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Freelance Journalist Interview with Louisa Austin

“Everything and anything” has been the focus of Louisa Austin’s journalism career so far, and she has written on these important subjects for magazines such as Gr8life and Linedancer, as well as editing MakeUpTrends. Press releases and updates are very useful to Louisa, so read on to find out what kind of thing she’d find helpful (hint: not everything and anything)…

About your journalism:

What do you write about?
I have written in the past about pretty much everything and anything. As an editor you muck-in whenever you feel you need to, which sometimes means writing a variety of articles.

Where are we likely to see your work?
Mainly in Gr8life, which is a local lifestyle magazine in the North West. It gets hand-delivered to over 20,000 AB homes in the area and covers a large range of topics, from local business people to cars, property, travel and eating-out. I also contribute to a niche magazine called Linedancer regularly, which is a fantastic subscription-only magazine for (yep; you guessed it) linedancers. I should probably point out that I am not a linedancer myself, but it is a popular past time for many people. I also have an online magazine called MakeUpTrends. Here, I provide readers with up-to-date news and reviews from the beauty world.

What’s the most memorable work you’ve done?
I haven’t done it yet.

What interview or feature would you love the chance to do?
I would love to go to Las Vegas and cover all the goings-on in the main casinos. The amount of money that goes in and out of these places on a daily basis is unbelievable. I am not a gambler, and wouldn’t know where to start, but the whole concept fascinates me. I would like to talk to the big players that put hundreds of thousands of pounds on a bet and find out what makes them tick. It amuses me when I see the ‘blue rinse brigade’ sat at the slot machines for hours on end. It is normal everyday life for some of these people and I would love to spend a day alongside one of them just to watch them when they win. Or lose…

About you and PRs:

Where do you source ideas for articles?
Everywhere and anywhere. I look at other magazines and websites; I nosy on Twitter and Facebook; I listen to my friends talking; I receive press releases from PR’s… there are ideas everywhere!

How can PRs be useful to you?
Forget about being useful, PR’s can be invaluable to me in sending out up-to-date information on products I can feature on MakeupTrends. They also help me source ideas for stories, as mentioned above.

How and when do you like them to get in touch?
Emailing me is great. I check my emails every other minute (I am terrible to go to dinner with) and so regular press releases and updates are always helpful.

Do you find press conferences, trips, parties and other events useful or an interruption?
It depends what they are. I live near Liverpool so it’s not always ideal to go down to London but if it is a product launch or a conference on blogging/online, I try to attend.

If you could make one change to the way PRs deal with you, what would it be?
I am very happy with the way PRs deal with me.

About you:

How would you pay the bills if you weren’t a journalist?
I would plead with my husband to pay for me so I could become a writer. I would probably be holding out for that ‘number one’ novel until I died but I would enjoy every minute of it.

If we gave you £1000, how would you spend it?
I am dying to try Botox but I have been forbidden by my husband so I would have to do it on the sly. Having said that, if I had £1000 to spend on it I would probably come out looking like Joan Rivers. More sensibly, I would love to get into travel writing, so would probably put it towards funding a trip to America. No-one has offered to pay for me to go yet so looks like it is down to me.

What books are on your bedside table, magazines in your bag, or blogs on your screen?
I have about 50 beauty blogs bookmarked on my computer and it shouldn’t be, but for showbiz gossip the Daily Mail is my holy grail. I love writer Jane Moore and so have every book she has written piling up on my bedside table. I have also just read ‘Confessions of a GP’ by Benjamin Daniels and as far as light reading goes I think it is one of the funniest books I have ever read.

[img|jpg|Louisa Austin]
[lnk|http://www.journalistdirectory.com/journalist/XzmAT/Louisa-Austin/|_self|Louisa Austin]