a boatload of COVID-19 resources for freelance writers

including some events happening today!

Hi writers,

I have a draft of a different newsletter that’s been ready for over a month. I was waiting for a “good” (read: normal) time to send it, but it seems like we might not be there for quite some time.

So, while I’ll send that one soon (it talks about finding story ideas, and includes advice from several fabulous journalists), I wanted to place a higher priority on resources right now.

I’ve been slowly collecting these from places like Twitter, Facebook, and Opportunities of the Week and Study Hall (both of which are worth subscribing to!). I hope you’ll find them helpful. Head’s up that some of the workshops below are very soon — like in an hour!

can you spare $10 for families in need?

But first, a request to check out a project I’ve been working on: #10Give10.

It’s a nationwide campaign based on one simple fact: If 10% of the Americans who received a stimulus check donated just $10, we’d raise $140 million overnight.

We’ve partnered with GiveDirectly to transfer the cash to low-income families in need, and we just launched today.

If you’re in a position to give, lovely; if you’re not, ZERO worries — I know many freelancers are having a tough time right now. Regardless, I’d greatly appreciate you spreading the word!

Here’s the link again: 10give10.org

BTW, if you do end up contributing, please tag me @susan_shain when sharing your donation on Twitter. I’ll give an additional $1 for every WTP reader who participates :)

financial resources

• Spreadsheet with hundreds of open media jobs from Inside the Newsroom

• Comprehensive state-by-state info for freelancers from Lance

• Trupo’s Freelancers Mutual Aid Circle (so! many! resources!)

• 6 resources to help freelancers access COVID-19 assistance from my girl Kelly Anne Smith

• How freelancers can pivot through the pandemic by Jennifer Mizgata

• If you recently lost your health insurance, 11 states now let you sign up for Obamacare

• Out of work? Lisa Hoehn of Profile Polish will edit your resume for FREE

• A nice freelance assistance flow chart from Halley Bondey at Career Tool Belt

• What the CARES Act means for freelancers by CPA Jonathan Medows

• Jen A. Miller’s ebook, “Notes From a Hired Pen: How I Made $135,000 in One Year of Freelancing,” is just $5 right now with the code STAYHOME

reporting resources

• 12 writing tools to make your coronavirus writing comprehensible from Roy Peter Clark at Poynter

• 24 questions to frame your solutions reporting on COVID-19

• How to find stories when you’re stuck at home (via my friend Britany’s new newsletter!)

• Tips for covering COVID-19 from female journalists on the frontlines

• Street reporting without the street — a webinar hosted by Amara Aguilar and USC

virtual events

• 1 pm EST TODAY: Sonia, founder of the aforementioned Opportunities of the Week newsletter, is answering your writing + pitching questions via Zoom (Meeting ID: 852 9634 1734 // Password: 028403)

• 2 pm EST TODAY: Whiting Foundation is offering a free webinar about aid available to freelancers and self-employed writers

• Jackson Hole Writers Conference has an online craft class on “Hard Science Fiction” on 4/25

• NYT editor Tim Herrera is hosting a Zoom chat with other editors about what makes a good pitch on 4/26 at 3 pm EST

• Free weekly co-writing dates for women on Monday afternoons, hosted by Suzette Mullen of Your Story Finder

• On 4/29, Meredith Talusan Hanson has a free workshop on how to turn your book idea into a reality

• For beginning writers of color, Nicole Shawan Junior is offering a donation-based workshop on 4/30 that covers pitching and submitting freelance pieces

• The Academy of American Poets is hosting a virtual reading of uplifting poems on 4/30

• Pitch Magic! An hourlong workshop on 5/6 from Wudan Yan and Jenni Gritters (costs $20 and is only available to Patreon supporters of The Writer’s Co-Op)

• Discussion groups for journalists from ONA (full for now, but you can sign up for the potential next round)

• Writing Pad and Literary Cleveland have a bunch of classes and workshops at varying rates

• Moz’s SEO Academy is free through 5/31

• ACES webinars are free through 7/31 using code “SummerComp100” (there’s one on 4/23 about leveling up your career and one on 6/11 on talking about food + bodies)

$$$

If you are going to apply for assistance, do it ASAP. Several of the funds I was planning to include said they’re already closed to applications due to an overwhelming number of submissions.

• Big list of grants from Funds for Writers

• Get (or pledge) a $500 microloan for journalists

• Freelance Audio Fund for audio journalists

• Grants of up to $2,000 for “women-identifying journalists in dire straits” from IWMF’s Journalism Relief Fund

• For writers who “cannot work because they are currently ill or caring for someone who is ill,” the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund from ASJA

• Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund

• CBC Creative Relief Fund for Canadian storytellers

• NatGeo is offering $1,000–$8,000 reporting grants for “local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of this global pandemic”

• Grants of $500–$1,000 from the PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund

• The Economic Hardship Reporting Project has grants of $500–$1,000 for “professional journalists based in the United States who suffer from COVID-19 or are caretakers for family members with the disease” (it’s also offering assignments to independent journalists and photojournalists for “stories on the intersection of the coronavirus and financial suffering in America”)

• Lists of opportunities from Poets & Writers and Millo

other opps

• My friend and mentor Alexis Grant is helping Marie Forleo expand her writing team, and has two copywriting positions available! (Remote with benefits!)

• The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) is waiving membership fees for the rest of the year

• I’m no fan of writing on spec, but I received this via email and thought I’d pass it along: And Lately, The Sun is calling for submissions until 6/30. “We want to see stories which thoughtfully investigate potential futures under our changing climate. This is an open call with no fee to submit. Accepted stories will attract a payment of either AUD$80 (standard payment) or AUD$500 (editor's choice).”

thoughts

• The fate of the news in the age of the coronavirus by Michael Luo at The New Yorker

• Laura Vanderkam on how to stay motivated when your job isn’t saving lives (her book, “168 Hours” is great, too!)

• LOL “I am using my free time to not write a novel” says Scott Bolohan at McSweeney’s

• Leah Sottile on being a freelance journalist right now

• “Applying for Unemployment Is My New Full-Time Job” by Natasha Frid

• If you’ve experienced layoffs, pay cuts, or furloughs in your newsroom, add them to Columbia’s newsroom cutbacks tracker

worth a listen

Taffy Brodesser-Akner @taffyakner

Writing is hard right now. I have three big deadlines in the next month that seem impossible. But I want to point out two episodes of podcasts I heard for my fellow writers who are suffering from an inability to think right now in a land of what should be material opportunity.

and a laugh

R.O. Kwon @rokwon

extremely rude of writing to remain difficult in the midst of a global crisis

That’s all for now, folks. If there’s anything I can do to help — whether that’s send some grocery money or include your LinkedIn profile in the next newsletter — please let me know. I mean it.

And if you’re in a position to help, please consider participating in #10Give10!

xoxo

Susan

PS. If you liked this, wanna share? Or click the lil heart below? TY!!