What I Learned From My (Second) Byline

Hey Edsters,

Remember that previous writing assignment, the one I persistently worked on, the one that was postponed? You know, the one that I agonized over and shed my blood, sweat and tears into?

Well, it paid off….sort of.

One morning, as I was checking my email and gearing up for the day, my supervisor stopped by my desk. I thought she was going over an upcoming assignment. But instead, she had an unexpected gift for me.

The 3 Rules of a Successful Pitch

Lots of great news coming your way this week, Edsters! Remember when I promised I would make a pitch this week? Mission accomplished.

A relatively slow week meant that the other interns and I had plenty of time to surf the web at work. Since I’m interning at a regional mag, there’s a list of about 10 city blogs that I frequent to keep up to speed with news and events. When I noticed that the opening of a new shop kept appearing on a lot of the sites I was reading, I realized it would fit in pretty well with our magazine. So I calmed my nerves and wrote up an e-mail to my editors. What should a pitch include, you ask?

Dreaming of Bylines

Many of you are probably interested in magazine journalism because you want to write. That was definitely a big reason why I wanted to get into the industry. Three weeks into my internship, though, I haven’t really gotten the chance to show off what I can do. I was a little discouraged this week when I found out that another intern had gotten the chance to cover an event. I hate to sound like I’m whining, Edsters, but I’m really itching to get that byline!

I spent last summer working at my local paper, and I got to write a story pretty much every day. I was just like a regular staff reporter, and I got used to seeing my work in the paper a few times a week. Bylines at the Mag, though, have been a little harder to come by. It’s interesting to see the differences between the way newspapers and magazines work, but it’s also been a challenge getting used to the change of pace.