Nonfiction Writer Resource Guide

Pitch Advice, Reporting, Craft Tips, Mentoring, & Freelancing Resources

Sep 12, 2024

green leafed plant near table — Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

*Compiled by Erika Hayasaki. Sharing as part of the UC Irvine Literary Journalism Program and its Center for Storytelling, and The Institute for Independent Journalists. To add more resources for students and the public to this list message me via LinkedIn or at ehayasak@uci.edu.

Resources for Pitching, Freelancing & Craft

—The Institute for Independent Journalists, an education, professional development, support, and advocacy organization for independent journalists, focusing on Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Aims to improve skills and hone career strategy, as well as provide mentoring, networking and community. Also see: How to Make Longform Journalism Work, an Institute for Independent Journalists’ Webinar. Follow IIJ YouTube page for more webinars on fellowships, trauma-informed journalism, publishing and more.

—Open Notebook: Pitch Database (shows real pitches that became published pieces).

—Study Hall Digest (weekly email newsletter with job, grant and freelance opportunities and media news, requires subscription).

— The Writers’ Co-op podcast. Run by independent journalists Wudan Yan (@wudanyan). Offers a podcast on how to make it as a freelance writer.

—Who Pays Writers, anonymous, crowdsourced by freelancers—background on who pays what and if they pay on time. Also this is a great list of the many places you can write for.

— Freelancing with Tim on Patreon, a subscription based series on pitching and tips. Also see Tim’s helpful posts for freelancing or using LinkedIn.

—Google Doc NYT Style Guide on pitching and who to pitch, and a list of pitch guides for 50 other publications like National Geographic, Self, Wired, The Washington Post and more.

—Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting for training and fellowship opportunities.

—Developing an Investigative Pitch, a presentation by Azmat Khan for the Ida B. Wells Society.

—Journo Resources, a weekly newsletter with more opportunities.

—Write at Home: A journalist and writer jobs newsletter.

—Priya Krishna’s tips on becoming a freelance food writer.

—The Narrative Power Edit, an editing resource to check your reporting to think about how power, bias, and privilege are operating in your stories. Written by Sandhya Dirks.

*Also listen: Dirks and Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika: “All Stories are About Power: Radical Narrative Storytelling.” From the Third Coast International Audio Festival, which offers many excellent audio narrative storytelling sessions for free here.
*To continue thinking about how to challenge nonfiction craft and journalism, here is another resource list which I created for my students: The Structure Problem in Narrative Nonfiction.

—January Academy is a series of classes unique to the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Offered every January between the fall and spring semesters. These classes are available at a nominal price (just $32 per class) to alumni and members of the public. Register here.

—The Narratively Academy, offers classes on memoir, narrative nonfiction, book writing and more. Seminars and writing critiques taught by Narratively’s editors and contributors. All classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world.

—Writing Classes (creative) and Kundiman or Hugo House.

—List of 80+ Outlets That Pay Freelancers for Book Reviews & Interviews, compiled by book critics Adam Morgan and Chelsea Leu and their editor email and pay rates list from the National Book Critics Circle site.

—Women Who Pitch (Medium) my piece including interviews with writers on how to pitch and freelance, compiled for the Bindercon women’s writers conference.

—Finding the Longform Idea (Medium). Advice on how to find big stories.

—If you want to see a longform magazine pitch dissected (and rejected), Nieman Storyboard annotates pitches, interviews writers and editors on the process, and breaks down craft.

—Parenting Journalists Association, conference and monthly resource groups.

—Perfecting Your Pitch: A Tip Sheet from a UCI Center for Storytelling panel with editors from Catapult, Narratively, The New York Times Magazine and The Lily at The Washington Post.

—JOC Slack (for BIPOC journalists).

—Society of Freelance Journalists Slack (international).

—Study Hall Slack (requires paid subscription). Study Hall Digest (weekly email newsletter with job, grant and freelance opportunities and media news) $1-4/month.

—Writers of Color Twitter Feed (updates daily with jobs, gigs and pay rates).

—Galleyway champions diverse voices in many forms of writing, founded by Camille Wanliss. Offers an ongoing resource list of fiction/nonfiction opportunities.

—Binders Full of Longform Journalists & Binders Full of Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color (Facebook).

—Diversity Hire podcast, all about being POC in the media.

—The Rate Sharing database by the Freelance Solidarity Project, a list of publications and what they pay.

—Poynter media jobs digest.

—IWW Freelance Journalists Union, A union for all freelance journalists, bloggers, and other writers in news media & The Freelance Solidarity Project, a union of digital media workers raising labor standards across the industry.

a.) #FreelancerPayGap spreadsheet.

—Publishers Marketplace/Publishers Lunch (jobs in literary world/books/book agents – paid subscription needed). For a free breakdown on book advances check out the #PublishersPaidMe hashtag and the Google Doc spreadsheet based on it.

-The NBCC Book Coverage Publication List tracks publications that publish book coverage and includes editor names, contracts, pay rates etc.

—Read, read, listen, listen. Stay up to date with great deep dive stories via:

— Longreads, browse great stories.
—CNF Podcast with Brendan O’Meara, a creative nonfiction interview podcast.
—Subscribe to the Sunday Long Read, which rounds up the week’s best stories.
—Subscribe to Memoir Land, edited by Sari Botton, featuring:
Memoir Monday, a weekly curation of personal essays co-curated by Granta, Guernica, Narratively, The Rumpus, Literary Hub, Orion Magazine, The Walrus, and Oldster Magazine.
First Person Singular featuring original personal essays;
The Lit Lab featuring interviews and craft essays;
Goodbye to All That, inspired by Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving & Leaving NY, and Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for NY, featuring stories about the push-pull that NYC exerts on its inhabitants.
Also subscribe to Botton’s Adventures in Journalism and Oldster.
—The “Best American” series books, across years. For nonfiction, check out the books on best sports, science & nature, travel, food and essay writing.
—Listen to longform magazine stories via Apple News app and New York Times Audio App.
—Subscribe to freelance journalist Barry Yeoman’s newsletter, which rounds up the best journalism stories.
—Subscribe to Longform Profiles, curated by Hao Nguyen, diverse articles listed weekly that highlight the best of longform journalism.
—Nieman Narrative Foundation, for craft essays and Q&As browse Nieman Storyboard.
— Listen to archives of the Longform Podcast, an interview-style podcast with book, newspaper and magazine writers and more on craft and career, and browse the Longform back catalogue of stories.
—The Audacity, Roxane Gay’s newsletter.

— Power of Narrative, an annual conference.

—Steve Padilla Twitter Feed, regular writing tips and quotes + the Steve Padilla Sessions Youtube Series.

—Writing workshops with Meredith Talusan, a network for writers with a community page on Facebook, as well as regular free Zoom classes featuring essay editors, agents, writers and more. Subscribe to The Fairest Writer Substack here.

— Asian American Writer’s Workshop (for all genres of writing).

—Catapult’s “Don’t Write Alone,” guide with writing resources, advice, opportunities and craft talk.

—Periplus Mentoring Collective, pairs professional writers with emerging writers. It is a one-year mentorship program for mentees who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, are in the United States, and are at least 18 years old, and whose writing shows great promise. Here is the link for more information. Email: peripluscollective@gmail.com.

—Permission to Write, a community to cultivate the craft of independent Black writers and writers of color, a community to support the writing journey. Mentor programs, classes, discussions.

—Freelancer Finances: webinar on money and writing.

—Solutions Journalism Network, training for journalists to cover how people are responding to problems. Offers tools, training, resources.

—Become a mentor! Join WriteGirl and mentor teen writers across Southern California, while also meeting other women writers in the region. WriteGirl hosts monthly writing workshops for mentors and their mentees (I remain close to my “mentee” who is now a grown journalist—20 years later). Join WriteGirl here. If you are in New York join Girls Write Now.

—The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, a global community of writers, illustrators, translators, publishers, librarians, advocates, and other industry professionals working to establish a more imaginative and inclusive world through the power of children’s literature.

—International Journalists’ Network opportunities page.

—The UC Irvine Literary Journalism Program’s Center for Storytelling. We organize programming that is free and open to the public on pitching, reporting, photojournalism, oral storytelling, essay writing, science writing and more.

—The Reporting Job Board by Investigative Reporters and Editors is a continually updated website for jobs in reporting, editing, academia, and more.

Newsletters:

—Mallory’s West Coast Media Jobs, a weekly newsletter.

Audio & Podcast Resources:

—New Audio Producer Resource Guide from All Hear newsletter, made in collaboration with Transom.org. Each month, Talia Augustidis will point to upcoming deadlines, and spotlight opportunities.

—Neon Hum Podcast Editor Bootcamp, an eight-week training program for people from underrepresented groups who want to become podcast editors.

—Edit Mode: Story Editor Training for Narrative Audio: Edit Mode is an intensive paid training and mentorship program aimed at diversifying the audio industry’s editor pool. Its goal is to build participants' skills, create connections with future colleagues and provide the real-world editing experience needed to feel confident hitting “apply” for that next editor job.

—AIR Media, a global community of podcast producers. Excellent newsletter and resource for jos, resources, audio classes and events.

—Want to pitch your podcast? Check out this podcast company and pitch them: Pineapple Street Media pitch form.

—Listen to these episodes on how to make and pitch great podcasts from Third Coast International Audio Festival.

Science & Health Writing and Reporting Resources:

—Open Notebook, conversations with magazine writers on craft and career.

—Open Notebook science mentoring resources and programs.

—Open Notebook: Pitch Database (shows real pitches that became real articles). Also check out its interviews with writers on craft and reporting, and its book The Craft of Science Writing.

—A webinar by the Northwest Science Writers Association on inclusive and bias-free science writing.

—National Association of Science Writers, offers career resources, webinars.

—NASW Advance Copy Column: Backstories of authors on how they came up with the idea for their book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and SciWriBooks member events.

—Science Writing News Roundup (a newsletter full of opportunities and advice).

—Science Writer's Handbook interviews of writers on writing.

—Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism

—The Story Collider, a resource for live, personal storytelling about science.

—Trauma-Informed Reporting Tip Sheet, Compiled by Naseem Miller, senior health editor, The Journalist’s Resource Co-founder and administrator of Journalists Covering Trauma Facebook group.

—You can learn about approaching and covering survivors ethically, responsibility and trying to avoid doing more harm via The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, which offers fellowships on covering trauma, and a Trauma Aware Journalism (TAJ): A News Industry Toolkit with free “micro-learning” videos, guides and resources. You can also take a free course on Journalism and Trauma from Poynter.

—Former UC Irvine Literary Journalism student, Carly Lanning, runs Voices Editorial, a storytelling consultancy providing trauma-informed and survivor-centered communication services to organizations, non-profits, and individuals working with trauma-impacted communities.

—The Dart Center Style Guide for Trauma-Informed Journalism: Evidence-informed guidance on news choices, language usage and ethics in reporting on the impact of trauma on individuals, families and communities.

Mental Health Support for Writers & Journalists:

—Self-Care and Coping with Trauma Resources, Dr. Elana Newman, Research Director, Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma and McFarlin Professor of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Naseem Miller, The Journalist’s Resource, Scott Blanchard, director of journalism at public media station WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., and a board member for the Trust for Trauma Journalism.

— Resources For Journalists Seeking Therapy guide from Journalist Trauma Support Network offers a directory of therapists specifically trained to work with journalists; funding for mental health services; and self-help webinars, apps, and websites.

— AAPI Journalists Financial Assistance for Mental Wellness, created with the Asian American Journalists Association, to provide financial assistance specifically for AAPI journalists. Up to $1,500 for mental health services.

— Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund as part of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to support Black journalists of all genders, ages, experience levels and backgrounds.

Fellowships, Internships & Funding:

— Poynter’s Guide to Internships.

— UCI Literary Journalism Internship Listings.

— CSU Long Beach Journalism Internship Listings.

— University of Arizona School of Journalism: How to Find an Internship.

— NYU Journalism Career Services Listings.

— Knight Wallace Reporting Fellowship Program (mid-career).

— Type Media Center fellowships for emerging and established journalists.

— Ida B. Wells Investigative Fellowship Program.

— Pulitzer Center grants and reporting fellowships.

— O'Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism.

—Alicia Patterson Foundation, The fellowship grants, either 12 month ($40,000) or 6 months ($20,000), allow you to do independent research and writing on a topic of your choosing.

— Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

— Fund for Investigative Journalism.

—-The International Women’s Media Foundation (Fund for Women Journalists).

— Isaac Rauch Fellowship at Documented, for a reporter who wants to write about issues affecting New York’s immigrant communities.

—The Bertha Challenge, an opportunity for activists and investigative journalists to spend a year focusing on one pressing social justice issue. Includes a non-residential paid fellowship and a project budget.

— Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT.

Journalism Organizations, Associations & Networks

— The Institute for Independent Journalists Slack

— JOC Slack (for BIPOC journalists)

— Society of Freelance Journalists Slack (international).

— Study Hall Slack (requires paid subscription). Study Hall Digest (weekly email newsletter with job, grant and freelance opportunities and media news) $1-4/month.

— Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

— Air Media, global community of independent audio producers: jobs, connections, webinars, support.

— Asian American Journalists Association

— Trans Journalists Association

— Education Writers Association

— Society of Professional Journalists, Journalist's Toolbox

— International Center for Journalists

— Investigative Reporters & Editors

— Knight Digital Media Center

— National Association of Black Journalists

—-The International Women’s Media Foundation (Fund for Women Journalists)

— The Trans Journalists Association’s Style Guide, a tool for reporters, editors, and other media.