Nine contestants are vying for the grand prize, which includes a free trip for two to New York and $3,000 cash. Jockeying for position as the July 29 finish line approaches are Micah Bellieuh of Boston Phoenix; Marc Desilets of Tucson Weekly; Clare Nisbet of Santa Barbara Independent; Shelby Kapka of San Luis Obispo New Times; Robby Robbins of Independent Weekly; Kenneth Roberts of Tucson Weekly; Kathleen Schroer of The Athens News; Mark Stevens of Independent Weekly; and Joel Valez-Stokes of New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Collectively, the contestants have sold more than $44,000 of national and regional ads to new clients, and earned more than $11,000 in commissions for their papers. With four weeks remaining in the contest, it’s not too late to join the race. Contact Tiffany Kildale at tkildale@aan.org for more information.

Continue ReadingAAN CAN Sales Contest Heats Up

Savage is editor of The Stranger and author of the ubiquitous Savage Love, and Bogira is a staff writer for the Chicago Reader and author of the recently released and highly-praised "Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse." Also on tap: Mike Sager ("Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n Roll and Murder"), an award-winning writer for Esquire magazine who started his journalism career at Creative Loafing. The workshop will be held at the Medill School of Journalism on the Northwestern Univ. campus on Aug. 12-13; registration materials will be issued next week.

Continue ReadingDan Savage, Steve Bogira to Present at AAN/Medill Writers Workshop