Alex’s Blog – Summer Stories Wanted

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

CALLING IN ALL YOUR SUMMER STORIES

By Alexandra McGowan

Hi everyone,

FINALLY, it’s happened! The sun is officially shining again, and here at the Famous Features office we are all looking forward to our holidays after a long, cold winter.

Cocktails, summer wardrobes and sunscreen are just a few of the things we love about jetting off to sunnier climes.

But very often, we come back with incredible stories to tell, too – as well as a few extra pounds around the waistline and sunburn.

Take Angela Grant, for example, whose holiday horror story about being impaled on hundreds of sea urchins we sold to Real People magazine. Look out for it in the next few months.

Not to mention the number of people who come back from holiday having suffered horrific food poisoning, blisters the size of walnuts because of extreme sunburn, or even something more horrifying like a brush with a shark.

We want to hear all these stories, and, just as importantly, see what pictures you have to accompany them. Those pictures could get you a great deal with a national magazine or newspaper.

Then there’s the minefield of holiday romances. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We would love to hear about both scenarios – are you having a romantic wedding in the resort where you met five years ago?

Or perhaps you were conned by a bronzed love-rat, lulled into a false sense of security by one too many Tequilas? Get in touch. We can help sell your story.

There are also the more tragic, harrowing stories, which we get out there as a warning to others – perhaps one of your children had a terrible accident in a resort that didn’t follow health and safety procedures.

We will endeavour to tell your story with the utmost sensitivity and care, ensuring that the message is communicated to the 11 million people who read the magazines we sell to, but done in the way that you feel comfortable with.

Whatever the situation, summer means stories. So please give me a call: 01293 459808, or email me at alex@famousfeatures.co.uk.

Cheerio!

Valentines Stories – Alex McGowan’s Blog 02/02/2010

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Love is in the air

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. Well, nearly. The big day is approaching, and it’s an event that divides everyone into two groups.

Firstly, the Smug Marrieds and Taken – those of you happily in love with your partners, laughing at the rest of us who are single and lonely.  We want to hear your stories of love and romance – week-long extravaganzas of gifts and serenading, as in the case of Britain’s most romantic man, Andrew Nellis.  He took girlfriend Jodie away on a series of surprise trips, a helicopter ride and even a ride on a Venetian gondolier to propose.  He spent £13,000 making it the perfect romantic week, and we sold his story to Pick Me Up magazine and Your Life in the Daily Mirror.

But what about those Valentine’s Day stories that go wrong?  We’ve heard of girls going to the hairdresser’s for the day, determined to become peroxide for the big Valentine’s date, only to have a hair-dye disaster.  Losing your hair as you eat a romantic candle-lit meal? Doesn’t sound too amorous from where we’re standing. But we would still like to hear your stories.

Valentine’s is also a day to put pressure on relationships. Massive pressure from the media to have a ‘perfect day’ with your loved one often outs problems you’re having as a couple into sharp focus.  We’ve listened to girlfriends who moan that their fellas spend all day every day on the internet, not paying them any attention in the slightest.

Then there’s the ladies who get their revenge – dumping their men on Valentine’s Day by sticking up posters of them in their cities, advertising to every unsuspecting woman that their ex is a love rat to avoid.

We want to hear all your great Valentine’s Day stories, whether they’re happy, sad, or just plain crazy. Any special marriage proposals? Did your man dress up in your clothes to get down on one knee? Or did you catch him in bed with your best mate?  Selling your story to one of the top national magazines or newspapers is the best way to get your story across effectively, in the way that you want.

On a sadder note, there are also some tragic Valentine stories out there. Sons who died in car crashes, hours away from delivering their presents to their girlfriends the following day.  Telling your story can help spread a message – whether it’s to stop people from speeding, or get revenge on a cheating boyfriend who broke your heart.

We negotiate the best fee for your story, and tell it in the way you want it to be told.  So get in touch, and share your February stories with the Famous Features team.

Karma – A good reason to sell a story: Alex McGowan’s Blog

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Karma, karma, karma, karma…come on and sell your story!

We all know what karma is, don’t we?

What goes around comes around…what comes up, must come down and all the rest of it.

Basically, it means that whatever you do comes back to you somehow. So, if you cheat someone, betray them or hurt them, somehow the bad luck will come back to you.

We marvel at karma in this office, where we sit selling your stories to the national magazines and newspapers. You wouldn’t believe the amount of karma stories we get though the door. Take Sinead McNamee, whose story will be published in Take a Break Specials magazine in March. She gave everything she had to her boyfriend when he told her he had no money. She covered his rent, paid for his share of a holiday to Kenya and didn’t pressure him to pay her back.

One day, however, she logged onto her online banking site and discovered he’d gambled away nearly £2,000 of her money on internet poker sites.  We won’t spoil the rest of the story for you, but needless to say, the rogue boyfriend was convicted of fraud and theft. And Sinead has now moved on with her life.

Sinead decided to share her story to warn others about the conmen lurking out there. And you could say that’s HIS bad luck is coming back to haunt him!

It’s exactly the same when a rape victim comes forward and tells their story. It’s not about the money, it’s not about ‘selling your soul’ – it’s making sure these people don’t get the chance to hurt anyone again.

Have you got a Valentine’s story from the past? Someone who hurt you, someone you’d like to expose? Famous Features is the way to put a story forward sensitively and in the way you feel comfortable with.  Or what about Easter? The family get together, still seething from the Christmas rows you had, and tempers flare. Have you had a fallout with someone in your family?

Selling your story could be the perfect way to get the story across to the people you want to reach out to, without changing any of the facts or breaking any laws.  Our journalists are all experienced and talented in the field of real-life features, and want to help you get the biggest and best deal for your story.

So email or call – we are waiting to hear your amazing yarns and help you sell your story!

Tell us your story here:  www.FamousFeatures.co.uk

Or call us on 0845 83 88 555

Relationship Stories: Yours and Ours!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Here is the latest blog from Famous Features journalist, Alex McGowan.  If you would like to contact Alex, sell a story to the national press, or find out more about Famous Features, visit: www.FamousFeatures.co.uk

Or, if you would like to see which stories magazines and newspapers are looking for right now, see the ‘Latest Media Request’ blogs below.

WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED?

The office of Famous Features is always full of joy and laughter, as we write and sell your amazing stories to the national press – That’s Life, Take a Break, Bella, Best, Chat and many more.

But sometimes there’s sadness, too. At the moment, there’s a few broken hearts knocking around. There must be something in the air, because it seems everyone is going through a tough time at the moment, relationship-wise.

In my case, I recently became involved in a classic ‘Autumn Taboo’ relationship.

You know the kind. Nights are drawing in, the smell of frost is in the air, and you’re home alone, freezing, with nothing but a Pot Noodle and grated cheese to keep you warm.

So, because you’re a bit lonely, you start hankering after things you  shouldn’t. Like chocolate, red wine, oh – and your next-door neighbour.

A lovely guy, good-looking and funny. But with a major flaw: I soon found out that he was taking drugs and didn’t have enough money to pay his rent, let alone take me out for dinner.

In my head, I could see my friends standing there by the side of the road waving a big red sign that read ‘NO! THIS GUY IS A DISASTER!’

But there was something I really liked, even loved about him all the same.  And despite begging him to mend his ways, he wasn’t able to see his own problem for what it was; a serious addiction. He’s the only person that can help himself, but it doesn’t make it any easier having to see him every day.

By Christmas, you’re drunkenly toasting under the mistletoe that you can and will do better for yourself.

By summer, you’ve lost a stone, fake tanned, toned and glammed up. He wants you back, you wouldn’t look twice at him.

But as the nights grow colder, we don’t blame you for searching for a bit of comfort.

Whether it’s that guy you meet in the chatroom who promises to take care of you, or the man you thought you were going to marry who you then see kissing that skinny-girl-from-accounts-you-HATE at the Christmas party – somehow, things that are bad for you seem so good at this time of year!

Same with food. Do you really need to start your day with a box of buttered brazil nuts? No. But it’s cold, and this time of year can give you the blues. So you do what you have to do.

In this office, we are always professional, and try our very best to leave whatever heartbreak we’re going through at the door.

But still, when we hear about and sell your stories of personal heartbreak at the hands of cheating-love rats, liars and Facebook fraudsters, we can’t help but sympathise when you tell us ‘He seemed like the perfect guy,’ or ‘I really did think this guy was the man for me.’  We know exactly how you feel!

Ladies, we offer you this advice. It’s worked wonders for us.

Allow yourself to be sad. Stay in bed, cry, eat icecream straight out of the box. Skimping on personal hygiene optional.

Get angry. How dare he treat you that way? This anger will motivate you to the next step…

Get even. Your sole aim in life is now to make him eternally regret dumping you. So you join the gym, tone up and buy a fabulous new wardrobe, (or a hot-pink Mulberry Macbook sleeve to ‘cheer you up’ if  you’re our editor, Sally Windsor).

You go out with friends who wipe your tears and spoon Cosmopolitans into your mouth. And eventually, you will meet your Prince.

We hear so many brilliant internet dating stories of people that fall in love online, and the dream continues into real-life. We always love it when they live happily every after. Look at Suzzee Langton and her husband Robert whose story we wrote for Real People magazine.  Robert proposed to Suzzee from across the pond – yet they’d never even met!

Then there’s the lovely Hannah Isaacson who after meeting her hubby Chris online, (having sworn she would NEVER try internet dating!) put together her whole wedding via things off email – and got them all for a bargain! 

This story appeared in the People newspaper and has since been picked up by TV channels across the world. You can read that story here: http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=i-bought-all-my-wedding-on-internet-even-my-hubby-chris&method=full&objectid=21384602&siteid=93463-name_page.html

What better way to kickstart the rejuvenating process of getting over someone than by emailing our website so we can sell your stories of betrayal, heartbreak, and revenge (our favourite ones!), to share them with other readers?

Dig out those stories, ladies. A problem shared is a problem halved.  And when we sell your story, you’re guaranteed to warn other ladies away from the bad’uns!

We look forward to hearing from you…

Alex – Famous Features

Industry News

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Hello everyone!

In addition to our daily story updates where we will let you know what kind of stories Magazines and Newspapers are looking for right now, we also want to give you a little insight into the world of Famous Features and real-life journalism.  We’ll be posting regular blogs to keep you up to date with what is going on in the office, the media, and the world of real-life stories (visit our home page to find out more about selling your story – click here)

The Famous Features Office

So, you could say it’s a rather female-orientated environment here at Famous Features, where we work hard to sell your stories to top magazine and newspapers, including That’s Life!, Take A Break, Closer, and many more cornerstones of the national press.

We’ve turned the old adage of the world of journalism being one big ‘boy’s club’ completely on its head.

Not here it ain’t. Girls only (well nearly!).

You’d be hard pressed to find a more pink, fluffy and feminine office than ours. We’d like to give you an insight into where we write up your inspirational stories.

It’s a tightly run ship, but the office is filled with pink wherever we can. Pink notebooks, pink highlighters, a large pink ‘Famous Features’ sign on the window (which the boring old fuddy duddies in the office next door deemed as tacky – jealousy is a terrible thing) and even a pink lamp. Oh, and did I mention the goldfish? Sadly not pink ones, but we’re working on it.

We work very hard, because selling your stories to the magazines is important to us. So consequently, we spend a lot of time in the office. For this reason, we’ve made it as pink, comforting and female friendly as possible. There’s always handcream in the drawer. There’s always chocolate in the fridge.

We think it’s only fair that we big up the fairer sex quite a bit. After all, it’s your stories of strength, courage and inspiration that make Famous Features the number one press agency for selling your story that it is.

We often look back on stories we’ve sold to magazines and newspapers (such as the Daily Mirror, the People and The Sun) and wonder how the people in that story are getting on. It’s hard not to get personally involved when you’re talking to such incredible people all day.

Take Diane Vinall, for example. We sold her story to That’s Life a couple of months ago. She was absolutely devastated, as any loving mother would be, when her son Stephen was found in East Brighton park last year. He was just 32 years old. Stephen had been a heroin addict for years, and the inquest ruled an overdose as the cause of his death. But Diane isn’t happy with this verdict – she believes he was murdered.

Her story is a touching message of undying love and devotion to her son – she will never give up fighting to find out what really happened the day he died.

Or Jeanette Salmons (nee Sambucci), who remarried her first hubby Malcolm last month 39 years to the day after they married the first time. They were 16 and 18 the first time round, and not quite ready for marriage.  They went their separate ways and married new partners – but realised they belonged together after bumping into each other at a family gathering years later.  We were so inspired by this story of true love – theirs really is ‘in sickness and in health.’ It appeared in the ‘Your Life’ section of the Daily Mirror on Friday November 20, and we thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

We sold Sylvia Davies’s story to Chat, after she was attacked on Boxing Day 2007 by her abusive ex-partner. She’s since rebuilt her marriage and kicked her alcoholism.  She gave birth to her gorgeous baby girl, Emily Rose, a year ago, and we couldn’t be happier for her.

All these incredible women (and there are many more, believe us), just prove that us girls really are the best. Long live the sisterhood, and keep sending us your inspiring stories, ladies!

Alex – Famous Features Journalist

(Don’t worry, we do sell male orientated stories as well, and we have boys in the office  – but they have to put up with the pink).

Sell Your Story to the National Press

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009