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7 Steps to Writing Articles That Can Explode Your Business.
In today's highly competitive internet universe, the importance of attracting highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be overemphasized. Routing web traffic to your site can be your only means of survival, especially in the cutthroat world of...
8 Tell-Tale Signs That Forecast Writing Success!
‘Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” Stephen King Ever wonder what the hands of fate will deal you in the way of success as a writer? Or why...
How to Improve Your Writing Without Writing a Word
Many an ad, business letter and TV commercial comes into being slowly, even painfully. Maybe because some of us write as if we were still using an IBM Selectric, wite-out and a badly worn Webster's. For that matter, maybe some still are. And that's...
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As you know, good sales copy is critical to your success online. Although it's not something that you can learn overnight, here are a few pointers to increase your response rates ... __1. Focus on benefits, not on features. For example, the...
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There is an image most people carry of the artist (think Van Gough's self-portrait, the one with his ear bandaged), working in solitude in a barren garret in a dark corner of the city. Everyday is a struggle. He continually walks between moments...
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How to Break Into Writing for Newspapers
Besides waking up with a morning coffee, millions of us wake every day to blaring newspaper headlines about police gunning down a suspect, or a fire that leaves a family of four homeless, or a city council that wants to make it illegal to dump computer monitors in the landfill.
The stories can be exciting, tragic, informative, even amusing. And being the reporter who gathers the information or covers the scene of emergency incidents must be a thrill.
As a freelance writer you may have considered trying your hand at newspaper reporting, but maybe you have little or no journalism classes in your background.
Dont let that stop you.
Break into the newspaper business by becoming a stringer a freelance reporter who is paid by the story. Weekly and daily newspapers are always on the lookout for stringers. Its economical for them and it frees up their staff reporters to handle the bigger stories.
What kind of work can you expect as a stringer? Ive been stringing for 18 years covering news in the suburbs such as town council, school board, planning board and zoning board meetings. Stringers are also used to cover the local entertainment fare, high school and college sports, and feature stories.
The pay for stringers varies with the size of the newspaper. The basic rate is about $35 per story, but can go as high as $200 or more, depending on the work involved and if the paper also wants you to take photographs.
So how do you get started?
Check the newspaper or newspapers in the area. Read through the publications and see what stories are missing. Has a new department store opened recently, but you didnt find a story about it in the paper? Did your property tax bill suddenly skyrocket, but you read nothing about this coming down the pike?
Dont think nothing happens in the suburbs. Ive covered town council meetings where police were called in to escort troublemakers out of the meeting hall.
Ive covered meetings where the debate escalated to a point where a council member stood and called her colleagues a bunch of sleezebags.
Next, get some ideas together for stories. Find out if there are some community events approaching. Attend a town council or Board of Selectmens meeting and see what issues your community or a nearby community is facing. Will there be a new traffic light downtown? Is the discount store thats been in business for generations going to close permanently? Are there going to be new regulations for your weekly trash pick-up?
Once you have some ideas, call the newspaper youre interested in and ask for the editor. Hint: get the editors name from the newspaper and ask for him or her by name. Introduce yourself and let the editor know you are interested in stringing for the paper and that you have some ideas for stories youd like to present.
Editors know stringers start out with little or no experience, so dont be embarrassed to say youve never written for a newspaper if indeed you havent. If you hear the editor start to hedge, offer to do one story for no pay nothing big, maybe a 300-word piece on a local fund-raising event.
Some newspapers allow their stringers to write their stories in the newsroom. Some do not. If you happen to string for a paper that does not, you can submit your stories by modem or email.
Newspapers count on content to attract advertisers their bread and butter. And while staffers may get to cover murders, fires, and accidents, its the stringer who often covers the news that is the most informative to the community.
And stringers are often the next in line to be considered when a staff position becomes available.
About the Author
Editor of Footnotes, a free newsletter for freelance writers with articles, paying markets, freelance jobs, conference listings, online courses and more. Go to http://www.oscweb.com/footnotes
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