I’m so excited to hear that the IIJ’s Business of Freelancing course is coming back this spring. The course is an eight-week deep dive into every single part of your freelance business that sets you up for future success.

I should know—I was a participant in last year’s spring cohort.

When I signed up last year, I had five years’ freelancing experience. I had taken multiple courses about pitching stories, and I had attended a number of conference panels and webinars about the financial end of things.

But until I took this course, I truly hadn’t seen myself as a solopreneur with a business. I learned that having a business mindset is crucial to making it as an independent journalist.

Seeing myself as a business owner transformed my view of successes and rejections. Instead of seeing them as a referendum on my worth as a writer, I understood cultivating clients and landing assignments as empowering opportunities to pursue my financial, professional, and personal goals. Even a “no” offered a chance to expand my network, one that the course taught me is far bigger than I ever imagined.

Another key lesson I still use is the 3 P’s modelⓒ for balancing passion projects and work that pays sustainable rates. Plus, I finally started tracking my time regularly—a move that paid off a few months later when I got a regular hourly gig as a managing editor of a local publication.

Best of all, with the Business of Freelancing course, you have a supportive peer group to draw upon for advice, collaboration, and inspiration. All this at a cost that is far, far lower than any other freelance course I’ve taken. (Get a preview on March 3 at 3 pm ET.)

I’m honestly jealous of the next cohort, who has no idea what magic they’re about to encounter. If I could, I’d take it all over again.

~ Sara

Times are hard for journalists, even though our work has never been more important. That’s why IIJ leaders Shernay Williams and Katherine Reynolds Lewis wanted to set you up for success by answering some common questions from our community of independent journalists of color. Tune in for advice on setting rates, finding clients, maintaining your work-life balance, and more.

If you’re looking for the perfect class to level up your freelance career, look no further: the Spring 2026 cohort of the Business of Freelancing Course is just around the corner! In eight weeks, you’ll learn how to build a deep network of contacts, manage your time and cash flow, negotiate contracts that avoid scope creep, and more! Media professor and multimedia maven Nicki Mayo and Emma Carew Grovum, founder of Kimbap Media, are the two powerhouse independent journalists and entrepreneurs who will guide you through the curriculum.

Classes take place every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET from April 2 to May 21. And if you register before March 13, you’ll get the early bird price of just $199! For a preview of what to expect in the course, register for an informational webinar on March 3 at 3 p.m. ET with IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis, in partnership with the Asian American Journalists Association.

The IIJ Freelance Conference, hosted on SoundPath, is almost here! Join independent and creator journalists from around the world for 12 live sessions designed to help you thrive as a solopreneur. You’ll learn how to incorporate AI ethically and effectively into your workflow, what editors and judges want to see from pitches and fellowship applications, and have a chance to meet your community at off-the-record, informal networking sessions. Plus, everyone who registers gets a bonus bundle of pitch guides for over 20 media outlets, more than 10 hours of recorded Q&A’s with editors, a toolbox of sample budgets, contracts and more! All this for only $89 if you register before 11:59 p.m. ET this Friday, Feb. 27.

And in the spirit of the conference theme “Solo, Together,” we’re raising funds to help as many journalists impacted by the industry’s widespread layoffs attend. All donations received by March 5 will help a journalist looking to pivot from the newsroom to solopreneurship, prioritizing recently laid off journalists. Is that you? Journalists interested in attending should fill out the application here.

Support for the IIJ Conference comes from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Democracy Fund, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Freelancers specializing in environmental reporting can take advantage of a new opportunity at this year’s Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Chicago: the Environmental Journalism Story Incubator. Four lucky journalists will be selected to receive a $1,000 pre-reporting stipend and registration to the conference, during which time they’ll work with a team of editors to refine their pitch, learn from experts, and explore additional funding opportunities. Learn more and apply here by March 2.

Elle’s Senior Culture Editor Lauren Puckett-Pope wants pitches on all aspects of culture: movies and TV particularly, but also books, music, theater, and art. Read here for details about what she’s looking for in a pitch and when to follow up. 💰Rates start at $250 and go up depending on story length and scope. To pitch, use this Google form, which also contains links to example stories.

RUNHER publishes long-form storytelling about female, nonbinary, and trans runners. For their next issue, they’re focusing on track and field, including adaptive runners, doping issues, politics, and safety. 💰$0.50 to $1 per word. Learn more in their pitch guidelines and submit pitches using the submission form. Deadline: Sunday, March 1.

The Education Writers Association will provide micro-fellowships for reporters working on stories across all areas of education: early childhood, K-12, and higher education. Applicants must be members of EWA, which is free to join. 💰Up to $5,000. Learn more and apply here. Deadline: Monday, March 30.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences invites freelancers to pitch them stories about communities that embody the ideals found in the Declaration of Independence. 💰$1 per word. Learn more here. Send pitches to [email protected]. Deadline: Monday, March 16.

Journalists interested in learning more about energy reporting can apply for a weekend training in June at Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy. 💰Travel and lodging costs covered. Learn more and apply here. Deadline: Monday, March 2.

The Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History supports up to three fellows each year who will use National Archives records for a groundbreaking women’s history project. 💰Up to $12,500 and on-site training. Learn more and apply here. Deadline: Wednesday, April 15.

📖 “Wherever ICE unleashes its controversial deportation tactics, the audience’s attention follows” is the conclusion that Nieman Lab has reached after analyzing web traffic to local, public, and nonprofit media sites. When ICE began to target the Nepali community in New York City, traffic to the hyperlocal site NepYork increased from 20,000 visits to 289,000. Visits to Sahan Journal, which focuses on Minnesota’s immigrant community, increased 190% in November after ICE arrived.

📖 The extensive layoffs at the Washington Post earlier this month disproportionately impacted journalists of color. Some of those reporters told the Columbia Journalism Review about how the paper had been cutting back or diluting its coverage of race long before then. “According to a survey of more than thirty Black journalists conducted last year and a letter to newsroom leadership that were reviewed by CJR and are being reported for the first time, many Black journalists at the Post didn’t feel that the newsroom was committed to retaining Black employees long-term or to hiring Black leaders,” writes Riddhi Setty.

📖 Sonia Weiser, formerly of the Opportunities of the Week newsletter that focused on freelance work, has launched a new job board newsletter: Lesser of Evils Jobs. In one of its ongoing features, she interviews “Non-Evil People,” and her latest chat with editor Stu VanAirsdale has some helpful ideas for independent journalists wanting to jazz up their resume. VanAirsdale explains how many so-called “vanity” or “passion” projects can easily become clear work experience with a little ingenuity: “stick it on your resume and call it a company.” He did this himself with a couple of projects, including a podcast that ran for three seasons and made no money. Still, “I made an audio production for an audience. It had listeners, it had real guests, it had real analytics,” he said. “That is something I can do for a prospective employer.”

🗓️ Tuesday, March 3 - Learn about the IIJ’s Business of Freelancing course in an informational webinar at 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT with IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis, hosted by the Asian American Journalists Association. Register at: bit.ly/aaja-march3

🗓️ Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6 - Join us for Solo Together: a conference for independent journalists and creators to find community and build thriving businesses. Speakers include Matt Kiser, founder of WTF Just Happened Today?; Prism News Editor Sahar Fatimah; Defector Culture Editor Brandy Jensen, and more. Grab your spot for only $89!

🗓️ Thursday, April 3 - The first session of the spring Business of Freelancing course, taught by independent journalists and entrepreneurs Nicky Mayo and Emma Carew Grovum. Register here before March 13 for just $199!

🗓️ Wednesday, April 22 - The IIJ is presenting a panel on “Creating Entrepreneurship Systems That Work For You” from 3-3:50 p.m. ET at ASJA’s 2026 online conference. Hear from IIJ leaders Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Ann Marie Awad, as well as independent journalists Olga Lucia Torres and Clayton Gutzmore. Register for the conference here.

🗓️ June 2-5 - IIJ leaders Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Shernay Williams and Benét Wilson will be presenting a session on creating entrepreneurship systems that work for you at the Education Writers Association National Seminar in Baltimore, MD! Learn more and register here.

▶️ Podcast: How to set rates, negotiate, and other freelance FAQs

⏪ Webinar: Mobile Reporting: Tools for Making Content on The Go

▶️ Podcast: For $1/word, Science Friday wants enterprise stories that spark curiosity

⏪ Webinar: How to Pitch High Profile, National Media

▶️ Podcast: Pitch Sentient Media stories about how the sausage is made

▶️ Podcast: How to pitch Mongabay stories on climate and Indigenous communities