Following the launch of her new book on real life journalism, Talk to the Press founder and director Natasha has been invited to give talks to students at a number of universities and journalism training centres.

Yesterday, Natasha was in Brighton where she talked to students at Journalist Works and the NCTJ journalism courses at Brighton College. Some of the students she spoke to have already been in touch regarding work experience placements and stories they would like to sell to the press.

Over the coming months, Natasha is booked to hold lectures at a number of different universities. Natasha says ‘It’s always great to meet students and talk to them about what we do here at Talk to the Press. A number of them are keen to get into tabloid and magazine journalism and I know I’ve given them a good feel as to what the job involves.’

To find out more about Natasha’s book, and download Chapter 1 for free, visit http://journalist-training.co.uk/free-chapter/

Case Study Link is an essential tool in your freelance career. Over 400 freelance journalists know this, and that is why they have signed up to receive our premium alerts every day.
 
Commissioning editors want case studies, contacts and real-life stories for their features. They put out requests through our system every day. You could have case studies and leads that they need, but if you’re not signed up to alerts, you’ll simply miss out on all these opportunities to earn money and see your byline. Last week, over 40 story requests have gone out from national newspapers and magazines looking for stories you might very well have or could easily write about. 

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Getting hands-on experience is critical if you want to become a journalist. Work placements offer you the chance to observe the professionals at work and learn how stories are put together. You’ll also get the chance to make valuable contacts who may be able to help you find a job or simply offer you some good advice. If you’re lucky, you may get a few bylines that will look great in your portfolio! more »

Finding the right commissioning editor can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s an obvious aim – but surprisingly difficult, especially as the editorial structure can differ greatly between publications.

So play safe; with magazines check  the masthead of the publication, find a likely name, phone that person and ask “do you commission stories for the whatever section?” – making sure you’ve done your research and found out whatever they call the relevant section!

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When running a shop, you’re doing two things – promoting your business and selling to customers. And the two activities are strongly interdependent. As you become known, you develop a regular clientele, your favourite buyers. But if you’re a shrewd shopkeeper you give just as much attention to the casual one-off customer. After all, today’s passer-by might well be tomorrow’s regular.

And if your regular customer walked in but didn’t make a purchase that day, you wouldn’t shut up shop and go home would you? You’d sell your wares to the next person who walked through the door.

It’s exactly the same for you, an aspiring freelance journalist. OK, so you have to take your wares to the buyer, rather than waiting for the shop door to be opened.

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