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ASJA
Registrations are already rolling in for this year's ASJA conference in New York City, held at New York Marriott Downtown, in Lower Manhattan's Financial District on April 19-20. This year's theme is "The Independent Writer's Best Friend," focused on fighting back against legal threats to a freelance writer's career and also embracing the new world of freelance journalism.
We’re planning more than 50 writing workshops, panel discussions, training sessions and other events, including intimate, extended-length Mastermind sessions. Our keynote speaker is journalist and tech maven Sree Sreenivasan. Like past conferences, Client Connections (stay tuned for details about signing up for the lottery) links members with editors and agents who are hiring through short, one-on-one speed-dating-like sessions.
Register at this dedicated conference site. Note: The Extra Early Bird Registration ends Jan. 28.
Questions? Contact 2020 conference chair Randy Dotinga at randydotinga@gmail.com or associate conference chair Kristine Hansen at kristinehansenwriter@gmail.com. How can we make this conference the best yet and better serve your needs? Don't hesitate to let us know!
ASJA
Don’t miss out!
Sort through your stories, essays, personal blog posts or books published in 2019. Pick out your best — the ones that make you proud — then consult the list of writing award categories for the best fit. Fill out the entry form, and you’re done! See the awards rules here and for descriptions of the awards categories, click here. Last year we added several new categories including Travel, Food & Drink, and Fitness & Sports, and this year, we’ve added categories exclusively for Science writing and Technology writing.
Entries are accepted through Jan. 30, 9 p.m. EST. Members are eligible for all awards and there are five categories open to the public.
Correction to Jan. 14 Weekly
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ASJA
On Dec. 17, 2019, ASJA and the National Press Photographers Association filed a lawsuit challenging California's new independent contractor law, commonly called AB5. We also requested a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would have blocked enforcement of the law's provisions affecting freelancers. The application for the TRO was denied. An article in the previous ASJA Weekly dealing with the lawsuit incorrectly stated that the TRO was denied because ASJA, the NPPA, and our attorneys "missed" a filing deadline.
In fact, however, there was no deadline to miss. Courts have broad discretion to rule on such applications and Judge Gutierrez denied the application, he explained, because we could have filed the lawsuit earlier, not because of a missed deadline that didn't exist. ASJA, NPPA, and our attorneys take deadlines very seriously and misstatements like this one reflect badly on everyone.
Milt Toby
ASJA President
ASJA
Don't miss your chance to pitch to an editor with Prism, a recently launched digital outlet, on Monday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
"Prism's editorial mission is to shift visibility and power to the communities closest to the issues and problems we’re reporting on,” says our guest editor. "Our work challenges dominant, toxic media narratives by driving new ones informed and written by people with direct, lived experiences — especially people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and those from other underreported communities.”
Prism focuses on gender justice, electoral justice (e.g., voting rights), criminal justice, environmental justice and reflective democracy (the notion that our government/elected officials should reflect the full diversity of the people they represent). Pay is 40 cents per word.
Sign ups open Feb. 5 at noon Eastern time, and the registration link will be posted here at that time.
ASJA
The ASJA Annual Conference in April is just around the corner and with it, its almost-conference-within-a-conference: the members-only Client Connections. Think of it as speed dating for writers and clients.
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ASJA
Want an advance peek at the valuable stories in ASJA Magazine? We're looking for volunteers who are willing to proofread a few articles. If you're interested, contact Editor Stephanie Vozza at asjamagazineeditor@gmail.com.
Carolyn Crist is ASJA's New Membership Chair
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ASJA
The ASJA board is pleased to announce that board member Carolyn Crist is stepping into the role of Membership Chair. Carolyn co-chaired the NYC conference in 2018 and 2019 and is currently the development chair, writing grants to support the work of our organization. Last year, she spearheaded the effort to launch an ASJA member group on Facebook.
A freelance writer in Georgia, she reports on business, education, health, medicine and science. Her bylines have appeared in AARP, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Paste Magazine, Parade, US News & World Report, Reuters and WIRED, and she has done content writing for local small businesses in Georgia. She also is the freelance correspondent for the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ). She graduated from University of Georgia with degrees in English and journalism, as well as an MA in journalism and mass communication.
Carolyn will oversee a team of volunteers who manage membership benefits and membership drives. If you have an interest in working with Carolyn and her team, reach out to crist.carolyn@gmail.com to ask how you can help!
ASJA

Because there’s not a Starbucks on every corner.
In many ways, it’s like stepping back in time fifty years. It’s donkey carts, boys playing ball
and men playing dominoes in the streets, the faded beauty of pastel colored buildings,
hardworking people, Santeria, drumbeats and dance, health care and education, low
wages, and government control.
It’s not Americanized — yet.
Its past and ours are intertwined, tangled, and sometimes knotted.
It’s still legal to travel there, but rules can change suddenly. Why not grab the opportunity while you can?
Join ASJA March 21-28 and visit Havana, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad. $3885 double; $4285 single. For more info and to register, call Charles Bittner, sociologist and travel planner, at 617-833-1345.
ASJA
Another new group of applicants for membership in ASJA has passed the Membership Application Committee's review and the list of prospective members has now been posted. Active members may review the list and send any comments to James Cafiero at Jcafiero@kellencompany.com no later than the comment deadline shown. All comments will be sent to the Application Committee for consideration and will be kept confidential.
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ASJA
Find out what’s trending on ASJA’s Forum.
Organizing Against AB5
Finding a Home for an Adoption Story
Chair Extraordinaire
ASJA
Shop on Amazon? ASJA members, family and friends now have an easy way to donate to ASJA Charitable Trust! Next time you’re ready to shop on Amazon, start your shopping session at the URL http://smile.amazon.com. Select American Society of Journalists and Authors Charitable Trust as your charity, and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases! Ready to start shopping? Click here to default ASJACT as your charity of choice!
Good e-Reader
A lot of authors are shy when it comes to the idea of publishing their work as an eBook. There’s something nostalgic about a print book – for some people it’s the smell of paper, for some people it’s just nice to mark their progress with the turn of each page.
Even so, eBooks are rapidly becoming more popular as a form of self-publishing. There are numerous advantages to publishing digitally rather than in print, and a few of these are outlined below.
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Forbes
“Retirement for freelancers seems impossible," said David, a 36-year-old freelance writer, describing how he'd been scraping by month to month. He added that he wanted to know "if there are stories that can show how people went from similar situations to steadier footing."
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The Writer
You will have heard from many people that writers need to be on Twitter. I don’t disagree. I’ve been on it for 11 years. I’ve also been the voice behind the handles of everyone from co-working companies to lingerie retailers to literary magazines, and, of course, I write my personal feed.
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Journalism.co.uk
With journalism in the process of finding sustainable business models, some have turned to one of the most popular but most risky ways of raising funds — crowdfunding.
Setting up a campaign to fund your latest journalism project has never been easier, with a range of different platforms to raise money, but the challenge of finding the most suitable one for you and reaching your target remains.
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The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) does not endorse any company, product, or service sold by any corporation, institution or member supporting our organization. Corporate partnerships, advertisers and sponsors are not an endorsement of a product or service and may not be represented as such, in any way. The use of the ASJA name and/or logo, or representation of such, without the written consent of ASJA, is strictly prohibited.
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