Writing and Pitching Reported Personal Essays

Candy Schulman has published hundreds of personal essays, op-eds, research, health, and travel pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, AARP, Parents, Salon, The Cut, Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, and elsewhere. Her essays have received Notable Honors in Best American Essays and awards from ASJA. She is a creative writing professor at the New School in New York City, a writing coach, and a leader of professional writing workshops. Learn more at www.candyschulman.com.

Karen Blum, an ASJA member, heads ASJA’s Virtual Education Committee. A Baltimore-based freelance writer who covers health, medicine and science, her articles have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, CURE magazine, AARP.org, Fodors.com and numerous trade publications including Anesthesiology News, Pharmacy Practice News, Clinical Oncology News, Infectious Disease Special Edition, Clinical Laboratory News, Kidney News, Ophthalmology Management, Medscape and MedPage Today. She also blogs about health IT topics for the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Prior to freelancing, Blum spent 10 years as a media relations officer for academic medical centers including The Johns Hopkins Hospital. In those roles, she interacted with hundreds of journalists from around the world, managed press conferences and wrote many press releases and speeches. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.