Hello writers,
Welcome to the month of March. Do you think it will also last 34756 days like March 2020 did? To me, it certainly feels so — I cannot believe only a week has passed!
Should I bother wish (most of) you Happy Women’s Day? Today is a field day for corporates and brands as evidenced by the silly offers and emails I’ve been receiving since March 1. Yet, reality is quite different from what PR will have us believe. Don’t be fooled by the shiny ads, look beyond and understand the rot in the system. Change has to begin with us and we have to keep fighting.
Moving on from this little rant, I hope you all have had a good two months of writing and pitching. If you aren’t doing any of these, it’s absolutely alright to take a step back to breathe and marshall your thoughts. Reading always helps: my current favourite is a book offering diverse opinions on Goa called Reflected in Water (Edited by Jerry Pinto). I promise you it is unlike any other book you have read about my home.
It’s been a busy few weeks for me — I am terribly homesick and thus, throwing myself into work. Busy is good because it will help me recover from the salary low I hit in February. Have I mentioned how freelancing is like a rollercoaster: some months are good, and some months will leave you questioning everything!
In my last few newsletter, I asked if you would be interested in a one-on-one session with me where we discuss anything related to freelancing for 15 minutes. As part of the Pitch Clinic events conducted earlier, I offered to review participants’ pitches and I believe they have benefitted from my feedback. So, allow me to introduce the newest offshoot of this newsletter:
Ask Jo*
a 15-20 minute conversation on different aspects of freelancing; you could give me a pitch to review or we could discuss and condense a story from an idea, or work on finding the right publication for your story.
Rs 450 for the first session, a follow up at Rs 350 (I am open to comps/ discounted rates).
The session will be on Zoom or Google Hangouts; the former offers recordings.
I can do two such sessions a week, so if your query is urgent, please mention it.
*(Jo is my most common pet-name, besides being a throwback to a beloved literary character from Little Women.)
This week’s paid newsletter has an interview with freelance writer Antoine Lewis, job opportunities, a collection of grants and funds, a guide to writing a Letter of Introduction (LOI), pitch calls and a continuation of my Pitch Clinic from the last edition.
Note: As of this year, IAW is NO LONGER accepting yearly subscriptions. It will still show up in Substack, but at Rs 399, you will only get two months’ editions. Those who are paying monthly, nothing changes for you. If you would like to discuss three-month or six-month plans, email me itsallwrite@outlook.in
This free version of the newsletter has a reading guide, some job links and grants, a sneak peek of the LOI section, and some writing advice.
Ready? Let’s begin.
FREELANCING TOOLS: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
This is a subject I spoke about earlier in IAW’s history. As a dear friend reminded me recently, many of my subscribers are new to the freelancing world and would benefit from this revisit.
A well-crafted Letter of Introduction is handy when you are starting out and want to build your portfolio, and to help you create new connections.
What is an LOI?
It is a letter to you write to prospective clients (companies, editors) introducing yourself and your work, and telling them what services you offer that can help them.
Think of it as a writing audition. You can send an LOI on LinkedIn (this would be a brief one), or email (this would be lengthier but still crisp).
How is an LOI different from a Pitch/ Query letter?
In a LOI, you are essentially pitching/selling yourself. In a Pitch, you are selling an idea and hoping the editor assigns it to you. A Pitch will include details about a writer's experience though the focus is on the idea/ the story, whereas a LOI focuses on the writer’ experience and qualifications.
NEED A JOB?
Godrej India is looking to hire a content creator for their Diversity Inclusion vertical. Duties: conceptualise and create content for newsletter, and different communication channels, upload and curate content for social media. Email diversity.inclusion@godrejinds.com
The Satori Studio seeks a junior content creator (design + social media) with 2-3 years of experience and an interest in Indian fashion. Remote work. Freelancers can apply as well. They promise a healthy working environment and not more than 20 hours a week. Email portfolio to shagun@thesatoristudio.co
7Frames Studio is looking for senior illustrators to join their team at Goa. Duties: Lead a team of illustrators, transforming a brief of written texts or images into interesting vector based illustrations, and more. Mail portfolio link and resume to saurabh@7frames.in and abhishek@7frames.in
A high-profile international documentary series seeks researchers and production assistants. 12-18 months. Mumbai but with the possibility of travel. Languages: English, Hindi mandatory; Marathi a bonus. They’re also looking for editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers and more. Details, here. Email contact@travellingcatfilms.com or sparkwater@gmail.com
STORY LIBRARY
“The beef on my plate reminds me of home and the history that it holds within, despite the severe ostracization and trauma attached to its roots” — Jahnavi Uppuleti’s powerful piece on the nuanced relationship between cow meat and Dalit communities.
The tech world moves so rapidly. I recently came across this story on a new type of digital asset — non-fungible token (NFT). People are spending millions of dollars on to acquire NFTs that only exists in the online world.
“A traditional Malabar Muslim wedding is the safe-keeper of ancient recipes and age old food traditions” — Sreedevi Jayarajan writes on the culinary traditions that are part of these weddings.
I’ve grown up eating shark meat, so this was a thoroughly uncomfortable but necessary read. Supriya Vohra writes on the adverse effect of shark fishing in India.
MISCELLANY
(News you can use)
RESIDENCY: ThinkArts invites writers to apply for a 3-month online residency on playwriting for children in English and Hindi. Each resident will receive INR 30,000, alongside support and guidance online for the duration of the residency (April to July). Deadline: 21 March 2021. Details here.
GRANT: Earth Journalism Network is offering grants to boost reporting on renewable energy in India. Focus on Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, but applications are welcome from all over. The grants will support the production of in-depth stories. Open to India-based journalists (online, print, television, radio) and other expert media practitioners. Details here.
PITCH: Gaysi Family is commissioning pieces by trans people on the idea of trans visibility for the final week of March. Pieces on law, policy, advocacy as well as personal essays welcome. Poems will be accepted, but not paid.
RESOURCE: Subscriber Marisha Thakur sent across this very useful resource: a webinar series (16 in all) on Epidemiology for Health Journalists. Thank you, Marisha, for being so generous.
WRITING ADVICE
Early last week, I put up a tweet reminding people to send in their invoices for stories written and published. A couple of followers got in touch and thanked me for reminding them.
This is an elaboration of that tweet:
Always follow up. Don’t let publications ghost you!
It’s good practice to send across invoices as soon as the story is filed. Every company has a different payment timeline — you could receive your money in two weeks or three months. It’s best to get the paperwork cleared at the earliest. (I usually send out my invoices at the end of the month.)
Companies are notorious for not paying freelancers or ghosting them after getting the copy. You have to follow up, via email or phone calls or in rare cases, calling them out on social media. Remember, it is your money and even if a small amount, you deserve it. You worked hard for it.
A good practice is to ask other journalists/ freelancers who have worked with the company, so you know what to expect.
If you’re afraid of ruining a relationship with an editor with constant questions about payments, you can either be extremely polite in your queries, or throw caution to the winds and call them out. I’ve burned bridges with some publications doing the latter. I realised that I am better off working for people who value my time and skills.
I end with a quote from one of my favourite authors, Ann Patchett:
“If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there is something that you alone can say.”
Remember, get in touch (reply here) if you want those one-on-one sessions, or have any query or feedback about the newsletter.
Until next time,
Adios.
Chapter 32
this was such a wholesome edition <3
Hello Joanna,
I wanted to know about the one-on-one sessions. Also, I just found out about your newsletter, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I aspire to be a writer and freelancing would be a farfetched idea right now but it is more of a selfish act. A selfish act in a way that helps me to make sense of the mountain of information we are subjected to and to be able to retain what's important.