One of the newer members of my Monday Night Writers group, she successfully submitted an essay to KQED Radio's Perspectives series. Perspectives essays air at 7:27 and 8:27 a.m. weekdays and sometimes repeat on weekends. Pat's ran on Jan. 21 at 7:27 a.m. and will repeat on Jan. 25 at 8:27 a.m. If you don't live in the area or can't listen at those times, listen via KQED's Audio Archives.
Submitting a two-minute Perspectives feature is easy, Pat said. Submission guidelines are on the website, and if you're not a regular listener you can go to the audio archives to hear the kind of material they run.
In Pat's case, she heard back the day after emailing her essay, which was about her daughter's preexisting medical conditions and 25 years of fancy footwork to get and keep her insured.
According to Pat:
The editor, Mark Trautwein, finds the healthcare issue very relevant.
Trautwein wanted some rewrites and gave Pat suggestions, which she followed to his satisfaction.
He's fun and easy to work with, and his insights and suggestions made my essay deeper and better. Recording was also fun, which is saying a lot because I'm a bit of a recluse. But everyone's so nice it's hard to stay nervous.
She recorded at the station in San Francisco, which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the 16th/Mission BART station.
All in all, it was a great experience, Pat said:
I'm going to try my luck again. There are more ideas where that one came from!
Happy essay writing!
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