Do you dread getting rejected when you pitch? Are you sick of it? Do you ever look at other freelancers and wonder what their secret is - why they get commissioned, and you don’t?

Over the years, this hugely popular masterclass from award-winning freelance journalist Donna Ferguson has helped many freelance print journalists to overcome their fear of rejection and learn how to turn their rejections into commissions.

It offers real life examples of some of the rejections that Donna has endured during her freelance career - and how she has learned, eventually, to turn them into commissions.

You will leave the session empowered not only to deal with all the rejection you face as a freelance print journalist, but all the negative thoughts that come with it, having gained a new perspective on the successes and failures of other freelancers. 

The session host is Donna Ferguson, a multiple award winning freelance journalist who is on the committee of Women in Journalism. Donna is a regular freelance writer for The Guardian and the Observer, writing for a plethora of different sections, including Observer magazine and the newsdesk.

She has won eight awards for her work as a freelance journalist and been shortlisted for 29 others, including most recently freelance journalist of the year 2023 at the inaugural Freelance Journalism awards.

She decided to go freelance ten years ago, after having a baby, and says that getting pregnant was the “best career move she ever made”, thanks to everything she has since achieved as a freelancer. She has never had a staff job on a national and started out with very few contacts, cold pitching all the editors that she now regularly writes for.