The Alabama Writers’ Cooperative will present online workshops –“Freelancing Your Way to a Paycheck” and “How to Avoid the Slushpile and Land an Agent” by Karim Shamsi-Basha via Zoom on March 25 from 10 a.m. till noon.
Since its inception in 1923, at what is currently the University of Montevallo, the A.W.C. has worked to foster, inspire and promote all types of writing in Alabama. This will be the first of a series of events to celebrate the organization’s 100th anniversary. The events will culminate with an in-person conference Sept. 8-10 at the O’Neal Library in Mountain Brook, AL, outside Birmingham.
The upcoming freelance class will provide insights on how to write better story pitches as a freelancer and explore different markets for content. The class will be hosted by Karim Shamsi-Basha, who works as a freelance journalist, photographer, and author. He is also a full-time food and culture columnist with NJ.com.
Shamsi-Basha will also teach a workshop about query letters during the Zoom session. He’ll share the query letter that helped him get his agent, and talk about the elements that grab agents’ attention.
In 2021, “The Cat Man of Aleppo” was awarded a Caldecott Honor as one of the top children’s’ books of that year – Basha co-authored it with Irene Latham, with illustrations created by Yuko Shimizu. Basha referred to the book as “one of my all-time greatest achievements.”
His freelance work has appeared in a wide variety of publications from “Sports Illustrated” to the “Washington Post.”
Shamsi-Basha, who immigrated to the U.S. from Syria in 1984, writes full-time as the culture and food columnist for NJ.com and “The Star Ledger” out of New Jersey. The freelance portion will explore “effectively pitching magazines, publications and websites,” he said.
A.W.C. President Jessica Langston said this workshop “should give prospective freelancers some valuable insights to help them in their pursuit of landing writing jobs. It will also help the many writers out there who are hoping to secure agents to get their manuscripts published. We are very pleased to have Karim offering his wealth of knowledge and expertise on both these subjects.”
The workshops will be held on Saturday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to noon. The Zoom session is free, but A.W.C. membership is required. The fee for annual membership is $25. Visit alabamawriterscooperative.org to become a member, and to register for the workshops. For additional information regarding Saturday’s events, please email Langston at jjsayspoetryplz@gmail.com.
