Response

On Friday I received this reply from International Life magazine:


Hi Danielle,

Thanks for getting in touch. I'm interested in talking to you about writing for us.

Firstly though, I'd like you to write a current beauty (or fashion) article suitable for our on-line publication. It should be roughly 600 words (between 400-800 limit). This is so I can get an idea of your style and its potential fit within our publication.

If you are chosen to write for International Life you will regularly produce the following sorts of articles – news, trends, event and product reviews, previews, features and opinion (blogs) articles – there is also the potential to create and present video content. For that reason I want you to choose one of the following frameworks – not video or news – as the premise for your trial piece.

Loosely speaking, we aim for an intelligent, informed and especially, irreverent tone. Dry wit and quirkiness are great too. I aim for us to be critical of everything. For something to be praised, it has to be deserved. As well as informative, all material must be engaging.

Once your piece is done, email me it in a Word doc. If strong enough, it will be immediately published on the website. All being well beyond that, it would to great to meet with you face to face. At this point we can discuss your future involvement.

What to expect if you become one of the team:

The amount and type of article that you submit will depend on you, although I look for our writers to do a minimum of one piece a week + short news pieces (usually 100 words). Any more than that is a bonus for us and more published work for you.

The content’s provenance will be from both sides. Although at the start, largely from yourself, I will put things your way. If you have an idea, run it by me. If I have one, I’ll do the same. If it’s an event, you’ll go and cover it. If you want to go to an event that we don’t know about, let me know and we’ll try and get something sorted. I also intend for the team, as a whole, to meet up informally so as to brain storm on content ideas moving forward.

I will also teach you how to use our CMS system and upload your own content.

As will be the natural progression of things, the more you write, the more responsibility you will be given. With increased responsibility comes the chance of be integrally involved with International Life. Day to day I try and give the most involved writers the best things to review. There is the opportunity also of the best online articles going to print in our quarterly magazine.

As this, in the early stages, will be an informal journalistic enterprise (ad-hoc & unpaid), I make no guarantees. At the very least this is an opportunity to write about what you love and get published to do so.

When you submit your piece can you please highlight to me which of either beauty or fashion you prefer and feel you are most knowledgeable in. If both, then say so.

Do you have any questions?

All the best,
DG

Online Editor

International Life, the global luxury lifestyle portal


....Looks like I have some homework to be getting on with!

Apply, apply... apply

Today I applied for:

• online editorial beauty internship at International Life magazine
• fashion internship at Reveal magazine
  
  Reveal's busy and vibrant fashion, beauty and lifestyle desk is looking for a full time intern for a period of nine months. As well as knowing Cheryl Cole's wardrobe like the back of your hand, you should be versatile, super-organised, and have a great "can-do" attitude. You should be able to turn your hand to anything from assisting the beauty editor with in-mag awards, to dealing with PRs on the phone, as well as making sure that clothes are returned promptly to PRs, and the fashion cupboard is the tidiest in the building. You will be required to assist stylists on shoots, and with call-ins and research for features. Ideally you will have already have completed a substantial amount of work experience on a weekly magazine, and be available to start as soon as possible. Send your CV and letter of application by email, headed REVEAL INTERN POSITION to Wendy Rigg, Reveal magazine,4th floor, 33 Broadwick Street, London W1F 0DQ. or email wendy.rigg@natmags.co.uk

(I know I said I wasn't going to apply for internships, but any shot is worth a shot!)

Behind with the times...

How did I not know that Sam Delaney was the editor of heat??? How long has this been going on for? As you will know from over at novel lily, he is one of my fave journos and I was gutted when he left his column at Company (although I've been more than won over by Jeff Maysh..) I was shocked when I looked at the staff list on the way back from Dublin yesterday.

Apologies for the old news...!

Elite magazine charity event 14/01/10

Insight magazine have launched another magazine, called Elite, and they are hosting a charity event in Leicester on 14 January.

It sounds fab and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope a lot of people decide to go as it is for a really good cause, with all proceeds going to the New Born Baby Appeal for Leicester's hospitals.

It will also be a perfect opportunity for me to catch up with all of the girls at Insight, and find out more about the job that may be in store for me.

Not to mention, the perfect opportunity for cocktails and cupcakes!

A day's insight to more! magazine

My wonderful first day at more! magazine was filled with... well, nothing really!! But it was fun. And nice to see everything in motion, even if not many people really talk to you! But thankfully there is another girl, L, who started her work experience with more! too this morning... I was sooo glad when I realised they took on two per week.

We started the morning by mailing out the copies to PR agencies, news agencies... and Alan Carr. Upside - we had read the magazine more than 24 hours before it hit the shelves. Downside - lots of shoving a magazine in an envelope and sticking! After that we sorted the mail - the amount that some of the editors get is amazing!

Oo and I forgot to mention, Heat, Grazia and Closer are all in the same building, and we had to go over to grab new copies of their magazines. All of the offices are the same... quite small, not too spacious, and full head to toe, wall to wall with magazines and covers alike!

So after the mail we got researching for Man Quotes and yummy men for Man Talk. This took us up until about lunchtime, and L and I grabbed a baguette from across the road. It's located on Shaftesbury Avenue, literally a 5 minute walk from Covent Garden so hopefully the weather stays up and we can have a few nice lunches in the square.

After lunch I picked a few competition winners (5 winners out of 2500 entries........) and helped get some ideas together for the Inbox page, including the Pub Dilemmas. I had to quickly nip out to the shop (with one of the editor's debit cards) to buy a couple of magazines... felt very Devil Wears Prada-ish, before coming back and preparing some answers to reader's letters for tomorrow morning.

I got back all in one piece on the tube and am now completely completely shattered! But looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow morning.

More magazine : argh!

One week today until I arrive in London for my fortnight at more! magazine!!

Scary scary scary!!!

Insight magazine: Day 6 & 7

The magazine came out today!!!!! With all of my work in it, it was a proud moment. I'd written so much more than I realised, and completely love all of it. Another good thing is that the work I've done this week goes into the new mag next week, so there's two magazines to put my name to, which will look really good for my portfolio.

Had a few more generals and edits to write yesterday and today, but not really that much to do, so in-between time was filled with eating bad food, gossiping a little and waiting for phone calls!

I have enjoyed my time here SO MUCH and I'd really love to go back, very very very soon!

Insight magazine: Day 4 & 5

Today, my editor said: "If I had a vacancy, you would have had a job by now" ahhhhh!!!

I both love it and hate it; it's great to hear her say something like that and actually mean it, but on the other hand, there are only two journalists and they love their jobs so much that they're never going to leave!!!!!!

For the final two days of the week at Insight magazine, we were constantly rushed, making phone calls, writing generals, writing editorials, sending editorial proofs, sending design proofs, and generally making sure the magazine was in top notch to send off to print. It was pretty manic and there was a lot of writing and checking and interviewing to do, but I loved it!!

That 750-word piece on the Candy Spa that I sent over to proof was loved so much that, added with a good pitch from our sales execs, the owner bought 4 pages of space for next week's edition! Contributing towards selling £3k worth of space was a proud moment!

I've really loved this week at Insight, it's given me a great insight (ha ha!) into the workings of a magazine, and I'm grateful that I was given all of the tasks that I was. They got me working hard! And the best bit was, I didn't have to say goodbye, because I'm back there on Tuesday and Wednesday next week! Yay!

Insight magazine: Day 3

Today was a day completely full of ringing people and them not answering their phone!!!! It has been a nightmare - especially as the people I tried to ring were companies regarding smallholdings (hmmm) and portable sewing machine tables (hmmmmm) both which needed 750 words (arggggh).

Then, the fun part came! An edit came through from sales about Candy Spa, an online boutique selling yummy scrummmy delicious bath treats that looked, smelt, and sometimes were made of, real treats and chocolate!!!! I had to ring the lady a few times to get through, but she was the loveliest lady ever and we had a great coversation about her business. She's actually a one-woman-company, making all of these gorgeous soaps and treats by herself, as well as running a shop and website and all of the promo.

Check it out here at www.candy-spa.co.uk it's fab.

Other than that, I did a general 500 on boot camp, which was quite fun. The writer who is away this week is also away on Tues and Weds next week, so I offered to come in to help out, so we shall see whether they want me to or not tomorrow!

Insight magazine: Day 2

I had to do my first editorial today!!!! I rang the director of a cosmetics company for a chat about his business, and turned it into a 500-word editorial, emailed it back to him with a deadline and he didn't get back to me, so I'm guessing he was happy with it!!

After lunch I had a 250-word golf general to write, which completely threw me off and took me forever just to write 86 words before I gave up and decided to continue with it tomorrow. I then had a 500 word 'give your home a facelift' article, which was quite fun to write, before ringing the owner of a smallholding company to ask whether he would like anything adding to this weeks editorial from his last one, and finding that he wanted a complete new article. PANIC! But he didn't have time to chat luckily, so I have to ring him tomorrow.

Another fun day eating chocolates, talking weightwatchers and having a good gossip. The girls are lovely and the time goes soooo fast, and I can't wait until tomorrow.

Insight magazine: Day 1

First things first: I love it!!!

I walked in this morning with completely no idea of what I was going to be in for. But I was greeted by a small office, smiling faces and my own desk. Insight magazine distributes 5,000 copies of their weekly free mag, and has a readership of 15,000. And all of this is created by one editor, two creative writers, one designer and a handful of sales.

I was introduced to the magazine and then set my first task. Because it's a free magazine, the most important thing is to sell the space. The editorials we write are to promote the space, and you have 'generals' - a general article where businesses aren't mentioned, set on a page to accompany adverts of the same subject, and 'editorials' - articles promoting the business, which can range from 250-500-700-2000, depending on how many pages the business has bought. This editorial is then sent back to the company to proofread and check to see if they are happy with it, before we make any neccessary changes and it goes off to design.

My first task was to write a 500 word general on child's toys and gifts, which was really fun. By the time I knew it, it was lunch time and I was off to subway. In the afternoon, I spent 2 and a half hours reading out TV listings to L on design, which was completely boring but fun at the same time.

I was wearing black trousers and my new flowery top with a black cardigan, which had only taken me about two hours to decide on the night before, and I was relieved to find that the dress code is pretty casual and everyone dresses smart yet comfortable.

Can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Insight magazine: Prep

It is my first day at Insight magazine tomorrow! I'm quite nervous, but really looking forward to it. I don't really know what to expect, but I was talking to DC's friend at a bbq last night and she said they're owned by quite a big company. And as it's a free magazine, it is quite advertisement-based. But one of the two creative writers are on holiday for this week, and they seemed really keen for me to make the most of my experience; apparently I'm working in production and will be a part of the design and editorial sections of the mag, so it sounds like fun.

Dad took me to Wigston on Friday and we found where the place was, and I have to be there for 8.45 tomorrow morning. I've been worrying about what to wear - they said smart/casual with no trainers and jeans, but where's the mark on leggings? So I'm going to go in quite smart tomorrow and see how things go.

And I will be blogging about it every day this week, so wish me good luck and watch this space...!

Replies: 3

I received this response from Look magazine yesterday:

'Thank you for your email D-,
Unfortunately, all work placements have been allocated but I shall pass on your details to the team in the event of any additional positions arising.
Thank you for your interest in LOOK magazine
Kindest regards
HF
Office Manager'

Replies: 2

To receive two very nice email replies the morning after slogging for hours sending a zillion emails is quite inspiring. And it completely put to bed my expectations of not receiving any replies at all!

Reveal magazine emailed back from my follow-up email, asking if I was free Tuesday for a phone interview. They don't seem very keen to make it happen and get me on board; and I am only free in my lunch break or after 4.45pm on Tues due to work experience, so even though I reaaaaaaally want it, I'm not holding out too much for this one.

And I also received this response from Red magazine:

'Dear D,
Thank you for your email requesting work experience at Red.
Unfortunately we do not have any spare placements available for the next few months. However, we will keep your CV on file and get in touch should we have any cancellations. Please do also contact us again later in the summer when we will be booking people in for November/December placements.
Apologies but good luck with your search.
Kind Regards
AW
Red Magazine'

Which, even though it isn't a 'Yes come and work at our magazine we would love to have you there', it's very nice and encouraging and I'll definitely be emailing back after my work experience at more to try and book myself a winter placement.

Backtrack.

Okay, I told a lie!!! There IS news this week: I applied for a job. There is a Junior Writer vacancy at Women's Fitness magazine in London, and I applied for it with crossed fingers, toes and everything else. Post-graduation seems to be the busiest time for graduates to apply for jobs, and I probably won't get any kind of response, but I thought it was worth a try.

Working together to make it..

My lovely university friend R last month managed to grab a week's work experience with Men's Health magazine... and has now just bagged herself another week, in London, at Christmas, at... Zoo magazine!! How fab. I'm so happy for her.

On my own front, there's not much news, and certainly no reply back from Reveal magazine. I may send another follow up email, but I am starting to suspect that any email with the title 'Work Experience' automatically gets diverted into a 1000-email-strong pit full of aspiring journalists just like me.

However, R has just sent me a huge list of the work experience co-ordinators for a lot of Emap's magazines, and I'm starting to make my way through the pile and apply for work experience there.

As all of these posts seem to end lately... fingers crossed!

Graduation Day

17th July 2009
I graduated!

Crossing fingers, toes, and everything else.....

I read this email an hour ago after returning from London:


"Hi D-,
Sorry for the delay in response, as you can imagine we are inundated with work experience applications.
We are currently booked up until November, but if you are free to take on a four week placement in winter please let me know and we can call you for a phone interview.
J-
Editorial Assistant
Reveal
www.revealblog.co.uk"

I am so excited.! But so nervous for this phone interview too. What kinds of things are they going to ask me? I haven't had any experience at all on magazines but hopefully by November that all will have changed.

This would be the best opportunity ever.

Even more good news......

My local regional paper, the Leicester Mercury, has a policy where they let students undertake work experience only once, and for only one week, during their time at university to ensure that everyone gets an equal chance to succeed in their application.

However, even though I completed work experience with them exactly two years ago, I thought it would be harmless to send this email to the work experience co-ordinator on Monday:

Hi A-,
I met you and carried out work experience with the Leicester Mercury
exactly two years ago, just after finishing my first year of my
Journalism degree at DMU. I understand that you receive many
applications for work experience at your newspaper, and usually limit it
to one visit per student, however I feel now after completing my degree
that my journalistic skills have improved greatly and I would like to
again apply for work experience at the Leicester Mercury.
I really enjoyed my work experience the first time around, although I
believe that I will be able work more to my full potential and make more
use of my skills and qualities now that I am about to graduate.
Attached is my CV. I look forward to hearing from you.
D-.

And today I received this response:

"Dear D-,
I write to confirm your work experience with Newsdesk on Monday 28th September to Friday 2nd October 2009.
I would be grateful if you could report to our reception on -St at 10.30 am on the Monday morning and ask for me and I will take you up to the department.
You will be meeting the public and working in an office environment, so
dress is smart/formal clothing.
Over the course of the week, news staff will be available to offer advice on your work. However, you should bear in mind that periodically, it is likely that you will be left to work on your own for some time, whilst the news staff work towards the newspaper's deadlines.
If circumstances suddenly change and you are unable to attend, please let me know at the earliest opportunity on (0116) 2-.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr A-
Work Experience Co-ordinator
Leicester Mercury Newspaper"

I am so pleased!!!!

More good news..!!!

"Hi D-
Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
Thank you for contacting Insight with a request for work experience. I would be pleased to offer you a placement for a week from Monday 27th July if you are available. You will be working within the production department and will be able to experience both design and editorials. Please have a look on the Insight webstite www.insight-magazine.co.uk to see what we’re all about.
I look forward to hearing your response and any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Kind Regards
G-
Creative Writer"