RRD#@>     Ah, yes.  The best times for interviewing...  I don't know what the
RRD#@>times are for the person being interviewed but your 10:00 A.M. and 2:00 P
RRD#@>seems logical.

Many of the people I deal with are retail folks who don't seem to open
before 10 a.m., so calling before 10 is usually useless.
Mid afternoon (2 p.m.) seems ideal for many folks.  It's between lunch
and dinner rushes as restaurants, and it's usually a pretty dead time of
the day for retail.
Monday is a bad day for interviews because many small businesses are
closed. Friday isn't the best day, as everyone seems anxious to finish
their week's work and get out of the office.
I avoid lunch times (11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.) and try to skirt opening
and closing times as well (which is why trying many places closer to 11
a.m. is better than calling at 10 a.m.).

Even if someone can't be interviewed at these times, they seem to be the
best times to find people.  Once you've found someone, you can either
finish the interview...or make an appointment to do the interview at a
convenient time.  The trick is *finding* your subject without resorting
to endless rounds of phone tag <g>

RRD#@>I like Sunday afternoons best for a number of reasons.
RRD#@>First, people are surprised when you say you'll come out on a Sunday.

I occasionally do interviews at oddball times (I spent a nice time
chatting with one of my recent subjects in his coffeehouse one Saturday
afternoon), but most people I've interviewed seem to want to avoid
weekend interviews...they're busy elsewhere, or it's their busiest time
at the business (restaurants, for example)

RRD#@>     As things are now though, I'll do an interview just about any time,
RRD#@>where. ;-)  I need work and I need it yesterday!  I sent out nine letters
RRD#@>local editors this past week.  I don't know how effective the letters wil
RRD#@>but I thought they were worth a try anyway.

You never know with letters...I got the newspaper job after sending in a
letter, but that was in response to an ad asking for freelance writers.
The ad only ran a week or so...and I was the *first* person who answered
it <g>  In my case, it was right before Christmas...and I'm sure my
willingness to do a story right *then* helped cement my place on the
editor's freelance writers list.  I turned in my first story a few days
before Christmas, and it appeared in the December 28 edition.


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