The Writer's Couch
Saqqara Aleister
January 28, 2008
I recently had the honor of interviewing Josh Bernstein. He is a great interviewee and has such great answers, and he allowed me five questions. OK, not such a big deal; I've had to write interviews with just one question before, so five was great and I think I did a pretty good job of getting TWO stories from just five questions
Well, I posted the articles to the American Chronicle and sent them out to a few other magazines I thought might be interested, all the while thinking, gee, I'll be greeted as a writer, not a pop tart. No one would ever think of hiring me to write for them based solely on my appearance or the fact that I have big breasts. Now I won´t deny that I have large breasts; they do kind of stand out, but I do not and never will {as I was told others had} e-mail photos of my breasts to any editor in order to get a story. I usually hang up on an interviewee who starts the interview off with, "My, what big breasts you have," and have walked out on interviews for the same reason.
I have been asked out on dates on various occasions by those I've interviewed, but only AFTER I was done with the story and I have no problem with that, I just won't interview that person again. I had been warned about the casting couch road; I used to work in T&A shows when I was an actress, for cripe´s sake. I know what directors are thinking, but I had never, NEVER had one say to me that I couldn't have a job because I refused to send or give them pictures of my breasts, and I was never treated badly while on any job.
I learned working in the television/movie industry that you come to expect to be judged by what you look like, from your hair down to your toes. But as a writer….I NEVER thought I would be refused a job writing articles because I refused to send pictures of my breasts.
Recently, I was asked to write for an online magazine and I thought it looked like a great challenge and opportunity, so I sent the editor my interviews with Josh Bernstein since he had posted a couple others about him on his site. I was surprised to get a phone call from said editor, and I guess I should have had a clue when he not once asked about the Josh interviews or any of my other work, but instead went right into asking if my breasts really were as big as I said on my MySpace page. He told me all about other female writers who sent him pictures and participated and I tried to laugh it off, saying, "I don't do that, I have morals as a writer". I'll tell you, if I did not, I could have asked about and written about the sordid details of a recently settled court case that another editor had pushed me relentlessly to get the scoop on.
I was, in the process, asked to write a few other articles and I did, and afterwards, still refused to e-mail pictures of myself. This editor refused my articles. In writing this, I hope all young women who may read this are careful which magazines they submit to, and learn to listen to how they are treated when editors speak to them about their work, be it on the phone or in e-mail.
Now I do have to say that no, not all editors or magazines out there are like this, but I'm sure there are more than a few out there who prey on young writers who are eager for that first shot at being published, even on the web. Just be sure that when submitting your work, pay attention to where you are submitting it and listen when someone asks you to write for them.
Well, I posted the articles to the American Chronicle and sent them out to a few other magazines I thought might be interested, all the while thinking, gee, I'll be greeted as a writer, not a pop tart. No one would ever think of hiring me to write for them based solely on my appearance or the fact that I have big breasts. Now I won´t deny that I have large breasts; they do kind of stand out, but I do not and never will {as I was told others had} e-mail photos of my breasts to any editor in order to get a story. I usually hang up on an interviewee who starts the interview off with, "My, what big breasts you have," and have walked out on interviews for the same reason.
I have been asked out on dates on various occasions by those I've interviewed, but only AFTER I was done with the story and I have no problem with that, I just won't interview that person again. I had been warned about the casting couch road; I used to work in T&A shows when I was an actress, for cripe´s sake. I know what directors are thinking, but I had never, NEVER had one say to me that I couldn't have a job because I refused to send or give them pictures of my breasts, and I was never treated badly while on any job.
I learned working in the television/movie industry that you come to expect to be judged by what you look like, from your hair down to your toes. But as a writer….I NEVER thought I would be refused a job writing articles because I refused to send pictures of my breasts.
Recently, I was asked to write for an online magazine and I thought it looked like a great challenge and opportunity, so I sent the editor my interviews with Josh Bernstein since he had posted a couple others about him on his site. I was surprised to get a phone call from said editor, and I guess I should have had a clue when he not once asked about the Josh interviews or any of my other work, but instead went right into asking if my breasts really were as big as I said on my MySpace page. He told me all about other female writers who sent him pictures and participated and I tried to laugh it off, saying, "I don't do that, I have morals as a writer". I'll tell you, if I did not, I could have asked about and written about the sordid details of a recently settled court case that another editor had pushed me relentlessly to get the scoop on.
I was, in the process, asked to write a few other articles and I did, and afterwards, still refused to e-mail pictures of myself. This editor refused my articles. In writing this, I hope all young women who may read this are careful which magazines they submit to, and learn to listen to how they are treated when editors speak to them about their work, be it on the phone or in e-mail.
Now I do have to say that no, not all editors or magazines out there are like this, but I'm sure there are more than a few out there who prey on young writers who are eager for that first shot at being published, even on the web. Just be sure that when submitting your work, pay attention to where you are submitting it and listen when someone asks you to write for them.
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