have you gotten paid yet?
Welcome to Friday. This is the ninth edition of Missed Pitches.
I’m a big fan of online communities that shares resources and mutual support, and few communities are as noteworthy as the band of freelance writers who help one another.
In the spirit of giving that community some support, I’d like to share a few resources that freelance writers are sharing online:
Susan Shain’s Where To Pitch newsletter and resources site
Mary’s guide to pitching in gaming freelance
All Freelance Writing’s WordPress tips, tricks and essential plugins for writers
If you would like to have your rejected story pitches shown to editors and publications looking for pitches, use this Google Form to submit your entry and have it featured in the next issue of Missed PItches. Follow on Twitter at @MissedPitches for updates and shout-outs. Read the previous edition here. // rungomez
Contents:
Unraveling the myth of the man hero (by Rebecca Dingwell)
Why buy shoes when you can make them yourself? (by Daliah Singer)
The overwhelming whiteness of AI means that our imagined futures are bereft of people of color (by Payal Dhar)
Can the Holocaust survive the infocalypse? (by Julie Gray,
What life lessons I learned last summer (by Vayunamu)
Freelance opportunities
Writing jobs
Writing contests
NOTE: The following rejected story pitches have been lightly edited for space and clarity.
Unraveling the myth of the man hero (by Rebecca Dingwell, dingwell.rebecca@gmail.com)
The trope of the Byronic hero with a dark past is sometimes hard to stomach when looking at it through a modern lens. As we head into 2021, it may be time for creators to give up on redeeming mysterious men who mistreat their wives.
The topic is especially relevant when taking the recent remake of the film Rebecca into account. Critics have said the film brings nothing new or special to the story, and they’re right—but in my essay, I will also argue that audiences today (especially women) aren’t as ready to excuse the actions of a character like Maxim de Winter as they might have been in the past. What’s more, Maxim isn’t an anomaly. In Jane Eyre, Edward Rochester—another older man who hated his first wife—is the object of romance for the protagonist, despite his horrific actions.
I’m not proposing we burn all of our gothic romance novels. I love these books, too. However, I am interested in how readers can (and should) be critical of this archetype today. I’m happy to discuss an appropriate scope and word count, though I am picturing it to be 850-1000 words.
Why buy shoes when you can make them yourself? (by Daliah Singer, daliah.singer@gmail.com)
Sourdough baking. Puzzling. Tie-dyeing. Throughout the pandemic, many of us have returned to the basics, using our hands to create something, anything. But it’s safe to bet that most of us haven’t considered going so far as making our own shoes.
But we can—with a little help.
Just eight miles from Fort Collins, Colorado, sits a hand-built workshop known as the Colorado Shoe School. Annabel Reader and her partner, Dan Huling, started it two years ago because Reader is hung up on shoes. “We can change the world with what we wear on our feet,” she says. The former dancer and Cirque du Soleil costume designer isn’t intending to be hyperbolic. She really believes that taking a moment to consider our shoes could make a difference in the health of our world.
Guests can sign up for one- to five-day shoe-making workshops ($190–$890) at the duo's Bellvue studio. Participants design and craft their own sneakers, sandals, shoes, or boots. Reader and Huling source primarily recycled materials—cast-offs from leather supplies, hides that were destined for the landfill—and even use bike tires or recycled tennis balls as soles. Beginners are welcome.
“It’s about being a conscious consumer. You’re building what you’re going to walk forward in life in,” Reader says of the process. I think this would make a unique travel feature (I've spoken with both Reader and Huling already, and they're open to having me visit), but it could also work as a profile with an environmental bent.
The overwhelming whiteness of AI means that our imagined futures are bereft of people of color (by Payal Dhar, payal_dhar@yahoo.com)
The predominant representation of artificial intelligence (AI) is white, whether they are humanoid robots, chatbots, virtual assistants, stock images of AI, AI in film and television. A group of researchers examined this from the framework of critical race theory and concluded that that this results in a full erasure of people of color from the White utopian imagination, and has potential consequences for the (ongoing) racialization of AI, including exacerbating bias. (Here's the study: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-020-00415-6).
The documentary Coded Bias, which was recently released in theaters in the US, featuring Joy Bulowamini of the Algorithmic Justice League, talks about this issue in depth. I would also like to tie in an unusual art exhibition by an AI scientist Kate Crawford and artist Trevor Paglen in 2019 that displayed the images used as training data for AI systems, from the 1960s to the present day. The aim was to show how humans have been represented, interpreted, and codified, leading to how machines have “understood” that material. Some examples included in the exhibition were: a woman smiling in a bikini labelled a “slattern, slut”; a child wearing glasses a “failure, loser, non-starter”, a man with a beard and skullcap protesting in the street “anti-American”; white, potbellied middle-aged men “board members”, and so on.
This is still the AI data we are using, so it's no wonder that AI is racist, sexist, etc. There are people working to clean up AI, of course, but it's an uphill slog.
In this piece, I would like to briefly explain why AI algorithms are biased, and subsequently focus on how data activists and scientists are addressing this overwhelming whiteness of AI, and that is an imperative.
Can the Holocaust survive the infocalypse? (by Julie Gray, hello@juliegray.info)
According to a recent survey, almost two-thirds of young American adults do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. More than 1 in 10 believe that Jews caused the Holocaust.
In my essay, “Can the Holocaust survive the infocalypse?,” I argue that we must be cautious not to conflate ignorance with endorsement and that we must take a closer look at the consequences of living in a broken Information Age. Drawing in part from Nina Schick’s “DeepFakes: The Coming Infocalypse,” and my experience writing a book about a Holocaust survivor, “Can the Holocaust Survive…,” puts these alarming survey results into a more thoughtful, even hopeful context.
What life lessons I learned last summer (by Vayunamu, vayunamujb@gmail.com)
I am pitching a personal essay for consideration. While dealing with the combination of quarantine and the Black Lives Matter movement in summer 2020, I learned something new about myself in terms of close life relationships and how things could be different. I wrote a narrative essay in reflection of this experience, exploring how these huge and complex life-changing moments pushed me to think differently about my life and my choices.
Freelance Opportunities
via @charlielindlar (Jan 12): I'm looking to commission more pieces for our Sex Diaries series, all about how we are (or aren’t) doin' it and what our sex lives say about us. It's an inclusive, kind and safe place, so be in touch if you have something to say! #journorequest #journojobs charlie.lindlar@huffpost.com
via @Andymcgra (Jan 12): Still got a few spaces for issue 102 of @rouleur. The theme is True Grit: think cycling culture, tough people, rough stuff, gruelling races. Send your Woman biking pitches to andy.mcgrath@rouleur.cc by the end of the week, please.
via @larakiara (Jan 12): Freelancers: We're looking to build our coverage of privacy and regulation and how that impacts big tech platforms, publishers, advertisers and more. Please send pitches to loreilly@businessinsider.com
via @EricHolthaus (Jan 11): If you're a writer, especially a BIPOC writer or from a marginalized background, I'd love to read your pitch for an essay that humanizes the climate emergency. writeforthephoenix@gmail.com Share with your networks. I pay 50 cents / word, 500-1500 words, depending on the topic.
via @MrDJJackson (Jan 12): JOB ALERT! @ADVNCRgroup are looking for a freelance writer, producing video game focused content for an ongoing project. Interested? Email: info@advncr.com with a CV, cover letter and example of your work. Please RT - We'd love to hear from a diverse range of people!
Writing Jobs
Passage is hiring a Part-Time Staff Writer - Canada
Race Forward is hiring a Colorlines Staff Writer/Blogger - Remote
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is hiring a Senior Reporter/Writer - D.C.
Defector Media is hiring a Staff Writer - Remote
Inverse is hiring a Part-Time Mind and Body Writer - Remote
Writing Contests
The Winter Anthology Annual Contest (Deadline: Feb. 10, 2021)
Claire Keyes Poetry Award (Deadline: Feb. 15, 2021)
Veterans Writing Award (Deadline: Feb. 15, 2021)
The Snowbound Chapbook Award (Deadline: Feb. 28, 2021)