Updated with fresh facts, examples and illustrations, along with two new chapters on digital media and blogs this third edition continues to be the authoritative and essential guide to writing engaging and marketable feature stories. Covers everything from finding original ideas and angles to locating expert sources Expanded edition with new chapters on storytelling for digital media and building a story blog Captivating style exemplifies the authors’ expert guidance, combining academic authority with professional know-how Comprehensive coverage of all the angles, including marketing written work and finding jobs in the publishing industry Essential reading for anyone wishing to become a strong feature writer Accompanied by a website with a wealth of resources including PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and Q&As that will be available upon publication: www.wiley.com/go/sumnerandmiller

A practical guide to all aspects of feature writing for journalists and freelance writers.

What does it take to launch a career writing for magazines? In this comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to magazine writing, students will learn everything from the initial story pitch all the way through to the final production, taking with them the essential tools and skills they will need for today’s rapidly changing media landscape. Written by a team of experienced writers and editors, Magazine Writing teaches the time-tested rules for good writing alongside the modern tools for digital storytelling. From service pieces to profiles, entertainment stories and travel articles, it provides expert guidance on topics such as: developing saleable ideas; appealing to specific segments of the market; navigating a successful pitch; writing and editing content for a variety of areas, including service, profiles, entertainment, travel, human interest and enterprise Chock full of examples of published works, conversations with successful magazine contributors and bloggers, and interviews with working editors, Magazine Writing gives students all the practical and necessary insights they need to jumpstart a successful magazine writing career.

"Updated with fresh facts, examples and illustrations, along with two new chapters on digital media and blogs this third edition continues to be the authoritative and essential guide to writing engaging and marketable feature stories. Covers everything from finding original ideas and angles to locating expert sources Expanded edition with new chapters on storytelling for digital media and building a story blog Captivating style exemplifies the authors' expert guidance Authors combines academic authority with professional know-how Comprehensive coverage of all the angles, including marketing written work and finding jobs in the publishing industry Essential reading for anyone wishing to become a strong feature writer "--

Prime Your Freelance Writing Career for Success! So you want to be a freelance writer. Great! But now you're faced with a laundry list of questions: Should I freelance full time or part time? Should I write for magazines, newspapers, or online markets? How do I dream up the perfect article idea, and how do I pitch it successfully? How do I negotiate contracts, foster relationships with editors, and start getting steady work while avoiding financial panic attacks and unpleasant ulcers? The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing answers all of these questions--and much more. From breaking in to navigating the basics of the business, this book is your road map to a fruitful and rewarding freelance life. You'll learn how to: • Dig into various markets, including consumer magazines, trade journals, newspapers, and online venues. • Make your digital mark and build your writing platform. • Pitch like a pro and craft solid query letters that get responses. • Conduct professional interviews in person, by phone, or by e-mail. • Write and structure various types of articles, from front-of-the-book pieces to profiles and features. • Quit your lackluster day job, and live the life you've always wanted. Filled with insider secrets, candid advice, and Zachary Petit's trademark humor and blunt honesty, The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing won't just show you how to survive your freelancing writing career--it will teach you how to truly thrive.

Offers advice to beginners on writing and selling magazine articles, discussing queries, leads, and story enders

Good writing engages as it informs and feature journalism offers writers the opportunity to tell deep, affecting stories that look beyond the immediate mechanics of who, what, where and when and explore the more difficult-and more rewarding- questions: how and why? Whether you're a blogger, a news journalist or an aspiring lifestyle reporter, a strong voice and a fresh, informed perspective remain in short supply and strong demand; this book will help you craft the kind of narratives people can't wait to share on their social media feeds. Writing Feature Stories established a reputation as a comprehensive, thought-provoking and engaging introduction to researching and writing feature stories. This second edition is completely overhauled to reflect the range of print and digital feature formats, and the variety of online, mobile and traditional media in which they appear. This hands-on guide explains how to generate fresh ideas; research online and offline; make the most of interviews; sift and sort raw material; structure and write the story; edit and proofread your work; find the best platform for your story; and pitch your work to editors. 'A wide-ranging, much-needed master class for anyone who tells true yarns in this fast-changing journalistic marketplace' - Bruce Shapiro, Columbia University 'Useful and thought provoking' - Margaret Simons, journalist and author 'A must read for any digital storyteller who wants to write emotive, engaging, believable content.' - Nidhi Dutt, foreign correspondent

The Voynich Manuscript has been considered to be the world's most mysterious book. Filled with strange illustrations and an unknown language, it challenged the world's top code-crackers for nearly a century. But in just four-and-a-half months, Dr. Gordon Rugg, a renowned researcher, found evidence (which had been there all along) that the book could be a giant, glittering hoax. In Blind Spot: Why We Fail to See the Solution Right in Front of Us, Dr. Rugg shares his story and shows how his toolkit of problem-solving techniques—such as his Verifier Method—can save the day, particularly in those times when the experts on your team have all the data in front of them but are still unaccountably at an impasse. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Ariely, Dr. Rugg, a rising star in computer science, challenges us to re-examine the way we think, and provides new tools to solve problems and crack codes in our own lives.

This year's Best American Magazine Writing features articles on politics, culture, sports, sex, race, celebrity, and more. Selections include Ta-Nehisi Coates's intensely debated "The Case For Reparations" (The Atlantic) and Monica Lewinsky's reflections on the public-humiliation complex and how the rules of the game have (and have not) changed (Vanity Fair). Amanda Hess recounts her chilling encounter with Internet sexual harassment (Pacific Standard) and John Jeremiah Sullivan shares his investigation into one of American music's greatest mysteries (New York Times Magazine). The anthology also presents Rebecca Traister's acerbic musings on gender politics (The New Republic) and Jerry Saltz's fearless art criticism (New York). James Verini reconstructs an eccentric love affair against the slow deterioration of Afghanistan in the twentieth century (The Atavist); Roger Angell offers affecting yet humorous reflections on life at ninety-three (The New Yorker); Tiffany Stanley recounts her poignant experience caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's (National Journal); and Jonathan Van Meter takes an entertaining look at fashion's obsession with being a social-media somebody (Vogue). Brian Phillips describes his surreal adventures in the world of Japanese ritual and culture (Grantland), and Emily Yoffe reveals the unforeseen casualties in the effort to address the college rape crisis (Slate). The collection concludes with a work of fiction by Donald Antrim, exploring the geography of loss. (The New Yorker).

Chosen by the American Society of Magazine Editors, the stories in this anthology include National Magazine Award–winning works of public interest, reporting, feature writing, and fiction. This year's selections include Pamela Colloff (Texas Monthly) on the agonizing, decades-long struggle by a convicted murderer to prove his innocence; Dexter Filkins (The New Yorker) on the emotional effort by an Iraq War veteran to make amends for the role he played in the deaths of innocent Iraqis; Chris Jones (Esquire) on Robert A. Caro's epic, ongoing investigation into the life and work of Lyndon Johnson; Charles C. Mann (Orion) on the odds of human beings' survival as a species; and Roger Angell (The New Yorker) on aging, dying, and loss. The former infantryman Brian Mockenhaupt (Byliner) describes modern combat in Afghanistan and its ability both to forge and challenge friendships; Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic) reflects on the complex racial terrain traversed by Barack Obama; Frank Rich (New York) assesses Mitt Romney's ambiguous candidacy; and Dahlia Lithwick (Slate) looks at the current and future implications of an eventful year in Supreme Court history. The volume also includes an interview on the art of screenwriting with Terry Southern from The Paris Review and an award-winning short story by Stephen King published in Harper's magazine.