The Poplar Tree meets award-winning Manchester fashion journalist

Emma Campbell is a freelance fashion journalist and award-winning blog writer based in Manchester. Earlier this year her blog What Emma Did.com was created as a new year’s resolution, but little did she realise just what it would lead to; within nine months she had won Cosmopolitan Magazine’s award for Best New Blog. So how did it all come about?

I meet Emma at a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, well wrapped up in a chic winter coat and with her hair and makeup flawless, she looks every bit the fashion journalist. I catch her just before she is about to attend an event for Mulberry in Manchester’s Spinningfields, and as we begin the interview over a couple of drinks, it quickly becomes clear that she is very passionate about her journalism work.

The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Success

In The Renegade Writer, (Marion Street Press, 2003) Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell reveal insider information on how to crack the freelance magazine market in America. Their rule breaking exposes some of the myths surrounding freelancing such as:  Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Don’t Share Leads With Other Writers and Keep Editorial Relations Strictly Business. The Renegade Writer acts as an informal guide on how to break these rules and it’s not quite as ‘Renegade’ as the title suggests, there are no instances of the writers blackmailing their editors to get into print for instance. Although the book is solely concerned with cracking the American freelance market, it does contain a lot of info that’s relevant to aspiring writers here on the other side of the Atlantic.