About Barbara Mantel

Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.

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Melba Newsome

For this installment of A Typical Workday, I interviewed independent journalist, writer and editor Melba Newsome. Newsome’s byline has appeared in national, regional and local publications, including Scientific American, Newsweek, Bloomberg, AARP, Wired, North Carolina Health News and many others. This year, she worked with Wake Forest University to create the Wake Forest Mellon Environmental Justice Journalism Fellowship, a five-day intensive program designed to improve coverage of environmental justice and to diversify the ranks of journalists covering the issue. This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.

About Barbara Mantel

Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.

View all posts by Barbara Mantel →

Photo by Christina Morillo via pexels

This year, I found an accountability partner to help me meet writing deadlines, increase the rate at which I pitch ideas to editors and guide me through tough decisions. AHCJ core topic leader for infectious diseases Bara Vaida and I have been meeting over Zoom once a month, and I believe the relationship is already yielding benefits. I recently decided to stop working for a publication for which I have been a contributing writer for decades — the 12,000-word articles had become too burdensome — and Bara’s feedback and support were crucial.

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Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.

About Tammy Worth

Tammy Worth (@TammyWorth1) is a full-time freelance writer based in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. She has written for The Economist, Bloomberg, Health.com, Healthcare Finance News and KCPT, Kansas City's public television station. Worth is also a former columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health section, penning "Practical Matters."

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood via pexels

Researching and writing queries can be the most dreaded part of being a freelance writer. But the work and time that goes into creating pitches can go farther and net more income by taking one idea and reworking it for different publications. 

To do this, freelancers must learn to look at stories, notes and interviews in a different way than they may be doing. Try implementing these seven tips.

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Tammy Worth (@TammyWorth1) is a full-time freelance writer based in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. She has written for The Economist, Bloomberg, Health.com, Healthcare Finance News and KCPT, Kansas City's public television station. Worth is also a former columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health section, penning "Practical Matters."

About Barbara Mantel

Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.

View all posts by Barbara Mantel →

Photo by Paola RodriguezJournalists share their pitches with editors during PitchFest.

Health Journalism 2023 is fast approaching. We look forward to seeing fellow freelancers at events like the in-person Lunch and Learn session and a longtime conference favorite, PitchFest.

To see what the editors are looking for in a pitch, check out AHCJ’s market guides. In addition, some PitchFest editors have submitted guides that can be found here in the Whova app that is being used for the conference.

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Barbara Mantel (@BJMantel), an independent journalist, is AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent. Her work has appeared in CQ Researcher, Rural Health Quarterly, Undark, Healthline, NBCNews.com and NPR, among others. She helps members find the resources they need to succeed as freelancers and welcomes your suggestions.