ERIN R. QUINLAN / NYC / MOSTLY AN EDITOR / ERIN@ERINRQUINLAN.COM


FEATURES EDITING

Below is a selection of stories I commissioned and produced for Cosmopolitan, where my role as features director (Dec. 2021–Nov. 2024) encompassed exhaustive pitch cultivation; rigorous macro and micro editing; logistical support of journalists in the field; coordination of legal vetting, fact checking, and sensitivity reads; asset procurement; granular input on creative execution and social rollouts; contract negotiation and budget oversight; and post-publication development.

My department’s original, immersive storytelling helped bring in a record number of studio deals for Hearst Magazines, all while notching honors for investigative reporting, features writing, public service, and specialty news coverage at the National Headliner Awards, Deadline Club Awards, and New York Press Club Journalism Awards. In addition, Cosmopolitan was a 2024 General Excellence finalist at the National Magazine Awards.

Deepest thanks to the writers below who granted me the tremendous honor of guiding their work—and to the sources who entrusted my team with distilling their lived experiences for millions of readers around the world.


WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION

How a Giant Egg Farm Made Money Off Women Prisoners in Dangerous Conditions

During the pandemic, in an unheard-of experiment, incarcerated women in Arizona were moved to a prison camp on a multimillion-dollar private farm, where hazardous, meagerly paid work changed their lives forever.

BY ELIZABETH WHITMAN
  • 2024 National Headliner Awards winner, Magazine Coverage of a Major News Event.
  • 2024 Deadline Club Awards finalist, Magazine Investigative Reporting.
  • Longreads Best of 2023 Selection.





REPORTED ESSAY

Dreamscrolling for Dinner

With young people in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis, TikTok creators are turning grocery runs into rich-girl-coded productions—and followers are eating it up.

BY KRISTA DIAMOND

EMBEDDED REPORT

The Bad Guy List

Inside the whisper network of sex workers organizing to stop serial killers before they strike.

BY CECILIA NOWELL
  • Sold for documentary development.



SUBCULTURAL  DIVE

Is breastfeeding really best…for a small silicone dummy? Do make-believe babies deserve real diapers? Are medical ethics applicable to inanimate figurines? Inside the extremely niche (yet surprisingly relatable) culture wars now raging within a growing community of doll collectors.

BY JESSICA LUCAS
  • Sold for documentary development.




SPECIAL REPORT

The Hellish New Trauma of Living Through Multiple Mass Tragedies at Once

A group of college friends survived a mass shooting that left one of them and 11 others dead. Days later, a raging wildfire engulfed their community. They’re among the scores of young people now coming of age as survivors of large-scale, cascading traumas. And mental health experts are only beginning to comprehend the toll.

BY NANCY WALECKI
  • Central feature in Cosmopolitan’s 2023 Mental Health issue, a National Headliner Awards winner for Specialty News Coverage.



TRUE-CRIME EXCLUSIVE

The Girls’ Trip That Took Down a Serial Scammer

Sabrina Taylor was a starry-eyed American tourist in Japan, her frequent visits unfurling like cartoon fever dreams. Then her vacation squad started comparing notes—and discovered that Sabrina’s life back home was make-believe.

BY SARAH TRELEAVEN
  • Sold for documentary development.
PHOTO ESSAY

Call of the Urban Cowgirl

Twenty-seven-year-old equestrian Brianna Noble went viral in 2020 when she pulled up to a Black Lives Matter protest on horseback. Now, the founder of Urban Cowgirl Ranch is showing what it takes to sustain a movement—and to write a new story of the American West. 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEANNE FITZMAURICE; INTERVIEW BY MAYA RICHARD-CRAVEN



POSTHUMOUS INVESTIGATION

She was a rising star in the crypto scene renowned for her revolutionary vision. Then, suddenly, she vanished. In the never-before-told story of her final months, a profound lesson emerges.

BY JESSICA KLEIN



EXCLUSIVE DISPATCH

Postcard From Camp Gaylore

How a stan retreat devoted to theoretical analysis of Taylor Swift’s love life and Easter egg–filled work became summer’s most sacred haven. 

BY FRANKIE DE LA CRETAZ



NEWS ANALYSIS

The Satanic Abortion Clinic That’s Pissed Off Pretty Much Everyone...and Might Beat the Bans Anyway

At first glance, The Satanic Temple’s new telehealth venture, named after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr.'s mom, seems like a social experiment in trolling. But as Cosmo reports, the fully credentialed clinic is serving real patients—and has a real chance of breaking the religious right’s grip on abortion law.

BY ARIELLE DOMB



PHOTO ESSAY

Meet the Courageous Women Storm Chasers Who Are Documenting Increasingly Devastating Weather

“We need to be getting ready.”

BY YESSENIA FUNES






CULTURAL CRITICISM

She’s Preaching Submissive Womanhood. Should You Listen?

A jarringly revelatory journey through the brand universe of faith influencer Sadie Robertson Huff.

BY ALLISON THERESA

STORY BEHIND THE STORY

The Never-Ending Pregnancy of Kaitlyn Braun

For months, dozens of unwitting birth workers coached a supposedly expecting client through a series of grotesque labor and delivery scenarios. Now, in a sprawling international court case, she faces 52 criminal charges for making it all up. In their first major magazine interviews, five of Braun’s accusers describe how they fell under her chilling, persuasive power.

BY SARAH TRELEAVEN
  • Widespread pickup on true-crime podcasts like Something Was Wrong and Two Can Keep A Secret, as well as in newsletters including The Spread and Now I Know. Lots of Reddit chatter too.






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