Hello everyone, and happy new year!
I hope you all were able to take a break from work this holiday season. For the first time since college, I had a full three weeks blocked off for vacation in December. At first I wondered, will I *actually* be able to take all that time off and do nothing? (The answer is: yes, I’m evidently very good at doing not much of anything). I drove 36 hours (round trip) to the desert, I came back and played in the floofy snow in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, I knit… a lot, and listened to lots of podcasts. (If anyone else has listened to Cold, let’s chat about it!)
In any case, this week we finally invited a freelance investigative journalist to come on The Writers’ Co-op to explain how they run their business. I know -- you don’t often see the words ‘business’ and ‘investigative journalism’ bunched up in the same sentence, and I’d say most people (myself included) see investigations as a money sink. So much time is spent developing pitches and sources, and even more time is lost waiting on public records requests. The stories have a propensity to change over time which lends to scope creep and… the list of distractions and delays can go on and on! (But I will stop while I’m ahead.)
My conversation with Lee van der Voo totally changed my mind about these assumptions. Lee is an award-winning investigative and environmental journalist based in Portland, Oregon. She just published a book about 21 youth suing the U.S. government over climate change, called “As the World Burns.” Lee has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Reuters, The Atlantic, and more -- and her investigations have been supported by grants and fellowships from the Logan Nonfiction fellowship, the Alicia Patterson Foundation, The Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Investigative Reporters and Editors, and beyond. In short, she’s a badass, and has honestly changed the way I will forever think about how to make a business from investigative work.
If you’re a Patreon member, you’ll get a tipsheet on how Lee thinks about how to sell the first investigative story without losing money and time, and a template for you to track your sources on investigative work.
Reminder that in two weeks, we’ll be hosting our last episode for season 2, all about book writing. After that, you’ll get access to our secret episode if you’re a Patreon member (at any level). Sign up if you haven’t already: patreon.com/twcpod
Other reminders:
We are soliciting guests for season three, “The Business Edit,” where Jenni and I will try and help you coach you through the challenges of running your freelance business. If you’re interested in being considered, fill out the application here by Jan 26, midnight PST.
Our January event on pricing is also Tues, Jan 26 at 10am PT. Tickets are almost sold out, and remember you get 50% off on the event as a Patreon member.
Onwards,
Wudan