Print pitching is a whole other beast. When you land a placement, however, you’ll score major credibility points as a writer or industry expert. — Writing an article for your local newspaper, trade magazines, or national magazines is simpler than you think. But simple doesn’t mean easy. For freelance writers and industry leaders, a byline in a print publication is synonymous with credibility. Media publications often reserve their print edition for the best articles, and…

The Russian composer etched anti-Stalinist codes throughout the work, which commemorates the 70th anniversary of its premiere in 2023. — (This post is part of a series called The 700-Word Read: journalistic, anecdotal articles that park under 700 words, to practice succinct storytelling.) Seventeen years before my current career in journalism, I was in music school, performing symphonies with orchestras. One work, Shostakovich’s tenth symphony, haunts me to this day.

The Claude Hopkins classic, first published in 1923, is now public domain and free to read. — If I told you I had a writing gig for you that paid $151 per word… would you want to hear more? That’s how much money (in today’s dollars) companies would pay for top-notch sales copy in the roaring twenties, according to Scientific Advertising, a short book written by Claude…

Freelancers can pitch the brand and get paid for one-off submissions or reporting. — What do personal finance misinformation, world politics commentary, and a video of a dude having s*x with a donkey have in common? They’re all stories that have been covered by VICE Media. Established in 1994, the Canadian media outlet has had many evolutions, including a seven-year partnership with HBO that…

The platform remains a top publishing option for writers, creators, and thoughtful professionals. — You don’t need to be a great writer to flourish on Medium. Medium is an open-source publishing platform that was founded in 2012 by Twitter and Blogspot co-founder Ev Williams. …

Once you “find the lead”, your story will click into place. — If you don’t know how to catch a reader’s attention in the first few seconds of a story, you’ll be dead in the water. Enter the lead: a single sentence, paragraph, or section that summarizes the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your story. Think of leads as…

The tech startup made email newsletters cool again. For some, the platform is a dead end. For others, it’s a perfect fit. — Your own personal media empire might still be within reach. Substack is a San Francisco-based tech company founded in 2017. The company offers freemium technology in a simple interface to help users start an email newsletter quickly. Users can either grow a free newsletter, or use the platform’s features to…

The two men, each worth over $100 billion, say a 1969 classic is their favorite read. — If you want to tell great stories, start by reading them more often. Messaging can make or break a business. In our modern, content-saturated lives, it’s no longer enough for a value proposition to simply be clear. It must also be compelling. And nothing is more compelling than a great…

After a pullback in 2022, the iconic brand is taking pitches again from writers and thought leaders. — Professionals and aspiring freelance writers who want to grow their personal brand are obsessed with being in Forbes. In recent years, however, the path to becoming a contributor has gotten increasingly murky. When Forbes first introduced its contributing writer platform in 2010, it was an innovator in the digital news…