this woman’s work

You are browsing the archives from 2003 February.

Walkout at ePregnancy over slanted coverage

I’m writing interesting people that I vaguely know to get their permission to pitch profiles about them to magazines. The best one is my former infertility doctor who is also the infertility doctor at the zoo. He’s got some stories about gorillas that add a whole new layer to my zoo experience. Now wouldn’t you like to read about that?

I want to pitch to the big women’s magazines because the pay is so damn good. I have a list of story ideas and I want to start sending out 3 to 5 queries a week. Brett said, blithely, “Well, that shouldn’t be a problem; it’s like sending out a resume.”

To which I replied heatedly,”It is not like sending out resumes, it’s like writing very teensy-tiny college papers only wittier because you have to do some research (to make sure the topic hasn’t been covered, to get a feel for the magazine’s tone, to be sure there’s something to actually say about your subject) and then you have to write it well and it all has to be stuffed into two little paragraphs.”

Yes, dear reader, my ire was raised although you must have noticed by now that my ire rises when the wind blows.

I’m thinking that once my foot’s in the door it’ll be easier to pitch the next story because I’ll have a clue about what they like. At least that’s how it’s been at other places. Of course it’s daunting because there are so many of us scribbling away out there for so little slots. I need to find a subject that interests me enough to research it for trade magazines. Those are great little niche markets; they’re less competitive and they still pay pretty well.

Won’t it be wonderful when I’m too busy with a baby to worry about all of this? Babies are so much more fun to worry about.

Ok, I just wrote 6 snail queries (have yet to copy clips and send ‘em all out), 3 email queries, 2 reprint submissions and 1 regular submission. And last week I sent an application to be in a writer stable (some magazines have groups of writers to whom they pitch story ideas and the writers all rush for ‘em like the cattle call at the beginning of All That Jazz). They are nicely letting me in and I hope to sharpen my elbows and jostle my way to the front. But for now my wrists are cramping.

Maybe one of the mad queries I sent tonight will bite. Or two of ‘em. Hell, make it three.

See? I told you this whole lay-off thing would end up being a positive experience. And surely something positive will happen if I keep hustling, right? Didn’t I just say that in a previous entry? And if it’s in writing it must be true.

Man, I sure hope I know what I’m talking about.

I finally heard from Betsy at Myria about the whole ePregnancy Magazine fiasco. Well, it wasn’t about that because she wasn’t at liberty to explain what was happening. It was mostly a check in to see what I’d decided to do. The upshot? I’m out of a job again. But this time, as I explained to Noah, I wasn’t laid off ‘cuz I quit; I decided not to write for Majestic Media because Myria called me.

Jeez, I’m such a turncoat. No, no, it’s not that. It’s that I need money but not bad enough to hang in with a company I don’t know when a friend calls to say she hopes I’ll come along for their bumpy ride.

Betsy and Nancy are good to their writers and even though they don’t have work to offer me now, I believe they will in the future. And even if it’s not in the immediate future, I guess I just feel better knowing that I’ve thrown my lot in with them. I’m really glad that Betsy called me.

Ok, now on to the work scramble. I wrote 6 queries today and maybe one of them will hit. I’m looking for a place that needs blurbs, too, because I’ve discovered that I get a kick out of writing them.

Maybe this will end up being a giant leap forward.

p.s. Betsy promised that the at-home diapering moms will still get press, too, and that was kinda important to me.

We went to the Interracial Families in Friendship potluck last night. Everyone was incredibly friendly and generous about sharing their adoption stories. Most of the children there last night were preschool aged but I hear there are a couple of boys around Noah’s age who usually come, too. Despite being a bigger kid there, Noah had fun. The children organized a game of “duck-duck-goose” but since they were so little, anytime anyone was “goosed” the whole circle got up and ran. It was pretty darling.

The parents there told us that once your homestudy is done, we should be prepared for it to happen any day. Sometimes it takes a few months but sometimes it only takes a few weeks. They had a variety of birth parent scenarios — ones who have some contact and ones who don’t want any — and a few of the children were adopted out of foster care. It was enlightening to hear their stories and also to get the scoop on the social worker that’s been assigned to us. (We hear she’s very nice.)

I can’t wait to get moving!!!!!!