Chillibreeze – Freelance Journalism Workshop, Mumbai–Interaction with Nandini Bhalla – Editor Grazia, India
Excerpts from Nandini Bhalla’s interaction with the participants of the Freelance Journalism Workshop
- Find out the tone of the magazine. This can be found out by reading the editor’s note.
- Steal the words by choosing 2-3 words that occur in the back issues of the magazine and use them in your pitch.
- Note down the slug.
- Find out about the writing style? Is it formal, chatty or friendly?
- Check out magazine’s previous issues to find out what is special in the magazine in each month.
- Contact editor in chief, deputy editor, and features editor. CC all them when mailing your pitch.
- Contact editor’s coordinator or PA to check if they liked your pitch.
- Send stuff that the magazine prints regularly. E.g. don’t send women’s health issues to men’s magazine
- Send a 200 word article to the magazine.
- Send a couple of your story ideas to the magazine.
- Get the brief in writing
- Don’t worry if your article is truncated.
- Ask for references
- Ask for style sheets
- Prepare a draft with outline and headings and what you will do with it.
- Don’t worry about money.
Question and Answer session with Nandini.
How do you keep track of the specials?
Most magazines have their specials. They carry a special in each month. Refer to the back issues of the magazine.
Do magazines give briefs or do we have to make them on our own?
We brief the ideas to the new writers but then the writers can come up with their own briefs.
Do we have to use our own writing style or will the magazine give us their writing style?
Normally magazines give their style sheet once you start working for them.
What kind of articles can be done by freelancers?
The articles where you need to spend a lot of time on the job are done by the inhouse staff. E.g. celebrity interviews where you must spend a lot of time to get the appointment are done by the staff.
I don’t have contacts. Then how does magazine help in getting contacts for interviews?
Most magazines have an inbuilt list of doctors, lawyers, etc. You can use them if you want for your work.
Do we get visiting card when we visit these contacts?
Magazines give a written note, authorizing you to interview the concerned person. But don’t ever fabricate the person’s identity. Don’t say Anand Sharma from Delhi, if such a person doesn’t exist. It will make you lose credibility.
Do you commission the articles?
In Grazia, I commission the articles, in Femina it is the associate editor. So it is important you cc the email to all the concerned editors.
Who chooses the topics?
Sometimes we choose the topics, in other cases the writers select the topics or in certain cases it is 50:50.
Will rates for freelancers go up in India?
Normally we pay Rs 2 per word. But we are ready to pay more, if your work is good. Other things don’t matter.
How do you decide the content?
Most magazines have their particular focus on a specific issue. E.g. May issue can be a swimsuit issue. So you should pitch the articles relevant to the theme. The only time the magazine will reject your pitch is if they have done something similar in recent past.
What are the chances of promotion?
If you are good, you can be promoted as contributing editor. Your name will be listed on the magazine’s masthead, though you can also work elsewhere. You may become a features editor, where you can handle all the features for the magazine.
Tips from Nandini, Editor Grazia, India
Sharpen your interviewing skills.
All the magazines have changed their writing style. They address the user directly.
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