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- no. 11
no. 11
Nicole Tommasulo
December 15, 2024
hey there.
Thanks for subscribing to this literary life. For newsletter subscribers only, I’m offering a special 20% off all editing services sale through the edit of the year. Even if you’re not finished with your manuscript, you can secure a spot in my editorial calendar now (at my current rates!).
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Okay, that’s it from me for this week. Thanks for signing up and scrolling through. I hope your pitches/queries land and the words flow this week.
Without further ado.
P.S. you can now find prints (+ bags, mugs, etc.) of my photographs around Boston + from my travels on Society 6.
table of contents
tips for freelance writers + novelists
If you’re considering booking a booth at an industry book fair, Jane Friedman recommends pausing and reviewing the pros and cons again. Unless the conference or your publisher is paying for you to be there, the exposure is usually not worth the cost of admission.
A million tiny decisions are made before the new release you’ve been dying to get your hands on ends up on the shelf at your local indie bookstore. Cassie Mannes Murray is breaking down the book distribution process this week on Writers in the Storm.
all things book publishing
Hundreds of bookstore staffers received $500 holiday bonuses from author James Patterson this year. “Booksellers save lives. Period," Patterson said in a statement released Tuesday through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company. "I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and all their hard work this holiday season.”
New publications and recordings enter the public domain every year, ushering in a new wave of remakes. On January 1, 2025, creative works from 1929 and audio recordings from 1924 become free to use, including Popeye the Sailor, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, and Virginia Woolf’s essay, A Room of One’s Own.
Everything’s legal in New Jersey — except book bans. This week, Gov. Phil Murphy made sure boards of education and boards of public libraries are unable to remove books based on the "origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors," preventing public institutions from "censoring library material solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups."
calls for pitches + paid creative opportunities
To receive pitch + creative opportunities a day early or right when I find them, you can sign up for a subscription.
Reminder: Vet each opportunity before submitting.
Inclusion does not equal endorsement.
reported stories + essays
Travel: Daria Smith, senior editor at Late Checkout, is looking for "smart, trend-driven ideas that align with [their] brand" and either follow a newsworthy angle or align with one of their existing columns. Please send examples of food or travel work (commerce is a bonus!). Rate: $200 for 200 words, including five e-commerce product links with descriptions. E-mail pitches to [email protected] with "Pitch" in the subject.
Travel: Jamie Spain, Travel Bookings Editor at Conde Nast, is looking for travel writers who live in or are “extremely familiar” with Myrtle Beach, Santa Barbara hotels, and Punta Cana or Puerto Vallarta hotels. Rate: $.05/word. Email [email protected] with clips/past work ASAP.
Travel: Jen Rose Smith is looking for pitches about Québec travel for Vermont’s Seven Days newspaper. A note: “This is a travel series about visiting Québec aimed at people living in Vermont. We're next-door neighbors, so stories can assume some basic familiarity (i.e., this is not the place for "Montreal!! A cosmopolitan wonderland with Euro flair!!").” Rate: $250–325 USD for 1,200 – 1,800 words. E-mail pitches to [email protected].
Parenting: This week, Business Insider editor Conz Preti is looking for a variety of parenting pitches, including how hard it is to be a successful parent, how parenting “is a lot about not having control and that kids are their own person,” and what it’s like to parent teens. She’s looking for ”The good, the bad, the complicated — What are you going through right now (or a couple of years ago).” Rate: $250 for 600 words. E-mail pitches to [email protected].
Moving: Paige DiFiore, Deputy Editor of Lifestyle and Entertainment at Business Insider, wants pitches from “folks who moved away from a place they loved living in for years, moved for a job or a partner's job, unexpectedly fell in love with living in a place they never thought they'd love, or have lived many places until finding one that they adore.” Rate: $240 for 600 - 700 words. Submit pitches here.
Renovations: Paige is also looking for stories from writers who “who recently did renovations and remodels and have regrets. Outdoor spaces, bathrooms, kitchens, fixer-uppers — you name it.” Rate: $230 for 600 - 700 words. Submit pitches here.
literary magazines
There are many literary magazines out there that pay. ChillSubs has an amazing (free) database you can dig through to find the right opportunities for you.
Reminder: Vet each opportunity before submitting.
Inclusion does not equal endorsement.
from previous issues
These pitch calls and paid writing opportunities were featured in previous issues and are still active.
Reminder: Vet each opportunity before submitting.
Inclusion does not equal endorsement.
reporting + essays
Travel and Food: Atlas Obscura and Gastro Obscura are open for pitches. They have a very in-depth breakdown of how to pitch them, including examples of what they’re looking for. Pay: $.50/word.
Bay Area: SFGate's editor-in-chief, Grant Marek, is always looking for pitches of “stories from people who REALLY understand the Bay Area” about ideas “no one else has thought to chase, people no one has ever thought to highlight before, stories that perfectly capture the spirit and history of a California treasure, and finally, angles “that remind people it's not all Doom Loop here in the Bay Area.” Like this example and this example. Rates: $200-$400+
Food Writing: Taste Cooking is looking for a variety of topics, including recipes and food culture features. "We’re most interested in your well-reasoned idea. A story with a strong point of view that is backed by clear reporting and/or supported by proven expertise." With your pitch, please include "why you are qualified to write this story. And if we don’t know you, we’d like to see some of your work. Links are great. The pitch should outline the story in detail, with specifics. For us, the excitement comes from not just colorful copy but substance to back it up. A wise turn of phrase is not a substitute for detailed observation and reporting. If you are pitching a feature that involves recipe development or sourcing from chefs, clips of similar work are required." E-mail pitches to Matt Rodbard at [email protected].
Environmental: John R. Platt at The Revelator is now taking pitches for 2025. Specifically, they're looking for stories on "what we're losing: species, ecosystems, environmental justice communities, climate battles, or other aspects of life on Earth at risk." Plus, they want reporting on "What we’re saving: How people are working to understand, stabilize, or reverse a major threat." Finally, they're hoping for stories on the Trump administration: "What damage was done the first time around that we’re just starting to understand? How did people and communities recover after the first Trump administration? What are organizations doing to defend against the second?" Pay: $300 - $500. Deadline: Dec 10.
Science and Health Features: Shannon Palus, features editor at Slate, is open to science and health features. She's specifically looking for "big, unexpected, and counterintuitive ideas" like this example and this. E-mail pitches to [email protected].
Travel: Off Assignment seeks submissions for their "Letter to a Stranger," "Under the Influence," "No Equivalent," "What I Didn't Say," and "Witching Hour" columns. Only completed drafts are considered for publication. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Pay range: $100 (Witching Hour) - $300.
Literary Life, Culture: LitHub is always open to pitches about "literary life and culture," especially "the ways that books or their authors fit into the culture at large.” They also note they “enjoy rigorous criticism for a general audience." Send pitches (2 - 3 paragraphs outlining your idea) to [email protected].
creative opportunities
Interviews, Short Stories, Poems, Articles: Nonprofit Quarterly seeks articles, interviews, short stories, and poems for their print magazine's 2025 racial justice issue, “How Women of Color in the South are Reclaiming Space.” Deadline to submit: December 17. Pays: $150 - 300 (short stories, poems), $300 (interviews), and $500 (articles).
remote writing + editing jobs
Since we’re all already on LinkedIn, I will do my best to find the remote writing and editing jobs that are not already being shared/applied there. These job listings are active at the time this newsletter is scheduled to be published (Dec 14) and may have expired since publication.
You can sign up for a subscription to receive job opportunities a day early — or right when I find them.
Reminder: Vet each opportunity before submitting.
Inclusion does not equal endorsement.
The New Republic seeks a temporary literary editor for print. You will be responsible for commissioning and editing six pieces of between 1500 and 4,000 words for each issue of the print magazine you’re working on. These will be “a lively mix of articles about current books, movies, and TV that upholds TNR’s long tradition of bold, stylish, and intellectually substantive review-essays and will work with the art director and photo director to illustrate the section, as well as with the production manager to create the section’s issue map.” The cover letter must include why you think you're the right fit for the job. Pay: $70k - $80k. Deadline to apply is Jan 10.
SleepTales is adding contract writers and contract editors to their team. You will be responsible for writing or editing original SleepTales (3000–5000 words). Rate: $.06 - $.13/word based on experience, expertise, and scope.
Newsweek is looking for a Politics Weekend Editor to lead their political news coverage on Saturdays and Sundays. You will be responsible for assigning, editing, and publishing stories on the latest developments in US politics, with a focus on the presidential election and the major issues affecting the country. Pay range: $90,000 - $115,000.
The Arena Group (Men’s Journal, Parade, etc.) seeks a home and garden Contract Writer. You will be responsible for pitching and producing quick-turnaround, 350-450 word articles daily, plus researching and writing longer-form SEO-driven evergreen articles. Pay rate: $25/hr.
Reel Unlimited is looking for freelance content writers to create high-quality content for our US and global markets. Rate: $0.05 to $0.20 USD per word, paid via direct bank deposit every 2 weeks.
Betches Media is seeking a part-time Weekend Entertainment writer who will write daily pop culture content for the Betches site (celebrity, TV, movies, award shows, etc). Must be available Sat - Wed. Pay: $25. They are also looking for an SEO writer to work M - F, writing 3 articles covering trending news per shift. Pay: $25.
recommendations
books
One of the big questions I’m exploring in spark, set fire is why some cases got media attention while others slipped by like ghosts. When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain compares the media fire surrounding the kidnapping of 12-year-old Polly Klaas from her home in Petaluma, California, with a (fictional) Mendocino girl whose case has gone unnoticed in nearby Mendocino.
I also started reading White Horse by Erika T. Wurth yesterday, a new-wave horror following Kari James, an Urban Native haunted by her mother's ghost, whose disappearance is still a mystery.
Plus, I read (and loved) Edge Case by YZ Chin, a book about the American dream and immigration that’s equal parts heartbreaking as it is heartwarming and funny.
podcasts
And as always, here are the podcasts I listen (and re-listen) to.
limited series
culture, news, politics, history
books, movies, TV, writing
true crime
Note: I may earn a fee from purchases made at Bookshop.org using affiliate links.
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