November 2008
You are browsing the archive for November 2008.
By Michelle V. Rafter on November 28, 2008
News you can use from the online news business:
Seal Beach Daily – Take two former reporters, add Web design and blogging skills and you’ve got the Seal Beach Daily, a virtual daily newspapers covering the neighborhoods in and around Seal Beach, a beach town that straddles the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties. The [...]
Posted in Blogs, Freelancing, Media Business | Tagged Blogging, Donna Wares, Duncan Riley, how to get traffic to your blog, Kate Cohen, microblogging, Seal Beach Daily, The Inquisitr, WordCount
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving. If you’re reading this on Thanksgiving, you’re spending too much time online. Walk through the leaves. Watch a football game. Eat a drumstick. Enjoy the day.
Posted in Freelancing | Tagged taking a break from freelancing, taking a break from the Internet, Thanksgiving
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 26, 2008
Long weekends like the four-day Thanksgiving holiday that starts tomorrow when nobody’s in the office are great times to work on projects you can’t get around to when you have story deadlines and editors breathing down your neck, projects like crafting queries to new or not so new-to-you publications.
To help get the query juices flowing, [...]
Posted in Editors, Freelancing, Media Business | Tagged freelance writing, how to write great query letters, writing query letters
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 25, 2008
I’m on the road today, visiting editors in southern California and then taking a few days off. While I’m gone, please enjoy this rerun of some popular WordCount posts about visiting and working with editors.
What editors want from freelance writers
4 ways to bring good karma to your freelance writing business
Top 10 qualities of a good [...]
Posted in Editors, Freelancing | Tagged freelance writing, how freelancers work with editors, working with editors
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 24, 2008
I’m the special guest blogger today over at The Golden Pencil, a b5 Media blog for freelance writers that’s run by host Jenny Cromie, who recently took over the gig. My Q&A covers a variety of topics, including how I got into the freelance business, how the current economy is changing the freelance landscape and [...]
Posted in Blogs, Freelancing | Tagged b5media blog network, freelance writing, guest post, The Golden Pencil
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 21, 2008
I’m starting what I hope will become a WordCount Friday feature, a recap of news and commentary on freelancing and the media business as reported by other blogs and news outlets this week. Happy reading:
The case for independent news sites as profit-makers – David Westphal, a senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership, [...]
Posted in Freelancing, Media Business, Newspapers, Online news | Tagged All Freelance Writing, college newspapers, David Westphal, digital media, Jennifer Mattern, Online Journalism Review, Online news, PC Magazine goes digital, Six Apart, TypePad Journalist Bailout Program
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 20, 2008
More and more these days, good writing is all about context. When news cycles are measured in minutes or hours rather than days, unless you’re the one doing those news stories, your work as a writer is putting what’s happening into context. That’s especially the case for many bloggers, whose raison d’etre is commenting on [...]
Posted in Writing | Tagged Chateau d'Yquem, Jonathan Weber, nut graph, putting news into context, Robin Doussard, what is a nut graph, writing in the why
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 19, 2008
You’ve heard the expression, follow the money.
Well, the silver lining of the U.S. economy sliding into the dumps is there’s plenty of work for business writers who know a mortgage-backed security from an adjustable rate mortgage.
If you don’t fit that description now, you could. American University and Arizona State University’s Donald W. Reynolds National Center [...]
Posted in Economy, Freelancing, Writing | Tagged American University financial crisis workshop, covering the financial crisis, Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journal, writing about the economy
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 18, 2008
It’s one thing to be desperate for work. It’s another to act like it.
You may have just lost a big client, or even more than one, so you’re scrambling to add some new writing assignments to your calendar. You send out letters of introduction and query like crazy. A few nibbles come in as a [...]
Posted in Careers, Editors, Freelancing | Tagged freelance writing, how not to act desperate for work, working with editors
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By Michelle V. Rafter on November 17, 2008
I’m guest blogging today at the American Society of Business Publication Editors blog. The ASBPE is the professional association for editors and writers in the business, trade and specialty press. The subject: why former magazine and newspaper staff writers have all the right stuff for a successful transition into freelancing for business publications. Read the [...]
Posted in Blogs, Careers, Freelancing, Magazines, My stories | Tagged American Society of Business Publication Editors, ASBPE, Conde Nast Portfolio, Erik Spoelstra, guest post, why freelance for trade magazines
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