Required Reading In The Vatican

Here's an interesting news beat for someone fluent in either Italian or Latin, with an ability to root out the most mundane and seemingly inconsequential tidbits to fill out a weekly journal.

If you land a job as a writer for this planned weekly, you'll have a captive audience for your prose. Relatively captive, that is. You can count on the underlings in the vast bureaucracy that you'll be writing about to snap up each edition. A wise employee stays current on what the boss is up to, because promotions require that sort of study.

Soon to be on a magazine cover every week

Silvio Berlusconi may be in hot water, but he's covering his arse in the afterworld. His publishing empire, Mondadori, has announced plans to start up a brand new weekly magazine devoted exclusively to the Pope. His Holiness Weekly. Can you see God smiling already?

Imagine the sales potential on this one.

What bishop, cardinal, nun or priest wouldn't be an avid reader? Every cleric wandering through Vatican City will have to be seen holding one, if not thumbing its pages while crossing St. Peter's Square.

And then there's the old ladies who worship all things Catholic. They would want the latest issue of "My Pope" prominently displayed in their homes, to show guests how truly holy they are.

Does the Pope say and do enough to fill out a magazine? Mr. Berlusconi is counting on it. So maybe there's plenty of room for a writer, like you, who doesn't mind flashing a bit of creative license.You have to keep the readers coming back for more, don't you, so your skill at stringing the narrative along could be made to pay.

There will be weekly quotes and wise words from the Pontiff himself included, to bolster the faithful. And if God should shine His light on poor Silvio Berlusconi, who is bringing all this to the world, then it's an investment worth the cost. Even if it doesn't turn a profit at 50p per issue.

Well, of course it's going to be cheap. Freelance writers aren't paid much at all. But you, the writer, are going for the byline and the publication credit, right? To put into the bio paragraph of your query letters when you try to snare a literary agent for your novel?