Saugat Bolakhe
Making your pitch stand out is a crucial skill for any freelancer or staff reporter. This may seem like an elusive talent, but with practice and careful attention to detail, you can learn how to craft pitches editors will want to assign.
Based on a series of discussions with editors and writers, along with The Open Notebook’s host of resources on the art of pitching, here are tips that consistently come up:
2. Prioritize timeliness.
News editors want to assign stories about discoveries or events that happened very recently. Features editors can be interested in trend stories, but still expect a pitch to be timely. When covering a well known topic, spell out your news peg.
1. Pitch a story, not a topic.
Finding a topic might be easy, but finding an engaging story angle, plot, and characters that will resonate with readers takes work—and that’s exactly what editors look for.3. Know the outlet.
Understand the publication you’re pitching to. Read their submission guidelines to learn what they’re looking for. bioGraphic, for example, publishes wildlife conservation stories, while MIT Technology Review takes ideas on AI and innovation. Make sure the outlet hasn’t already covered the story you’re proposing, then read a broad range of their stories so you can explain how yours fits their needs.
4. Pitch to the right person.
5. Prepitch when you can.
Once you know an editor, ask if they prefer you to prepitch. This means sending a note on an idea to weigh an editor’s opinion before drafting a detailed pitch, which can save you both time.
6. Craft a snappy subject line.
Once a pitch lands in an editor’s email, the subject line determines whether they’ll open it. That’s why it should encapsulate the essence of a pitch in a few words—and grab the editor’s attention. Begin the subject line with “Pitch:…” If the pitch is time-sensitive, put that in the subject line, too.
7. Offer other assets.
Let editors know what digital assets could be paired with your story, especially any you are bringing in. National Geographic editors, for example, put strong emphasis on photography, while ProPublica editors might value datasets that accompany your idea.
8. List reporting needs.
9. Vet press releases critically.
Don’t rely on press releases alone for pitches. Read the original papers, dig into review articles, and cross-check claims before pitching. These additional steps help build trust between editor and reporter while showcasing that the reporter is capable of reporting independently. Forwarding a press release or pasting a URL to one alone is a hard no while cold pitching.
10. Connect the dots.
Local stories can offer rich details and strong characters, but when pitching to an outlet serving a wider area, show why the issue resonates beyond one locality. Global and national outlets want to see the relevance for their audience.
11. Sweat the details.
Be extra careful in stating numbers and make sure to fact-check them. Check study dates, sample sizes, methodology, and possible conflicts of interest in research papers. Sending a meticulous pitch signals that you’re a careful reporter.
12. Don’t give up.
Pitching can be especially frustrating when a story just won’t sell. Even if the pitch is great, a publication might be changing its editorial focus, editors might be swamped, or the newsroom could be preparing to cover a major conference. You can still follow up, pitch to different outlets, or revisit your old pitch with a fresh angle later on.
Special thanks to Rachel Courtland, Laura Helmuth, Helen Thompson, and Lauren Young for consulting on this tip sheet. Design by Kate Fishman.
Saugat Bolakhe is a Nepalese science journalist. He studied zoology as an undergraduate in Nepal and has a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Nature, Quanta Magazine, New Scientist, Discover, Knowable, and other publications.