James Banyard
Freelance Journalist, Writer, Comedian, Green Party Councillor, Exeter. Email me: jamesbanyardwriter@outlook.com Portfolio: https://jamesbanyardwriter.wordpress.com Imprint tinyurl.com/3aztmwju Substack: pitchfailclub.substack.com
- Pitch Fail Club: Guest Post from @markffisher.bsky.social Mark warm-pitched an editor and shares the full pitch, the feedback, and what he learned. pitchfailclub.substack.com/p/the-post-m... Got a failed pitch? Email pitchfailclub@outlook.com for a shot at a free annual sub.
- New from PFC “I want to write about...” is not a pitch. It’s a crumb. No editor sits down for a crumb. 🔗 pitchfailclub.substack.com/p/the-craft-... 👀 On Thursday: A Post Mortem from a national broadsheet theatre critic, and a reply that came too late. #FreelanceJournalism #Pitching #WritingTips
- 1/5 🚨 LAUNCH DAY: Pitch Fail Club is live! 🚨 Freelance Journalists: Your freelance pitch gets rejected. Again. No feedback. No explanation. Just a 'We’ll pass on this,' or more likely, silence. Sound familiar? 😫 #PitchFailClub #FreelanceJournalism pitchfailclub.substack.com
- 2/5 Welcome to Pitch Fail Club! 🎉 My new weekly Substack where we DO talk about it. We dissect real failed pitches & share the actual editor feedback that came with them. We're here to show you the 'WHY' so you stop pitching into the void. #WritingCommunity #Substack
- 3/5 With Pitch Fail Club, you get: ✅ To read REAL pitches that failed ✅ REAL editor feedback on why ✅ Clear lessons from each rejection ✅ Craft tips that actually help (beyond 'be good'!) ✅ Company in the glorious, miserable art of freelance pitching. Because we've all been there.
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View full thread5/5 Ready to turn those rejections into your future acceptances? 👇 Subscribe to Pitch Fail Club & send it to your most bruised journo mate: pitchfailclub.substack.com Get the editor feedback you've been missing. Subscribe Now! #freelancejournalism 🍾
- Freelancers, ever feel like your pitches are loading... and then stalling? 😫 Coming soon...a new community to help you get past the error messages. Pitch Fail Club is Launching May 29th, 2025 with very special guests. #PitchFailClub #FreelanceJournalism #Pitching #Substack #WritingCommunity
- Reposted by James Banyardbtw, at VAN, we have updated our pitching guidelines! welcoming submissions from freelancers and new friends of the magazine van-magazine.com/contact-us/s...
- Hey, I wrote this! So pleased to be making by debut in VAN Magazine. Thanks so much to @mbetteridge.bsky.social for his time last week.
- Manchester-based composer Michael Betteridge on why co-creation rather than individual composition is at the heart of his practice, the difference between big “C” and little “C” composers, and whether the future of opera is as precarious as people think. van-magazine.com/mag/michael-...
- Reposted by James BanyardWe're bringing our event 'Travel, flying and the climate crisis' to Exeter! Hear from @jamesgyke.bsky.social, @vipulpatel.bsky.social, @sarahfinch.bsky.social & more about campaigning, justice, offsetting, travel... Register to attend in person or online: www.tickettailor.com/events/fligh...
- Quirk's Christmas show at the Exeter Phoenix is stunning, and hilarious. Review up now! www.theprsd.co.uk/2024/12/16/d...
- Great to meet the guys from Wandering Tiger today - Ben, Luke and Charlie - as they prepare for this year's production of Humbug at St Nicholas Priory Starting with a small @exetercouncil.bsky.social arts grant in 2017, they’ve grown into a key fixture in the region’s culture.
- 1/ Cashless payments are everywhere. In Exeter, the Labour council-run leisure centres, like St Sidwell’s Point, don’t accept cash. Who cares? Most people pay digitally now. A 🧵 about why the council should accept cash.
- 2/The pandemic changed everything. Cash became “dirty." Contactless payments were the new normal. Exeter City Council switched to a cashless system for leisure facilities. St Sidwell’s Point was built with no cash handling facilities at all. Cashless was the future.
- 3/Fast forward to today: vaccines have brought back normal life for most people. But while workers have returned to their offices, cash hasn’t returned to many council services. Why not?
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View full thread13/ The pandemic forced Exeter Council to stop accepting cash. But we don’t have to accept this ongoing exclusion. 🌱 Greens are calling for: A full EQIA on cashless payments. Reinstating cash payments at leisure facilities. Let’s make services inclusive for all.
- Reposted by James Banyard👂Our survey asking local residents for ideas on the former bus station site in #Exeter found no appetite for Labour's temporary car park plan. 💚 Over 280 responses brought forward many creative ideas for the site. 🥳 This has prompted the Council to consult on possible alternatives to a car park.
- Reposted by James BanyardWe're busy writing our newsletter today ✉️ Sign up to "Letters from Lightbear Lane" to read all about our news and what we get up to lightbearlane.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... Pls repost @exeterlibrary.bsky.social @bostse1.bsky.social @lalawrighty.bsky.social @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social
