start your own magazine

This article in Sunday's Age is interesting: if you can't find exactly the write magazine to sell to, start your own.

"...there aren't too many magazines that will publish your 4000-word opinion on William Shatner", the article notes. So Mia Timpano started Nerds Gone Wild!, a free mag that is reported to print 6000 copies each issue.

Also part of "Melbourne's indie magazine boom" are Mess + Noise, for indie bands and their fans, The Sex Mook (what's a mook?), Is/Not, and T-World.

There's a magazine for everything. "It's the equivalent of starting a rock band if you're into books," Lisa Dempster, publisher at Vignette Press, tells The Age.

"These days, the coolest kids don't play guitars: they start up magazines", the paper reports.

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the final portfolio piece

Exercise D

Write a short piece of humour based around the subjects of food and cooking and indicate the publication for which it is written eg. Australian Women’s Weekly, Gourmet Traveller, Weekend Extra, Grok, Great Walks etc.

350 – 500 words (maximum)

Can you be funny about fat? Humerous about ham? Witty about Wheaties? Jolly about Jello...etc...

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walk don't run

Hello WfPM movers and shakers,

I like the look of this new magazine. One of you is thinking about/has decided to do the long assignment on a walking track in WA - could this be a place where she could be paid for her work?

When I called the editor to see if he wants freelance stuff (he does) I didn't ask about $$$. Very uncharacteristic of me. I will ask when I email him my idea pitches.

I am interested in walking, and I am cautiously optomistic about this popular magazine's future: it seems to have a strong idea of who its readers are.

As always, the ads are instructive. Pages 2 and 3 are for an (expensive) Audi car. I guess you have to drive to those remote places where there are great walks.

See you later today/tomorrow...

Exercise C

Assume you are writing for a special supplement on music for people under the age of 35. The supplement is designed to give readers information about different music styles and encourage them to experiment with to some they don’t know.

Write a short piece about your favourite style of music including why you love it, how it differs from other similar styles, who the finest exponents are and why, and list a couple of tracks or albums that you recommend people listen to as examples.

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sensationalist!

Here's a blog called West Aust News.

"Founded in 1828 by deported pick pocket Samuel Ramsbotten, the West Aust News has been the mainstay of sensationalist, poorly researched beat ups of Western Australia's ( non paper owning ) citizens from all walks of life for over 300 years," it describes itself.

Here's an example from the gossip column called Inside Bubba, which no doubt appears on page 2 of the West Aust News:

"Tony Cleudo, owner of Crawley eatery Little Tony's, has been spotted by INSIDE BUBBA extending the hand of friendship to female staff and patrons alike with his offer of a free Breast examination. A little known fact about Tony is that he recieved a doctorate of Breast examination from the Madam Bang Bang School of Medicine of Thailand in 1987. INSIDE BUBBA and wife and 19 year old daughter accepted Tony's gracious offer for a meal and drinks to sample and discuss ways of promoting this vital medical service to the generaly ignorant public."

Gosh! Enjoy...

the loneliness of the small-time reviewer

A bit more on reviewing.

I loved this piece by a bloke who reviews community theatre in Baltimore, USA.

The sums are interesting: he's reviewed 123 plays, and gets $55 per review.
If you read his piece, his most recent review worked out to about $6/hour.

Clearly not all freelance streets are paved with gold, or even fair emolument.
But he needs the money.

"Yes, there's a little bitterness. I have bigger visions of my role as a critic. But my critics seem to think that somehow it's my role in life to drive out there, 50 miles or so (including detours and retreads), because they have something special to show me. The world doesn't care what I write or how I write it; the actors just want the thumbs up. I can't give it to them every time..."

another award winner

Here's another Pulitzer winner that is worth a read.

Barry Siegel's piece (which is very long) was in the LA Times in 2002, and is about...what is it about? In fact, what is the form?

Is it a discourse on justice and/or suicide? Which issue here has greater prominence?

Is it a profile/s of the judge and/or the father?

The work that went into this feature astounds me.

Even though it's a Pulitzer winner, I humbly suggest it could be improved in a couple of places. The first few pars are a little uneven, or disjointed.

What do you think?