Readers! A reader asks: "What would you be writing if money were no object?" This is an interesting question with a boring answer. If money were not object, I'd be focused on fiction, or …
Notes from a Hired Pen: How to answer a pitch call
Readers! Sometimes publications put out calls for pitches, where they are looking for writers and there ideas. These can come from a client you already work with, or someone you don't …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: I printed out my 21-year-old pitch spreadsheet. Here’s what I learned
Readers! As part of my early August mini marketing sprint, I scrolled back through my marketing spreadsheet and looked at outlets I approached years ago but didn't hear back …
Notes from a Hired Pen: Mailbag time! How do I break into feature writing?
Readers! Time to dust off the mail bag (sorry to the letter writer, who sent this last summer. But hey I got to it!) A reader asks: How do I break into journalism (feature writing, …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: How I use LinkedIn (yes really)
Readers! Did you roll your eyes at the subject line of this newsletter? That's fine. LinkedIn is a hot mess most days, but it is part of my marketing strategy, even if it's a passive …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: 5 things to do during the summer doldrums
Readers! I've finally from my stomach virus I was gifted for my birthday, and despite not being able to work at full speed for most of last week, I'm not all that behind. That's because it's …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Recommendation Round Up
Readers! My nephews gave me a stomach bug for my birthday, so let's do a quick recommendation round up! The Real Infowars. I was as shocked as anyone else when The Onion bought …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: What do you do when a story is killed
Readers! I spent my first day of vacation driving 5.5 hours through not great traffic, and when I got to my destination for the night, expected to check in, put up my feet and veg. But I'm a …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Pausa de hidratacion
Readers! I was having such a fun time on vacation that I extended my trip an extra day. Regular newsletter next week! …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: 2026 half time check in
Readers! We're just about half way through 2026, a year that has been both anxiety inducing and surprising. Here's what's been going on in the offices of Jen A. Miller. …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Writing pitches is easy. Selling pitches is hard.
Readers! Last week, I was really stressed out about something in my personal life, so I did what any normal person would do: sat down at my computer and wrote an article pitch to an …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: What do you do if a source insults you?
Readers! Last week, a source insulted me. Thank goodness it was over the phone and not video, because they'd have seen how my face dropped and then turned beet red. This isn't the …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Put a little pop culture into your work
Readers! This newsletter is broken up onto what I consider two parts: the part about writing, and then the part about whatever else I'm doing. But sometimes the two …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: What an optimal writing process looks like
Readers! Last week, I was struggling with a tricky assignment. It's a neuroscience article, where I'm explaining a complicated topic to a non-science audience. And while the …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Recommendation Round Up
Readers! Short week so let's do a recommendation round up! They're really random! Marisa Kabas' AI hater Linkedin trolling project. Kabas is the independent journalist …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Holiday week pep talk!
Readers! We're leading into the unofficial start of summer, so how about a pep talk? There are about 1,000 of you here, and while not everyone opens the newsletter version of this …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Three ways freelancers can use the library
Readers! Last week, I hopped aboard a PATCO train and headed into Camden, N.J., on a mission: to renew my Rutgers University Libraries card. I'd been putting this off for …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: How did this get made – Independent Banker
Readers! Hi hi hi! Time for another a peek behind the curtain about how an article is made, this time for an anchor client. Hop aboard, let's go! The …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Highlights from England and France
Readers! I am back from my adventures, and I kept a running tally of everything worthwhile I saw from there. I'll get back to freelancing rants and raves (but let's be honest, …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: 10 things PR people should know about trying to work with me
Readers! Good morning from England! I pre-wrote this before I left just for you, then I'll be back when I'm back. Cheerio! Last week I did an informal Q&A with an …
Notes from a Hired Pen: Writing your own book reviews – what a concept!
Readers! Let's start with two points: I have been freelancing for the New York Times since 2006. I may not work with them much as I used to, but it's still an ongoing relationship. As a …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Results of a March Marketing Sprint
Readers! Things had been looking a bit grim over here at the offices of Jen A. Miller. Cuts in higher education have finally trickled down to me. Since 24% of my 2025 income came from these …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Three things I learned while speaking out about AI
Readers! Well! I had quite a week last week. On Wednesday, I spoke to my town school board, and on Thursday to the director of my town library, about AI. You can see me at the school …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: The freedom of letting part of your writing dream go
Readers! Ten years ago, I published my memoir Running: A Love Story. I'm proud of it. I told my story, and I think it helped a lot of …
Notes from a Hired Pen: Why did someone call me a scammer?
Readers! I have an announcement!!!! I am re-opening freelance instruction spots again. The cost is on there, but just in case you don't want to click: it's $100 for an hour, and $400 for five …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: My letter to the editor about AI slop (and why I gave it away for free)
Readers! If you're a regular around here, you know how I feel about generative AI a.k.a. the lying plagiarism machine. After I saw three slop AI images from my town government, and …
Notes From a Hired Pen: What scammers called me this week
Readers! I, like many people who have written a book, am being flooded by spam emails produced by the lying plagiarism machine. Scammers are reaching out to us promising all sorts of …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: No, reporters don’t need your “consent” to publish a story
Readers! On Friday, the Phillies released outfield Nick Castellanos. It was not an unexpected move. He just didn't seem to give a shit anymore after he was benched for some …
Notes from a Hired Pen: Why I avoid email interviews
Readers! Thank you to all your kinds words last week. I really appreciate it. Defector put together a lovely remembrance of Dan that ran the day of his funeral. I was not surprised that I saw …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Remembering Dan McQuade
My friend Dan McQuade died of neuroendocrine cancer last week. He was 43 years old. If you didn't know Dan, you probably know his writing, especially if you lived in the Philadelphia region. A few …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Happy 21st birthday to my full time freelance writing career!
Readers! As of today, my freelance writing career is 21 years old. It can drink and buy tobacco in all 50 states. Good for her. Or me! Mostly me. I will be celebrating with a ginger …
Notes from a Hired Pen: Mailbag time! Questions about my year in review
Readers! Thank you so much for the feedback on my year in review. I especially appreciate the comments about also recognizing I might stop doing it for personal reasons. …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: My $115,732.50 freelance year
Readers! It's that time of year! In 2025, I made $115,732.50. Here are past breakdowns: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019. Let's get into 2025: Association …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: I made $12,000 by following up this year (maybe)
Readers! In this newsletter, I've written a lot about the importance of following up — on your pitches, on your letters of introduction (LOIs) and just checking in with clients you haven't …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Independent media that got me through the year
Readers! I was going to write about this whole Citius "Mag" debacle (point three here, or here with a caveat about it being an anonymous message board). But Citius has done a nice job shooting …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Recommendation Round Up
Readers! I was going to write about a predictable situation happening at the Washington Post, where some tech "geniuses" rolled out AI-powered podcast creator that produced — shocking enough — …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: One thing to do before the end of the year
Readers! It's December and I'm in the midst of the OMG EVERYTHING MUST BE DONE RIGHT NOW BEFORE EVERYONE DISAPPEARSSSSS! madness that always comes in December. So I am going to give you just …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: Has my work been affected by AI?
Readers! It's mail bag time! Do you feel like AI has impacted your freelance career? I'm worried that most companies will just use ChatGPT now and I find it hard to get a clear …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: A little bit of trail magic
Readers! I said I wasn't going to write a newsletter this week, but I wanted to tell a story, even if it's not really writing related. It's a good one! My big adventure has been a road trip …
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Notes from a Hired Pen: You don’t owe clowns anything
Readers! Last week I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a mechanic who talked to me like I'm a dumb broad. I won't get into the details, but he bought the business from …
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