Freelance Writing Jobs: Guide Dogs, The Nudge, Country Living
Plus a great opportunity with a literary agent.
Hello! How are you doing today? I started this month quietly. Took on a gentle amount of work, sent a couple of pitches I was excited by, had some nice work chats. Then life happened, as it often does, and my gentle schedule has gone out of the window. This is the way with freelancing – we panic about work, bills, and (whisper it) being forgotten about if we don’t pitch for a while. Then it all comes in a rush. I love it, I wouldn’t change it, and I need to remember to eat some vegetables this week. There are some great opportunities in this issue, I hope you fill your plates with something delicious.
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"A career-changing book... if you're thinking about going freelance, read this first," says GQ’s Oliver Franklin-Wallis.
My book The Pyjama Myth: the Freelance Writer's Survival Guide will make you a better, happier freelancer.
Yes, my publisher Unbound has recently gone into administration. I’m enormously proud of my book and it’s currently still available. While past and future royalties remain a big question mark, I will still make some money if you decide to buy a copy through Bookshop.
The Nudge is actively looking for freelance writers based in London.
My friend and literary agent Nelle Andrew at RML Literary is desperate for an “epic, all consuming love story”. Send her your most romantic submissions.
Clare Conway has joined The Times Magazine as acting features editor and she’s open to pitches.
Got green typing fingers? Lizzie Thomson at Country Living is looking for more gardening writers.
Laura Fowler is looking for a freelance travel writer for Abercrombie & Kent for a short stint.
Daily Beast is hiring breaking news reporters to work part-time. Given the timely nature of the work, applicants must be based outside the US.
As part of their EXTEND programme, the BBC is taking on a part-time weekend journalism coordinator at Radio Newcastle.
HSBC is looking for a policy copywriter on a 3-month contract.
Something a little different: The House of Lords needs three hansard reporters to work two days a week.
Here’s a nice little part-time sub-editor role. This one’s through a recruiter so I can’t tell you who it’s with.
Oh, this sounds like such a lovely gig. Guide Dogs is taking on a part-time content editor.
City of Portsmouth College needs a someone to work on digital copywriting and PR, three days a week.
There are a couple of jobs going at the Edinburgh International Festival, both four-month contracts. They need a digital content officer and an email marketing officer.
This one comes around pretty regularly. Westchester Publishing is hiring a freelance indexer.
Still under 30? Entries are open for MHP’s 30 to Watch: Journalism awards. The rest of us are legally ghosts now.
Playwrights, the Divided Culture Playwriting Prize is open for submissions and it sounds great.
Some more theatre. This time a scratch night with Theatre by the Lake that pays its participants. this one’s via Katie Hale.
The Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize is open for entries. There are 10 bursary spots available if you can’t pay the entry fee.
If film is more your bag, Lumo TV is commissioning scripts and film projects with deaf creatives attached.
This sounds really interesting – if you would like to do more research into the life and works of English novelist Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, there’s a scholarship opportunity in Sicily with your name on it.
If Salzburg takes your fancy instead, here’s a writing residency with Spike Arts Magazine that’s open for applications until Friday.
Or how about Krakow? There’s a writing residency with the National Centre for Writing for writers with a connection to Norwich.
John Moores University in Liverpool is looking for a part-time journalism lecturer.
Fancy attending the Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival? There are three bursaries available if cost is a barrier.
Last one of the week before I go and eat something green: the Poetry School is offering an MA scholarship for an underrepresented writer.
A quick bursary update: we very nearly have a longlist! The next stages – compiling a shortlist and choosing the eventual winners – may take a little longer than I had originally anticipated, but I hope to get back to everyone who entered by the end of the month.
Love this issue? Hit that heart button, share with a freelance friend, or buy me a cuppa.
And finally: currently reading | obsessed with my new desk snacks | don’t forget these pitching guidelines | all the books I’ve loved this year.
I'm Sian Meades-Williams. I'm a freelance writer, author and poet and I was the winner of the 2022 Yeovil Literary Prize. My book The Pyjama Myth: the Freelance Writer's Survival Guide will make you a better, happier freelancer and it’s out now.
Best of luck with your pitches this week!