Meet the Media: Ghost Writing, Advertorials and Crazy Cocktails with Ruksana Hussain

Download Podcast Transcript

Ruksana Hussain is an award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience working with local, national and international print and digital media for consumer and trade markets. As a magazine editor, features generalist, and contributing writer for outlets such as Apartment Therapy, Luxury Travel Magazine, California Apparel News, Dining Out, Delta Skylines, Edible Business Insider, Traveler and Tourist – which is her own publication – and many more, Ruksana covers diverse beats and topics spanning from lifestyle to travel cuisine to culture, business, wellness, technology, and much more. In the episode to follow we talk through ghost writing, advertorials, and much more!

Highlights:

• Ruksana walks us through the life of a freelance journalist: she writes for many different platforms, local and international; As a freelance journalist, you can also offer small businesses different services such as copy editing, email marketing  and proofreading.

• Let’s write an advertorial: Ruksana analyzes the difference between writing for a marketing campaign and writing for editorial. Nowadays, there’s a thin line between the two. It depends on who your client is, your audience, the outlet, and overall message.

• Besides publishing bylines, she is also a ghostwriter. But what does this mean exactly? Ruksana discusses the ethics of this work.

• For anyone interested in being a freelance writer, Ruksana recommends using facebook groups, looking for opportunities everywhere, putting yourself out there, and introducing yourself and what you are capable of.

• Ruksana is open to being pitched, but please, do your research! Check if she is the best writer for your project If you have a specific outlet in mind, let her know upfront.