside a few days in ONE week to do NOTHING but COLD CALLS, and you'll find that business starts to pick up.

But let's drill this down a little further: How do I decide WHICH type of magazines to call?

This is where I get creative, because if I don't think outside the box, I will never survive. I do NOT hit the magazines that you'll see in the supermarket stands: the Ladies' Home Journals or the Maxims. Yes, these pay a lot of money, and they'd be a plum in the pudding. But there's too much competition to get into those, and frankly, it's a waste of my time to pitch them when the odds are too high at getting a "yes."

I fly under the radar and hit the magazines that no one considers: the trade publications.

I look at it this way: 1) At this stage in my career, I don't need the ego boost of a byline in a five-star publication. At age 29, I hit my career goal, which was to land a job with The Associated Press. I successfully wrote for the AP until age 33, and after that, I was done with the ego trip. So the only reason I'd pitch the big magazines is for my ego ... and frankly, I have bills to pay, and the ego sits on the shelf. It's a matter of survival. and 2) I don't need to go after magazines that feature celebrities. I have no interest in doing interviews with celebrities. The reason is simple: I really enjoy movies, and that's an area of my life that I consider "play time." I don't want to mix work and play, and if I covered celebrities, the line would be crossed, and "play time" would no longer be fun for me. It's the same reason I'd never try to do a feature story on a Pittsburgh Steeler, either, because I've been a fan since age 10. It's too weird for me to cross those two worlds.

OK. So now we come to the question ... how do I choose my trade magazines?

I look under my nose.

What I mean by that is, think about what is governing your life -- not just your personal interests, but the day-to-day things that affect you.

Let me give you an example from my own life:

I have a child who has Asperger's Syndrome and is on a highly-functional scale of autism. "Aspies," as we call them within our community, usually have strong fixations on one particular subject and exhaust their knowledge on it. In my child's case, he loves Sonic the Hedgehog and has fixated on this gaming character since age 5. As he has matured, this fixation has morphed into a concentration on computers, software programs, gaming, you name it.

Now last night we went to a movie theater and saw a preview for a new film where a bad character in a video game wants to become good. My child has talked non-stop about this ever since then.

That got me thinking.

I went to his book shelf and pulled out a magazine that heretofore I have ignored, "Game Informer."

Would you find "Game Informer" on a supermarket shelf? I haven't seen it. We get it, because we have a GameStop membership. This publication reviews games and cross compares hardware for gaming systems and how different games play on different system apps. My kid loves it, even though it's largely written for the adult audience (another aspect of his Asperger's is that he has the reasoning ability of a 17 1/2 year-old, even though he is 9).

Now truthfully, I don't think I have enough industry knowledge to write for "Game Informer."

But this is what I'm going to do:

I'm going to go to writersmarket.com and search trade magazines on video gaming. I'm going to search magazines devoted to autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, ADD and gifted children. I'm going to search magazines devoted to parenting. AND I'm going to search children's market magazines -- those whose audience is children, not adults.

This is a new genre for me, because my current magazines focus on real estate sales, entrepreneurship, information technology and engineering, diversity in the workplace, the military, job hunting -- and I also write for one university's alumni magazine for graduates of its business school.

You can see that I don't focus on one particular area or issue in my client list. That's because in this economy, to survive, you have to be diversified. When one area falls off (real estate, for example), another area needs me to do more writing (the military, for example).

I write for eight different trade magazines.

Now I'm going to take my little Aspergers/Sonic the Hedgehog/gaming brainstorm and spin that out and see if I can land a client in one of these related fields.

And I can tell you for certain that if I stick with my 1 percent rule, I will find at least one new client.

Will there be 100 publications on these topics? Most likely, NOT. That's why I don't stop there. I keep looking "under my nose" to see what OTHER areas in my life might lead to OTHER magazines. This was just one example of how I do it.

Hope it helps you, and if you have any questions, feel free to post here or ping me on Twitter! I usually stick with my "play time" on Twitter by chatting with people about movies. But I'm happy to answer any questions there, too, at https://twitter.com/lovemrthornton. (And if you want to know who "Mr Thornton" is, you'll just have to watch a little-known British film called, "North and South." :-)

And now I'm off to write up four stories due next week ... and then, to find any magazines that deal with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Good luck in your own hunt!

The Most Obvious Secret in the World: Changing Your Byline

Now we come to the topic that male journalists never have to face:

A name change.

I was married in 2001, and at the time, changing my name and my byline was a no-brainer. I'm a traditional girl at heart, and I actually enjoyed explaining to people why my name was different. After all, a wedding is a happy affair.

Fast forward to this year, when my divorce was finalized after a 2-year separation ... and I had a tough choice to make.

For a lot of women, the question of returning to a maiden name usually involves the emotions and well-being of their children from a marriage ... and beyond that, you have the hassle of changing the name on everything from the water bill, to voting records, to the Social Security card.

For a woman journalist, whose byline advertises her "body of work," especially now on the Internet, that name change comes with a much larger price.

I ran the whole thing by a few friends in the business, and one person who represents celebrities in LA as a publicist warded me off of changing anything. "You'll have to explain yourself to people," he said. "It's information they don't need to know."

I chewed on my lip for a few weeks after that, considering it.

In the end, I decided that my name represented more than what was on a mailing label -- or even what was printed over articles I'd written.

It went to the core of who I was before I was married ... and that I have returned to that same "person" today. When all was said and done, I wanted people to know me or remember me by the last name with which I was born, not the one that tied me to a memory of a failed marriage.



Changing a name is a very individualized decision. For sure, this one created a lot of confusion! But in the end, I'm really glad I went this route. I tell people, "My friends call me, 'Heidi,' but my closest friends -- those who know the details of my life -- call me, 'Russell.'" Since I was a teenager, "Russell" was more than a last name. It was a warm nickname. In it is tied up the feisty, mischievous and devil-may-care person who first decided she wanted to break balls in a newsroom. I still get a charge every time one of my confidants calls me on the phone and says, "Hey, Russell, what trouble are you causing today?" I still love to hear from someone who will say gleefully, "I'm so glad you went back to your old name!"

Yes, it may confuse people when they search, "Heidi Lynn Russell" and only find a handful of articles on Google. It may have been better for my own credibility to keep the moniker, "Heidi Russell Rafferty" as my official byline, because if you search that name, you'll find far more than you want to see.


That's okay.

Because Heidi Lynn Russell really isn't the same person that Heidi Russell Rafferty was.

And with that small change, even though I may not get the recognition for the volume of work that exists under the married name, I'm back to the person I was before, except stronger, better ... and wiser.

How Do I Know My Story Passed Muster?

For the second time this week, I've fielded the same question from two friends who are new to reporting and/or freelancing:

"I sent my story to my editor yesterday and have not heard anything back about it. Should I be worried that it's not good enough?"

OK. Let me say this as simply as I can:

No news is good news.

In other words, it doesn't matter if you're writing for a wire service where the story will be published as soon as possible, or for a magazine where the story won't see the light of day for another two months.

If you don't hear anything from the editor, your story is perfect.

Writers have a difficult time with this.

By our nature and personality, we thrive on positive feedback. Now, you might say to me, "Heidi, most people like positive feedback."

Um. No. Not like we do. Think about it. You get a little zinger every time you see your byline in print, don't you? I mean, I've been in this business for more than 20 years, and I even show my CHILD my byline when I get a magazine in the mail.

We LOVE the recognition we get for a well-written story.

But here's the thing:

Ironically, in an industry where everyone likes to get an atta-girl or atta-boy, those who are in power will not dispense praise.  If your story is stellar, you will NOT hear a peep from an editor.

Your pat on the back is to be published, plain and simple.

That's your reward.

If there's something WRONG with your story ... if the editor doesn't like the way you phrased your lead ... or the way you organized it ... or has a question about a source's quote ....

You WILL hear something IMMEDIATELY.

This also happens to be an industry where NEGATIVE feedback is rife. I can't explain it, I don't understand it, I hate it as much as you do, but this is the cold, hard reality. You will ALWAYS get wrist-slapped within seconds from an editor reading your beautiful prose if something is amiss.

So I want you to do one thing for me:

The next time you send in a story, don't sit by your email account and wait for a message that says, "THIS WAS THE MOST AMAZING STORY I'VE READ IN MY ENTIRE CAREER OF EDITING! YOU ARE A GENIUS! I LOVE YOU! WRITE FOR ME AGAIN! PLEASE PLEASE DON'T WRITE FOR ANYONE ELSE!"

Not going to happen.

Not.

Send your story, stop biting your nails and just know that when that magazine comes in the mail and you see your byline on an untouched story ... you did exceptionally well.

Reward yourself with that glass of wine, that bite of Godiva, that succulent bubble bath, that new pair of shoes ... however you wish.

Because the only person you're going to hear praise from ... is yourself.

Be confident that you did a good job and thank your stars that you didn't hear a peep from the editor until your eyes rested on your name in print.

If you really want to be lavished upon ... get a dog.