Sherry Shameer Cohen is an award winning blogger with 20 years of experience as a freelance general assignment reporter and photographer and 10 years experience as a Special Sections Editor. She describes herself as a parachute journalist, a snappy way of saying that she can handle any assignment she’s dropped into quickly – and presumably she always lands on her feet.
She revived the Connecticut Press Club by, among other things, bringing decision makers from national magazines and large publishing houses to Connecticut to show writers how to get more challenging and better paying assignments. This cannot be bad. She’s organizing a special panel of Agents and editors in Norwalk, CT on March 8. I asked her what the deal was, and here’s what she wrote back:
All Connecticut Press Club programs are open to everyone, but most of the people who come are writers. The organization draws staff and freelance writers, editors, publicists, bloggers, photographers and graphic artists. Our programs are usually held at The Norwalk Inn, but we’ve also had meetings at restaurants and at the Westport Public Library. We get 18-60 people at our programs, depending on the topic. Editors and agents draw the highest number of attendees.
Our programs are meant to be small enough for people to network with the speakers as well as with other writers and editors. We’re lucky to be so close to New York so that we can get speakers from national publications and publishing houses. Initially, we thought they were coming as a professional courtesy, but it turns out that they are usually actively seeking new talent and tell us what’s missing from Writer’s Market. For example, one editor likes pitches in two paragraphs so he can read them on his smartphone. A health editor is trim and fit and doesn’t want pitches on diet and exercise, but two immediate family members were affected by pollutants, so she’s interested in stories about environmental health. She also gave us a list of her sources. Another health editor wants a whole package in two pieces – pitch and hed (headline) and dek (subhead) via email; clippings via snail mail so she doesn’t have to print out a lot. This is very valuable information!
Among the people we’ve booked for March 8 are:
Tamar Mays of Harper Collins Children’s Division
Marilyn Allen of Allen and O’Shea Literary Agency
Susan Schulman of Susan Schulman Literary Agency
Farley Chase of Chase Literary Agency (formerly at Waxman)
When: Thursday, March 8, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:30.
Where: The Norwalk Inn, 99 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT (I-95 to Exit 16)
Admission: $35.00 (includes dinner)
Reservations recommended, but walk-ins are always welcome. R.s.v.p. at 203-968-8600 or ctpressclub@gmail.com.
GC: So don’t sit there whining that you can’t find an agent or an editor – show up!