Pitch to Live: Week 1 in Review

The opening week was something of an introduction to the class and its setup. All of the students (with the exception of one or two) submitted their bios, and the instructor opened up with a written lecture describing the freelancing profession.

The piece was very well put together, giving a general summation of the ins and outs of what she referred to as "The Pitching Life." This overview included a background on the profession, a list of the perks (working from home, seeing your name in print, etc..), and a few pointers on what it takes to be a successful at the art. The instructor then reviewed types of articles that freelancers typically land at publications, effective brainstorming techniques, and finally, a few real world examples of what a query letter might look like.


There was no assignment due during week one, which was disappointing in a way being that we only have 5 weeks of class. There was quite a bit of action in the Q&A field however, where students asked general questions about clips, education requirements, and writer's discipline. In each instance, the instructor was very quick to respond and her advice was extremely helpful.

All in all, this first lecture covered a lot of ground for a beginner in the field. I'm a fan of Gotham so far.

Site Navigation

The setup of the website seems to serve its purpose. There are six buttons across the top of the page:

My Desk / Blackboard / Query / Library / Lounge / Help

The My Desk section includes Class Roster, Course Overview, Syllabus, and Preferences. I've been using this tab the most so far, since the bios are housed within the Class Roster section. The Course Overview and Syllabus sections are very easy to navigate and it will be nice to have these things there for reference as the class goes on.

The Blackboard tab is where the lessons are kept. This week's lesson "Pitch to Live" is clickable, which means that's the one we're working on. Once you click into the lesson, you have a section for instructions and a section for the instructor to elaborate on the topic. The lessons are printable, which is nice, since reading large amounts of text online can be pretty painful.

I like what I'm seeing so far.

The other thing I'm starting to explore is the Library tab, which is home to a long list of resources for budding freelancers and journalists. I'll elaborate on this section later once I have a chance to play around in it a little bit.

Opening Day

I got my first notification from Gotham on Wednesday. It was a "welcome to class" note from the instructor, a woman named Cindy, long-time freelancer and taco buff. I skimmed the message in my blackberry and later logged onto the site to read the full story.

Cindy seems like a phenomenal young woman. Her experience shows in her writing, which for the first week of class consists of her personal bio and an article titled "Pitch to Live." The students were instructed to write their own personal bios and submit them over the course of the week, so for the past few days I've been reading about my classmates and wondering what I should reveal about myself.

So far, bios have been posted by people all over the US - from Miami to California, and the age range is 19-79. Some are currently freelancers and some are just trying to break in. One gentleman seems to be hoping to score a date by the end of the 5 week class. Not sure what to think of that one. I guess if you have a paying customer, you have to open your doors and listen to their story.

I'm planning on submitting my bio tomorrow. Until then, here is a screen shot of what the class roster page looks like. Over the next 5 weeks, I'll do my best to keep an accurate log of what I'm seeing and learning in hopes of spreading the good word. My gut tells me this is going to be a great experience, but we'll have to wait and see.

Gotham Writers' How to Freelance

I will be keeping a log of this course for future reference and for user reviews. More later.