Week 8: Pitching a story

This week we learned the ins and outs of pitching story ideas to editors.

Firstly, we looked at what sort of publications will accept pitches from start-up journalists. It’s advised not to pitch to large publications such as Empire or Marie Claire as they’re less likely to commission the story.

In terms of actual material to write, you have to determine which parts of the publication to write for – is it a feature? A news story? Front of book? Sidebar?

Always try and look for a peg for your story. For example, use Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow splitting to do a ‘top 10 celebrity marriages we didn’t see coming’.

List articles always do well. They’re easy to construct, easy to read and easy to research.

When actually pitching, you have to address the appropriate editor (Sub-editor, section editor etc…) on a personal level. Avoid using greetings such as ‘Dear Sir / Madam’ and opt for something more personal, such as ‘Dear David’.

The pitch should never be too long, maybe 150-200 words. It needs to be straight to the point, laying out your idea in a clear way.

A very short paragraph saying who you are followed by detailed summary of your idea and then a description of the structure of the piece is the best format to use. #

You can always include more than one pitch in an email, but it’s recommended that you submit no more than two or three at a time, and never submit the same pitch to two publications at the same time!

Below is an example pitch I put together: