# British Magazines



## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

Hi There, 

Are there British mags and newspapers for expat community in CDS/Spain? Not Daily Mail etc but locally publishes ones? Hoping for a freelance writing gig, if someone can point me in the right direction 

Thanks


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

mindxb said:


> Hi There,
> 
> Are there British mags and newspapers for expat community in CDS/Spain? Not Daily Mail etc but locally publishes ones? Hoping for a freelance writing gig, if someone can point me in the right direction
> 
> Thanks


There are loads on the costas, but don't expect to get paid for your articles


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

There are a few, Surinenglish.com, the site for Southern Spain. Latest News Springs to mind, try googling "costa del sol magazines" costa del sol magazines - Google Search and lots come up


Jo xxx


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

jojo said:


> There are a few, Surinenglish.com, the site for Southern Spain. Latest News Springs to mind, try googling "costa del sol magazines" costa del sol magazines - Google Search and lots come up
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


Thanks... Will check the links. Shame they won't even pay a few euros.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mindxb said:


> Thanks... Will check the links. Shame they won't even pay a few euros.



(I seem to be following you around the forum lol) I doubt they'll pay unless its a real money spinner you're offering?? But you never know. A friend of mine wanted an article printed and they actually asked him for money - as it was going to take up advertising space LOL - needless to say he wasnt very good or informative 

Jo xxx


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Some do pay but it isn't much. Try the Olive Press, The Market Place, SolTalk, Grapevine, Sentinella (sometimes looks to create a new edition in a different area and looks for someone to take it on as a franchise), Euronews, Spanish Insight.

Most of them have regular writers but a few will accept non commissioned pieces. The level of writing skill in most of these is a bit iffy....


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

mindxb said:


> Thanks... Will check the links. Shame they won't even pay a few euros.


The problem is - as with most "jobs" down here - there is big competition for freelance journalism. You have to compete with so many former journalists, pensioners and hobby writers that those papers get swamped with articles. If they pay (which is a big IF!), it is not much and nothing that would equal a regular income worth mentioning.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

The thing about freelance journalism, is that it can be done from anywhere about anywhere. My exhusband was a journalist and he used to write regular articles about India and was paid well - and he'd only visited once!!! 

What I'm saying is that maybe, if you're a writer, you could write for anywhere, any English speaking magazine from Spain

Jo xxx


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

We've never been paid for any articles we write (although I guess you could say that we get paid by the client that we wrote the article for that got them the PR in the first place!) and we submit stuff to the magazines/papers virtually every week

There is a bit of money to be made providing copy, mainly for websites, but tbh most of that is outsourced to India/US nowadays - although we refuse to do that as the quality of work is generally quite poor


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

jojo said:


> The thing about freelance journalism, is that it can be done from anywhere about anywhere. My exhusband was a journalist and he used to write regular articles about India and was paid well - and he'd only visited once!!!
> 
> What I'm saying is that maybe, if you're a writer, you could write for anywhere, any English speaking magazine from Spain
> 
> Jo xxx


Excellent advice and indeed it is exactly what I do, every now and then, for English mags and papers in England. UK remains one of the best markets for freelancers and with the internet you can live practically anywhere in the world and earn a good living. I don't do it as much these days as there seems to be too much gin and brandy to deal with, not to mention the wine, tequila, whisky (just got a litre of Talisker for 22 euros £40 in England and I am supposed to keep for a friend who is visiting end September - not a chance) plus our little boy with la varicela who takes up quite a bit of time.....


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

thrax said:


> Some do pay but it isn't much. Try the Olive Press, The Market Place, SolTalk, Grapevine, Sentinella (sometimes looks to create a new edition in a different area and looks for someone to take it on as a franchise), Euronews, Spanish Insight.
> 
> Most of them have regular writers but a few will accept non commissioned pieces. The level of writing skill in most of these is a bit iffy....


Thanks for the info... very useful and much appreciated happy to start something myself if writing is a bit dodgy


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## spanishhopeful (Jan 28, 2011)

mindxb said:


> Hi There,
> 
> Are there British mags and newspapers for expat community in CDS/Spain? Not Daily Mail etc but locally publishes ones? Hoping for a freelance writing gig, if someone can point me in the right direction
> 
> Thanks


Does it have to be Magazine articles? Or could you turn your Hand to anything? How much would you expect to be paid?

Reason I'm asking is that there is a lot of work available for that sort of thing in the field I'm in and if the articles are written by English speakers then mores the better.

As has been mentioned before a lot of this sort of work gets outsourced to India but the quality of the articles is not generally what you look for e.g poor English and grammatical errors.

If you let me know what you can write about I can have a look into it for you.

Pete


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

If your Spanish is good you can also get paid work translating articles and web pages into English.

There are an awful lot of wannabe, failed and retired journalists in the expat community (I expect Ms Brooks will be along shortly) and they are generally willing to write without payment just to see their name in print. 

Beware, the quality of the British press here is extremely variable - some of it makes the Sun look upmarket. A lot of mistranslations, factual errors, sleaze and prejudice and it goes largely unmoderated.


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

spanishhopeful said:


> Does it have to be Magazine articles? Or could you turn your Hand to anything? How much would you expect to be paid?
> 
> Reason I'm asking is that there is a lot of work available for that sort of thing in the field I'm in and if the articles are written by English speakers then mores the better.
> 
> ...


Hi Pete, just typed a long message and got logged-out! 

Happy to turn my hand to anything. Been in PR for years - work freelance now, as well as teaching (TEFL). I'm a stickler for grammar... The use of the English language in Dubai is 'interesting' -I also do quite a bit of proofreading 

Pls let me know what areas you need covered. I'm flexible with pay - really have no idea what to expect. 

I have a website for my PR, not sure if I can post here, so can PM. My very light-hearted humourous blog is at the link below.

Look forward to hearing from you


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

mindxb said:


> Been in PR for years - work freelance now


Definitely get in touch when you are actually here then


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

Alcalaina said:


> If your Spanish is good you can also get paid work translating articles and web pages into English.
> 
> There are an awful lot of wannabe, failed and retired journalists in the expat community (I expect Ms Brooks will be along shortly) and they are generally willing to write without payment just to see their name in print.
> 
> Beware, the quality of the British press here is extremely variable - some of it makes the Sun look upmarket. A lot of mistranslations, factual errors, sleaze and prejudice and it goes largely unmoderated.


Sadly my Spanish is not up to much - hopefully in the future! Happy to write copy as well as articles


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

ShinyAndy said:


> Definitely get in touch when you are actually here then


Ok, but were planning for 2 years time. If I can help in the meantime on-line - let me know


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

2 years time and you´re asking all these questions now!!? You realise that in 2 years time all the answers will be totally different!!!

We've tried online, doesn't work for us unfortunately.. you can't beat having someone down the road!


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

ShinyAndy said:


> 2 years time and you´re asking all these questions now!!? You realise that in 2 years time all the answers will be totally different!!!
> 
> We've tried online, doesn't work for us unfortunately.. you can't beat having someone down the road!


Agreed it's good to have people on the ground. 

Don't think it's inappropriate to ask ahead of time. We need to plan in advance for our child's education, and plan business opportunities around the current range of offerings.

Regarding prices of food and rent; I doubt it will change that much as the world stabilizes and recovers from a crisis. 

We have to assess if Spain can be a reality for us, and can't do that without asking We're not the sort to relocate in a wing and a prayer 

Hope you don't feel I've been wasting your time...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mindxb said:


> Agreed it's good to have people on the ground.
> 
> Don't think it's inappropriate to ask ahead of time. We need to plan in advance for our child's education, and plan business opportunities around the current range of offerings.
> 
> ...


You have to ask and to know and here is a good starting point. 2 years is a long time and many things can change. Certainly prices, jobs etc may. Theres all these issues with the euro/eurozone at the moment, which could change everything overnight. Also Spain is known for its overnight changes on rules and policies!!

But as you say, its good to get a feel for the possibilities and to understand as much as you can

So keep asking LOL

Jo xxx


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

jojo said:


> You have to ask and to know and here is a good starting point. 2 years is a long time and many things can change. Certainly prices, jobs etc may. Theres all these issues with the euro/eurozone at the moment, which could change everything overnight. Also Spain is known for its overnight changes on rules and policies!!
> 
> But as you say, its good to get a feel for the possibilities and to understand as much as you can
> 
> ...


I've never seen anywhere change as quick as Dubai!! But the fundamentals never changed like good schools, clinics etc. To plan to move we'd need to look ahead for school places - 2 years is not unreasonable. I honestly don't think cost of living will sky rocket with the state of the EU.

My thoughts anyway...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mindxb said:


> I've never seen anywhere change as quick as Dubai!! But the fundamentals never changed like good schools, clinics etc. To plan to move we'd need to look ahead for school places - 2 years is not unreasonable. I honestly don't think cost of living will sky rocket with the state of the EU.
> 
> My thoughts anyway...


Actually, I think just about anything could happen in the EU with countries being bailed out left right and centre including probably/ possibly Spain. Even the currency might change with in 2 years and with it all the prices, cost of living, salaries, pensions etc so whilst I agree it's good to plan in advance, nothing is written in stone, not even schools and clinics. (Teachers are being told to do more hours for less pay here in Spain and in Italy it has been proposed that patients pay for visits to the doctor and emergency treatment...)


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