Dear writers,
Welcome to a new and hopefully better year!
2021 doesn’t need to do much and it still will trump 2020. I hope.
On the freelancing front, some good news. I will be organising Part II of The Pitch Club and the focus is on food writing. Part I, as some of you may remember, dealt with the basics of a pitch/query letter. This upcoming session will look at how to find ideas (trends, listicles, personal essays) for food stories, how to pitch them, where to find contacts, how to find the right publication that’s fit for your story, how to be objective when writing about food, and more. I am still finalising the details, and will send out an intimation once it is confirmed.
Also note: As of this year, IAW is no longer accepting yearly subscriptions. It will still show up in Substack, but do read the notes underneath. At Rs 399, you will only get two months’ worth of editions (I will be keeping track!). Those who are paying monthly, nothing changes for you. If you would like to discuss three-month or six-month plans, please email me on itsallwrite@outlook.in.
This week’s paid edition has a Pitch Clinic — IAW’s first submission! — where we look at two successful pitches (link and story) sent by journalist Arundhati Nath. There are job opportunities, pitch calls from editors, a reading guide and more.
Ready? Let’s begin.
MISCELLANY
News you can use
JOB: The Partition Museum is hiring for two roles for their Delhi head office: curatorial/research team and project management team. Based in Delhi. For the curatorial/research role — must have excellent research and writing skills, native fluency in English, and Punjabi. For the project management role — working fluency in English, ideally also in one of the following: Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Sindhi. Email jobs@partitionmuseum.org with your CV, cover letter, current and expected compensation and notice period. For the research role, please also send a writing sample.
JOB: Vikalp Kriya is looking for Illustrators for a project to develop Communication Resources for Panchayati Raj. This is a freelance, work from home position. Call Prabir 9422473781 or Anju 8390903781.
JOB: An upcoming online art gallery based in Juhu, Mumbai is looking for arts operation manager with 1-2 years of work experience. Job would involve working in different functions such as artists management, art logistics, coordinating with accounts etc. Please email me your resume at aqdastatli@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTION: Museum of Memories is a multi-arts digital museum that will house untold stories of the tangible and intangible heritage of women and queer identities. They invite contributors to look into personal memory and community histories to unearth these stories. Contributions in any form are welcomed. More details, here. For queries, email info.museumofmemories@gmail.com.
PROPOSAL: Archives at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) announced a public call for proposals to develop ‘Boundaries,’ the working title for the third exhibition in the Archives gallery space. The winning proposal can be supported up to Rs 5 lakh inclusive of everything. Deadline: Feb 18. More details, here.
FELLOWSHIP: 101 Reporters’ Rukhmabai Fellowship for Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is open to Indian women journalists over 21. Two fellowships of Rs 35,000 each will be awarded. The fellow will be expected to deliver three articles each: two profiles of women achievers in STEM in India and a reported news feature-cum-analysis establishing low representation of women in STEM in India, reasons, consequences and possible solutions. Apply, here.
READ: If you ever wrote with a fountain pen (it’s how I polished my writing!), this BBC story on artisanal penmakers will appeal to you.
READ: Tora Agarwala finds the nicest ideas. Here, she talks about a documentary exploring the making of Assam’s first all-girl band.
READ: Last year, my friend and IAW’s biggest support Krutika Behrawala and I started our own food publication on Medium to tell our kind of food stories. It’s called But First, Food and we put out stories every few weeks. Please do read and share feedback/ clap.
SUBSCRIBER SPEAK
In my last newsletter — Chapter 27 — I asked you to tell me what is the “What is the one piece of advice you could give to someone starting off as a freelancer?”
Subscriber Deepak Gopalakrishnan (he runs the fantastic Things of the Internet newsletter) sent in some advice.
“The ideal scenario is getting paid well for projects / clients / work that you enjoy. Then you can fill out a 2*2 matrix. Ignoring the “doesn't pay, shit work” quadrant, you'll need to play around with the others. It's a balance between putting food on the table and satisfying creative outlets or whatever. Freelancing is too glamourised as ‘great money, amazing clients from the word go’ — the reality is far from the truth. Having set expectations is the best way to go about things. Be clear as to why you are freelancing and optimize for that (is it for better quality work? Is it for money? Is it to take a break from corporate slavery?) — whatever your prime reason is, optimize or work towards that. Which means you might need to compromise a little (i.e., do stuff that pays you but you don't necessarily enjoy; or take up low-paying work but will help you get experience or creds) — keep maintaining that balance. Everyone’s motivations and goals are different, so one piece of advice will not work: Do what works for you, have a plan and for goodness’ sakes please keep a tab of your expenses at least 2-3 months down the road.
He helpfully shared his version of the matrix mention above.
And here, I do an IAW brag. This is feedback shared by some subscribers.
Madhurima Sengupta says, “In your last newsletter you had shared some useful links. Of them the one that gives access to free e-books was really helpful! Your newsletters have come to my life as a rare blessing! Keep up the good work. Thank you!”
Ankita Marwah adds,“Your pitch clinic is immensely insightful. We often need to hear the process till the pitch and not just the pitch, and what you mentioned was a great guide. I also love the resources your share in each version. I’ve joined so many communities and penned down so many twitter threads, including this one, since I started reading IAW.”
I will end with this valuable advice:
Once again, I wish you all a lovely and healthy New Year.
Cheers!