Event Description
Panel
Magazine, E-zine, and Newspaper Editors
(Freelance Writers’ Day)
Monday, October 30, 2017
7:30 to 9:15 p.m. (networking follows the program)
Writers, do you know that Los Angeles (especially Hollywood and Beverly Hills) is a hotbed of magazine publishing? But the magazines published here don’t always make it easy to for freelance writers to contribute. In fact, they can be downright secretive about their article submission processes!
At IWOSC’s Magazine, Ezine, and Newspaper Editors Panel, top editors – including one from the Los Angeles Times – will share secrets with writers about breaking into their publications. The editors will tell writers how to get their attention, which departments are most actively looking for fresh article ideas, and how freelance writers can contact them. They’ll even suggest hot upcoming topics for writers to focus on!
Authors who haven’t thought of themselves as article writers can not only make extra money, but writing articles can pay off in other ways. Articles and bylines add to your author “brand” so that literary agents and publishers will pay attention. Placing articles can establish your expertise on a subject. Writing for magazines, ezines, and newspapers gets your name out there and on social media; and gives a writer a chance to express your thoughts and ideas on arts, culture, politics, or give useful advice. So how to get started?
Our expert panel will discuss:
- How writers can get the attention of magazine and newspaper editors and break in as a go-to freelancer
- Do’s and don’t’s for writers when contacting editors
- Writing irresistible query/cover letters
- What editors are looking for (upcoming and hot topics)
- Submission guidelines, word counts, pay question: the nuts and bolts that writers need to know
- The trend toward YouTube and Vimeo-style articles and Vlogs, as opposed to old-fashioned printed content, and the new skills a writer needs to contribute
- Perks and benefits of being a freelance writer
We’ll also take questions from the audience!
Our panel:
CHRIS ERSKINE
Chris Erskine has been a columnist and editor at the Los Angeles Times for 27 years.
His weekly stories on suburban life in Los Angeles run in the Saturday section of the Los Angeles Times and other papers across the country. He also writes for the Sports, Travel and Calendar sections.Along the way, the Chicago native has written three books, including a collection coming out in April.
He has also written for television, primarily on Hidden Hills, an NBC sitcom that lasted about three minutes.
He also edits in the features sections of The Times.
GINA M. SALVATI
Gina M. Salvati has worked in the field of Conscious Media for decades. She is the Publisher & Editor in Chief of Whole Life Times magazine, the nation’s longest-running holistic publication.
She is also a Producer at Premiere Radio Networks and serves as the Executive Producer of The Aware Show airing on the Pacifica Network in Los Angeles and New York City, as well as worldwide on Hay House Radio.Her background is in journalism and she worked at the book publishing division of Forbes Magazine as Editorial Manager.
She also freelanced as an editor for HarperCollins, Random House, and other large publishing firms as well as consulting with individual authors.
She is currently pursuing her MA in Humanities at Mount Saint Mary’s University in DTLA and writing a thesis based on early periodicals in Victorian England.
Visit www.wholelifetimes.com.
JENNIFER PURDIE
Jennifer Purdie is a journalist with a background in magazine editing and writing.She has served on the editorial staff of three national and two regional magazines. Purdie has managed content for an online health and fitness publication and served in the position of medical health writer. She also started an athletic magazine in Tempe, Arizona geared toward student-athletes and coaches.
Some of the publications she has written for include the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Running Times Magazine, Purple Clover, Triathlete, Phoenix Magazine, Creating Keepsakes, Scottsdale Magazine, the Arizona Republic, Competitor, Valley Lifestyles, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Medium, and numerous websites such as Success magazine, cnn.com, takepart.com, active.com, askmissa.com, triathlete.com, rev3tri.com, livestrong.com, among others. Purdie was also an adjunct faculty member of Ashford University in the English department.
She has also been featured in USA Today, Shape magazine online, Scottsdale Health Magazine, Fitness Business News, US News and World Report, Ladies’ Home Journal and Woman’s Day magazines. Purdie has also completed on-camera interviews for Fox Sports News, NBC News and triathlete.com, as well as a featured source on Sirius radio. She also conducts several personal speaking engagements on the topic of running each year and is a regular on The Moth storytelling market and performs throughout Los Angeles.
You can learn more about Jennifer Purdie at JenniferPurdie.com.
Moderator: Telly Davidson
Telly Davidson’s newest book, Culture War has attracted rave reviews from critics. Telly was senior film and TV reviewer for bestselling pundit David Frum’s FrumForum from 2009-12, has written about movies, TV, and music for FilmStew, 213 Magazine, iF Monthly, Entertainment Today, Guitar Player, AllAboutJazz, The American Conservative, and Attn.com.He also wrote the Emmy-cited media tie-in TV’s Grooviest Variety Shows, works alongside top indie film producer’s rep Jeff Porter of Porter Pictures on the placement of independent films, and worked in the past on TV specials for NBC and PBS, including the Emmy-nominated Pioneers of Television.