I'm Back, This Time With Writing Tips!
And nice things reviewers have said about my book. :)
Hi everyone. For longtime members of my mailing list, it’s been a (long!) while and I apologize. I’ve always felt uncomfortable just announcing things I’ve done (unless it’s on Twitter for some reason) so I haven’t been updating over email.
But over the past few weeks since COVID-19, I’ve realized how important it is to me to try to address the built-in inequities involved in being a writer in America, so this newsletter will from now on focus on helping other writers develop their practice and get a leg up in the industry.
That said, I’ll start every entry with news about what’s going on in my life especially as I’m about to publish my memoir, FAIREST on May 26 (wheee!).
If you’re not a writer, you can skip the rest of the email after the NEWS section and if you are but are not interested in my self-promotion (trust me, I get it), you can skip this top part and get to the writing advice. So on that note:
FAIREST NEWS
It’s been wild that FAIREST has been getting so much pre-publication buzz and great reviews across the four main trade outlets that publish reviews prior to the book being out.
In starred reviews, Library Journal says, “Even for avid readers of memoirs, Talusan’s debut will stand out from the crowd” and Publishers Weekly notes that the book is “An assured debut with a cinematic flair.”
Kirkus calls FAIREST “A captivatingly eloquent memoir” while Booklist writes that the book is, “psychologically acute, enlightening, and occasionally heartbreaking.”
If you’re excited by this positive attention too, consider pre-ordering FAIREST. Here’s a link to Bookshop, an online shop that supports local bookstores or, if you really must, here’s the Amazon link.
WRITING ADVICE
Okay great, we’re here talking about writing. Throughout April, I’m conducting a series of free workshops over Zoom, and the first one on the basics of pitching was last Wednesday. Here’s a link to the recording of the workshop (only up until 4/22!). To attend the next one on Wednesday, April 22 from 6-7:30pm EST “How To Structure Your Freelance Life,” sign up here!
Here are some highlights from the pitching workshop, for which I prepared a document where I gave feedback on a bunch of viewer-submitted pitches:
Don’t be weird! ha ha... In terms of tone of a pitch email, my observation has been that what works with editors is something professional but casual. Emails that are super-formal sound strange, as are ones that are written in a tone that sounds like it’s a student emailing a teacher. You want it to mainly sound like a regular email to a colleague. Don’t apologize, use too many qualifiers, or overemphasize your inexperience if that’s the situation you’re in. You want the editor to feel confident you can do the piece, and the first step to accomplishing that is to communicate your own confidence in yourself.
For essay and op-ed pitches, it’s vital to be able to distinguish between topic and argument, the difference between what the piece is about and what specific point you want to make about it. It’s also important to extrapolate on the larger implications of the piece beyond your experience. It’s also important to anticipate what would first come to mind for an editor, or any points of hesitation they might have.
For reported pieces, I talked about the importance of pre-reporting especially if you’re working with an editor for the first time, to demonstrate that you’re able to access sources and to be able to give your pitch specificity. In my experience, you usually only have to do this once with every editor you work with, and it’s easier to pitch without pre-reporting once you’ve proven yourself
It’s also ideal, and difficult (in some ways more difficult than the actual article) to write the pitch in a way that matches the tone of your envisioned article. More than the content, the pitch is also a way for you to demonstrate your unique writing style, even if it’s in truncated form.
Finally, we discussed nitty-gritty details like rate and contract negotiation, how long to wait before moving on, and the concept of not diluting your byline. Watch the video if you’re curious!
Okay, that’s it for now. Next week, it’s a workshop on how to structure your writing life. Looking forward to seeing some of you!
Yours in writing and fairness,
Meredith