Why is your eye so red in this pic?

You tell me. You’re the one who posted it. Ick.

Ask me anything

And why does MS believe the transition to be so difficult? Isn’t a good writer A good writer? Regardless of the periodical’s targeted demo?

Yes and no.

Do you and I think a good writer is a good writer?

Of course!

Do Anna Wintour and Graydon Carter think the same? Dunno.

How many writers do you see who write for both “urban” and “mainstream” mags?

For the record, I’ve published in Seventeen, Teen People, Us Weekly, Nylon, CMJ New Music Monthly, and probably some other mainstream mags I can’t think of at the moment.

So I’m not hating.

I have no doubts that I can write for any mag I want to.

But what will it take?

And, really? I’m kind of a big deal. If Graydon and Anna don’t see that, how much toe-kissing am I gonna do?

None.

I pitch the story to the magazine that it fits. Regardless of my presumed demo.

Would I like to write for the NYtimes Mag? The Sunday Styles section, Details, Glamour, Allure, Vanity Fair, and New York?

Yep, sure would.

Have I worked as hard at pitching editors at ANY of those magazines as I should?

Nope.

And yet. In 2009, I had an investigative story I worked on for three years accepted by one of the above.

I have never written a single word for this magazine. Ever.

And they are talking about making this a cover.

Say word.

Stay tuned.

Ask me anything

A: This line jumped out to me from your previous blog post w/ photographer M.S.: “And you know how hard it is to transition when you have done urban stuff for a long time.” Without me throwing my own assumptions into the mix—what does MS mean?

He means exactly what he said. Go to Vanity Fair with a portfolio of award-winning clips from The Source. See what happens. Not saying it can’t happen. But it’s difficult. Isn’t it in every genre? People want you to do one thing. Editors get nervous when a rock writer wants to write a rap profile and vice versa.

Yes, it’s hard to transition when you have done urban stuff for a long time.

MS means what he says.

Ask me anything

I am a writer and a graduate student majoring in Journalism. I have reached out to some of the writers I look up to as well as bloggers. One pattern I see is that people don’t get back to you. What is your advice for networking in this industry?

How are you reaching out to them? What are you saying to them? Are you sending out cold emails? Cold calling? Do you know the best times to reach out, (never on deadline)

Are you reaching out with a specific call to action. Or do you leave a message and say, please give me a call?
that ain’t gonna work.

You need to have a rock solid reason for reaching out. Do you?

I want concrete examples of what you sent to XYZ and I’ll tell you my thoughts on why they didn’t answer. Post examples here and I’ll respond.

Also, how much time are you giving them? It takes me three months to return some emails.

The people who are persistent but not annoying get me to respond.

Let me see some correspondence you’ve sent out. I’d be curious to see your approach.

Ask me anything