There aren’t too many people telling the stories of rural Australia the way Kate Stark does. As she says, “My focus is on telling the stories of agricultural Australia and I think there is certainly a growing thirst for knowledge … people want to know more about where their food comes from, whether that be for health reasons or simply because they are willing to be more mindful about agricultural impacts on the earth.”
During interviews with case studies I often find myself in the middle of a fascinating conversation. Often, though, the topic is nothing to do with what I’m writing about and we have veered off from our original subject to something else the interviewee is passionate about. For many years I just wrote those conversational titbits off as interesting distractions during the interview. But recently, I’ve changed my tune.
I am the first to admit that I have never been a fan of spreadsheets. As a writer, my comfort has always sat firmly with words rather than with numbers. But in December last year I decided to try something new.
I always love reading about how many pitches other writers send out each month, how many commissions and how many rejections. So here it is. My month laid bare.
It’s hard not to look at Nina Karnikowski’s life with a certain level of envy – she travels the world, meets fascinating people and gets paid to write about it. It’s a hard slog though, as anyone who has done any travel writing can attest. Here Nina shares how she became a travel writer and how she maintains her discipline.
My first famil (often called “familiarisation trips” or “fam trips” where a tourism body or PR company ‘host’ you) happened almost as an accident. I had written for a food magazine about the town in which I live and once the editor said she was happy with the piece, I asked if she was looking for more pitches or whether she had other locations she needed to cover.
I always used to wonder how travel writers got their sweet gigs. I mean someone covered their expenses and got them to amazing places, let
I first met Kim when I started writing for SEEK. She was the kind of editor and content manager you dream about as a freelancer. She always returned emails, is highly organised and encouraging. As someone who has dabbled in freelance writing, Kim understands what editors and content managers are looking for as well as what it’s like on the other side.
Over the past few years I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be published in some great newspapers, magazines and websites. But that definitely doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes. I have. And some have been real clangers, let me tell you.
I first read one of Diana Hubbell’s articles in Virgin’s Voyeur magazine. It was an article about the revitalisation of Oktoberfest. Her writing was instantly captivating and I wanted to know more about the freelancer who used to be editor of Travel + Leisure.
My attitude to freelancing has changed over the past few years. When I first started I would put lots of energy into my pitches and
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We acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of the land we work on – the Dja Dja Wurrung. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to the ongoing living culture of Aboriginal people. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. 💛🖤❤️