What’s Happening Here?
SluggMail™ is the trail of unorthodox dispatches for building a life in writing and all the stuff we learn the hard way.
Hello! My name is Rand Al-Hadethi, and I’m a Dubai-based freelance culture journalist and editor. I recently was the Associate Features Editor at GQ Middle East, and you’ve probably seen my writing in Rizzoli’s publication +971, Highsnobiety, PLAYERS, British Journal of Photography, Whitewall Art Magazine, TYPE01, Azeema, and more. I also wrote the GQ ME Man of the Year cover story on Lebanese pop icon Haifa Wehbe — Wehbe’s first interview in over a decade to reflect at length on her own media narrative and the early-2000s tabloid era.
When I first ventured into my journalism career in the Middle East (Dubai, specifically) in late 2019, I couldn’t find many Arabs and Arabic-speaking journalists working in the cultural field. The region, especially the GCC, holds an enormous amount of cultural richness built on Arab and non-Arab narratives, most of which are rarely, and sometimes poorly, documented.
While the internet is flooded with writing advice, I’ve found it difficult to come across guidance with the kind of context that actually speaks to what cultural reporting within this region looks and feels like.
I’ve been working in this industry for nearly seven years and wrote fun and incredible stories, but nothing has fulfilled me more than watching young writers flourish in the cultural field. Political reporting always had its place, but culture seemed to take a backseat, or when discussed, was brushed over lightly. I’ve mentored interns, answered DMs from young writers across the region, and noticed that the questions are often the same, with the answers being rarely Googleable.
The media landscape is changing. Magazines here and abroad run on larger freelance rosters. Internships are harder to find, mentorship opportunities have shrunk, and the industry expects you to figure out the gaps yourself.
SluggMail™ exists as an attempt to close some of those gaps.
What to Expect
Every issue covers something new: how to cultivate linguistic curiosity, how to pitch while honing your voice, how to manage your fees, how to stay invigorated in a speed-over-depth media cycle, how to know if a publication is right or wrong for you, and much more. Some issues are tactical, some financial, and some are just emotionally honest about how hard this can be and how worthwhile it still is.
I’ll work through topics and patterns I’ve witnessed over the years, but the floor is always open. Your questions and experiences are what will make this a community.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
Unorthodox career advice and industry topics. Eg, Importance of Media Junk Food!
A curated reading list of three articles worth your time
A curated list of three publications currently looking for pitches
Reader questions answered honestly, and sometimes brutally
Got a question, topic suggestion, or just something on your mind?
Send it to desk@sluggmail.com with the following in the subject line:
Question — for advice column submissions
Topic — for subjects you’d like to see covered
Inquiry — for anything else
I read everything!
SluggMail™ is currently free. When the time comes to make it reader-funded, pricing will be kept within reason because I believe access to good guidance shouldn’t depend on where you’re from or what you can afford.
