My name is Tracy Nectoux, and I’m the Editor-in-Chief of Smile Politely (http://smilepolitely.com/), Champaign-Urbana’s independent, alternative online magazine. I, Cody Caudill, and Caleb Curtiss (cc’d here) are writing to introduce ourselves to your Department and begin what we hope will be a mutually beneficial relationship between our magazine and your students, faculty, and/or staff.
Smile Politely has been in publication since 2007. We provide Champaign-Urbana with a passionate, trustworthy, informed point of view on local culture, music, arts, sports, and food & drink. We also publish occasional opinion pieces and news items on topics relevant to our community.
Our writers come from all ages, points of view, and demographics. However, as our readership, scope, and plans for the magazine continue to grow, so must our ability to recruit the myriad of voices represented in the Champaign-Urbana community. We have a continuous need for motivated writers, and we hope that by working with the students and scholars within your department we will be able to expand our reach into the campus community.
An example of the opportunity we may provide can be found in our current partnership with the Department of Biology. We have recently begun working with Katy Heath and Elizabeth Bagley’s graduate student seminar on science outreach and communication. This October and November, students in this seminar will write articles on scientific topics of interest to the local community and Smile Politely will provide critical feedback, edit, and publish the articles. The students gain practice in writing for the “layperson,” and our magazine will provide interesting and informed content to our readers. It’s a win-win situation.
Smile Politely would like to offer this opportunity to your students as well. They would benefit from writing for us in a variety of ways:
* resume and portfolio building
* earn $10 per article
* hone their writing skills
* become more involved as citizens of their community
Please be assured that this is not an “apprentice” type of situation. Writers at Smile Politely are not exploited, neither are they taken for granted. They are paid for their work, and we respect and understand that their studies, jobs, families, and overall health come before any obligations they have with us.
Additionally, every writer is assigned an experienced, skilled editor who will proofread their articles. Our magazine is not a blog; it’s a professional publication, and our writers’ contributions are treated as such.
We’d be happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss further details. Please do not hesitate to email Tracy or Cody with any questions that you may have about this opportunity.
Thank you very much for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully,
Tracy Nectoux
Editor-in-Chief, SmilePolitely.com