Listen:
I last wrote for Next Avenue seven years ago, so I’m so happy to have my first essay for the site out this week. It’s called Lessons from a Babysitter with a Restless Spirit, and is the story of how a “Cat In The Hat-type babysitter imprinted on my soul and informed how I’d parent my daughter.
I’m so happy that Managing Editor, Julie Pfitzinger, who I speak with on the podcast today, took my story and told me that she thought a lot of the readers could relate to having a babysitter who changed their lives. I was delighted to get the lowdown on pitching Next Avenue from her directly, after she spoke to my NYU class. She has since accepted several pitches from my students! She speaks about what it takes to get published there with warmth and wit and deep insight.
In This Episode:
- Julie’s 25-year career in writing and editing
- What types of articles Next Avenue publishes
- The changing demographic of Next Avenue’s readers
- The topics the publication covers, including retirement, health, volunteering, money, caregiving, relationships and lifestyle
- The way that Next Avenue prefers to cover parenting in stories and why the holidays is such a key time
- The pandemic’s impact on older generations and what kinds of pitches on COVID work
- What makes an older story relevant?
- How and where to pitch observational personal essays and articles
- Criteria for writing about travel for the publication
- When humor pieces work
- Why Next Avenue doesn’t do roundups
- The specific (but easy) pitching portal, word count, pay and rights
- Julie’s joy at working with writers
Watch on YouTube
About Julie
Julie Pfitzinger has been with Next Avenue, a digital publication of Twin Cities PBS, for seven years and is the Managing Editor and Senior Editor for Features. She has worked as a writer and editor for more than 25 years; her work has appeared in publications including the Star Tribune and Minnesota Parent. For several years, she was a managing editor for the community lifestyle magazine group at Tiger Oak Media in Minneapolis, where she also served as writer and editor for Saint Paul Magazine and other Tiger Oak publications.
Connect with Next Avenue
Next Avenue Submission Guidelines
Pitching Portal for Next Avenue
Stories Mentioned in This Episode
My Parenting Strategy Was Too Effective
Sorry Nobody Wants Your Parents’ Stuff
Lying for Love: The Psychology of Catfishing
Two Adoptions, One Family: A Story of Two Brothers
Don’t Tell Me To Stop Saying ‘Don’t’
Connect with Julie
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Congrats to My Students
I’m proud of two of my students for publishing pieces they started in my classes. Check them out.
My Hurliest Memories in The Somerset Review by Beverly Jean Harris
Winter Wanderer in Five Minute Lit by Laura Schep
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