Tessera
Folgen

Charley Locke

@charleylocke.bsky.social

mostly interviewing kids and elders, so yeah, I’m earnest. contributing writer at nyt magazine, also making stuff elsewhere. www.charleylocke.com

58 Posts202 Follower70 Folgt
John Garrison Marks@johngmarks.com · last mo.

I did this course in the spring and it was super helpful. I got all of the questions I’ve ever had about freelancing answered (along with plenty I never thought to ask). Also since finishing the class I’ve had pieces run in The Atlantic and Defector, so I guess it worked.

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🚨 freelance journalists 🚨 want to learn how to make a sustainable income, land the feature assignments you want, and have a community of other writers? @greenwell.bsky.social and I are bringing back our online class! previous cohorts have all sold out so sign up today! flyingsolofreelancing.com

green poster, with background of a stack of magazines, with the text "flying solo: a six-week intensive designed to help you build a sustainable (and fun!) freelance journalism career"
Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · last mo.

some things @greenwell.bsky.social and I teach about how to build a sustainable freelance career: -how to use a polite rejection to find out what an editor actually wants -where to find well-paying non-journalism work that subsidizes writing -how to turn a magazine story into a sellable book pitch

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🚨 freelance journalists 🚨 want to learn how to make a sustainable income, land the feature assignments you want, and have a community of other writers? @greenwell.bsky.social and I are bringing back our online class! previous cohorts have all sold out so sign up today! flyingsolofreelancing.com

green poster, with background of a stack of magazines, with the text "flying solo: a six-week intensive designed to help you build a sustainable (and fun!) freelance journalism career"
Rainesford Stauffer@rainesford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

For a story: Is there a teenager in your life who would be up for keeping a screentime diary & being interviewed about it? The goal is to capture a week in teenagers' digital lives and center their experiences. Happy to answer questions. We will protect privacy! rainesford.alexandra@gmail.com or DM

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

thank you to my wife, shadow editor and inspiration @greenwell.bsky.social for telling me to write this and Jeff for letting me go long on the people I know best: the upper-class lefties of Oakland

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

when lefty homeowners go up against market-rate senior housing towers, are they righteous middle-class activists fending off greedy developers or wealthy seniors prioritizing neighborhood character over ameliorating the housing crisis? are they David or Goliath? tinyurl.com/4xzkk8td

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

when lefty homeowners go up against market-rate senior housing towers, are they righteous middle-class activists fending off greedy developers or wealthy seniors prioritizing neighborhood character over ameliorating the housing crisis? are they David or Goliath? tinyurl.com/4xzkk8td

The Seniors Against Senior Housing

America’s elders need more places to live, but even in liberal enclaves that recognize the problem, developers are facing the fiercest foes of all: America’s elders.

tinyurl.com

Charley Locke@charleylocke.bsky.social · 6mo ago

reminds me of the time that a high school senior asked me when I applied to college and, when I replied "2009" (very normal/young time to apply to college), he earnestly asked me, "what was it like to apply to college before the internet existed?"

Brooke Jarvis@brookejarvis.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Was working with a group of high school students yesterday and someone mentioned 2008 and the teacher said "Were any of you alive in 2008?" and I chortled at the absurdity of the question but, reader, they were not.

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Thanks to a generous donation, we have added another scholarship slot for the class! (Details about how to apply in the link below.) We’re about half-full, so get in now if you want to participate.

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 9mo ago

As Charley said, freelancing is easily the best job I've ever had. We designed a class to help other freelancers create their own interesting, stable, lucrative jobs — everything from writing for big magazines to underwriting your passion projects with easy, high-paying consulting work.

Joseph Bien-Kahn@josephbienkahn.com · 9mo ago

Editors: I have a fun Esses Magazine project in need of a Miami-based freelancer with extensive knowledge of the city/food/culture (racing expertise optional). Who knows somebody who fits the bill?

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 9mo ago

@charleylocke.bsky.social and I designed a class to help freelancers make more money from more sources, and have more fun doing it. Not just how to pitch, but how to find lucrative work, how to build community, how to manage your money. We’d love it you joined us. flyingsolofreelancing.com

Week 1: Subject → Pitch → Assignment So you have a compelling idea for a story. How do you figure out the right way in? How much unpaid time should you spend pre-reporting before you pitch? We'll talk about how to lay out a concise, irresistible pitch email, when and how to follow up, and how to tailor your pitch for different publications. You'll learn how to strategically and confidently reach out to editors, and how to build one assignment into an ongoing relationship. Week 2: Work That Pays the Bills Pitching and writing ambitious, time-consuming journalism requires supplementing your income with other steady work. That could mean copywriting, consulting, a paid newsletter, academic editing, sponsored content, research, teaching, case studies, and/or production (all of which we've done). We'll talk about how to find work that subsidizes your journalism but doesn't take up all your time, how to balance your priorities, and the nitty-gritty of negotiating with different types of clients.Week 3: The Editors Don't take our word for it re: what makes a great pitch. We'll host a panel of editors from major publications who are hungry for new ideas. You'll have the chance to ask them about how to structure your pitches, how much reporting to include, and what to leave out. You can even run the seed of a pitch by them to get feedback on what they'd want to know before assigning the story. We'll definitely include editors from magazines that pay freelancers $2 a word and up, but we'll also leave space to invite editors you want to hear from. Week 4: Building Community and Practice Freelancing means sacrificing built-in colleague relationships that happen in a newsroom. That means you have to (and get to) build those relationships yourself. We'll delve into how to develop community with other freelancers, both online and in-person, and how to rely on your colleagues for accountability, editorial advice, and support. We'll also cover some ways to think about "networking" as building relationships with people who you'd like to work with and whose work you enjoy. (And no, you don't need to live in NYC to do it!) We'll also talk about how to develop a consistent writing practice to improve your skills outside of formal assignments.Week 5: $$$ Let's take the stress out of managing your money. We'll go into detail about exactly how to set achievable financial goals, track invoices, and plan for inevitable fallow periods. We'll also bring in the best accountant in the business, from the firm that works with both of us and almost every other freelancer we know, to tell you how to minimize both your tax burden and your stress. Week 6: How to Advance There are no promotions when you work for yourself, so how do you grow your career? Whether you aspire to write big investigations, books, podcasts, or TV, we'll bring the experts to you. An in-demand book agent will discuss what she's looking for when she scouts journalists to sign, while a journalist turned TV-writer will talk about exactly how he made the switch. By the end of the workshop, you'll have a map for how to go from point A to point B - and tools for figuring out your own long-term goals.
Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 10mo ago

That good “writers should talk honestly about money” post inspired me to calculate how I made my income this year. I made more from writing than usual, but not enough! (I encourage others to do this and post the results!) 51% book 23% writing 11% teaching 8% speaking 7% consulting/brand work