What does it take to make it as a freelance writer in today’s stressed economy? Two local magazine editors, LeeAnne Jones, Managing Editor of Diablo and Napa Sonoma magazines and Peggy Spear, editor of Bay Area Parent, have the inside track, and will share their best tips at Tri-Valley’s first meeting of 2010. Expect to learn: what editors look for in a freelance writer; how to make an effective story pitch; each editor’s current interests and needs; and how to improve your submission and rise from the bottom of the slush pile to the top.
LeeAnne will also discuss how magazine journalism is evolving in the age of Twitter, and Peggy will take on the freelancer’s classic dilemma – juggling a writing or publishing career with life! Both editors will take questions following their talks. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn directly from the pros and give your freelance career a boost for the New Year. LeeAnne Jones is a lifelong creative. By day, she is the managing editor of Diablo and Napa Sonoma magazines. By night, she is a writer, painter, scrapbooker, crafter and dreamer. Her East Bay event blog, Top Tickets, can be found at Diablomag.com every Wednesday, and she blogs personally (and infrequently) about her creative interests at: http://writerleeanne.wordpress.com. She lives in Dublin with her amazing husband, Paul.
Peggy Spear is the editor of Bay Area Parent magazine, a job she took over when her oldest child started high school. Before that she worked for years as an assistant metro and lifestyle writer at the Contra Costa Times, and before that, as an editor at Diablo Publications. She lives in Walnut Creek with her husband, Tony, and three children, Francesca, 17, Charlie, 16, and Mick 12.
Thanks LeeAnne and Peggy for your insights on freelancing.