March Lunch and Learn: Is pitching worth the effort?

By Jeanne Erdmann, AHCJ board member and freelance committee chair

Freelancers have a love-hate relationship with pitching. It is the best (and sometimes only) way to break into publications. Sometimes a pitch lands, and other times we get the silent “no” or a “sorry, this is just not for us.”

Even if a pitch doesn’t fly (and so many of them don’t), a strong pitch works as an introduction and puts you on the editor’s radar. While pitching has always been challenging, there is now much more turmoil in the business, and the publishing landscape has changed over the past two years. There are fewer publications than there were in the heyday of the glossy print magazine.

Some longtime print magazines, such as O and Self, have switched to online only. Other publications have closed shop. And editors seem to be switching publications like crazy or leaving journalism altogether. On the more encouraging side, there always seems to be calls for pitches going out on Twitter. Pitching is hard, and it takes patience and a lot of doubling-down. The best way to keep your career moving forward is to pitch and pitch often.

This Lunch and Learn brought a lively discussion ranging from writers who don’t pitch at all anymore to those who pitch frequently. Here are some tips from the session:

Pitch a little, pitch a lot

Some freelancers rely heavily on anchor clients that assign enough to keep them constantly busy. One Ph.D. science writer doesn’t pitch at all. She specializes in health and medical trades and her long-established, well-paying clients keep her busy with steady work. Such a strategy brings a reliable income stream without the wear-and-tear of pitching.
On the downside, this approach can keep us in a rut and lead to burnout if we are constantly writing stories that we find less rewarding than stories we are passionate to write. Also, while those steady assignments take time and effort to develop, editors can end up leaving the publication and that relationship (and the steady paychecks) go up in smoke.
Even regular assignments from a dependable client can go south—one participant said that she had gotten a few assignments from an editor who then ended up ghosting her, which made her wonder whether the editor was still at the publication.
If you want to pitch frequently, try a targeted approach by identifying three publications you like and keep sending pitches.
Reach out to colleagues who write for publications you are interested in pitching. Ask their advice — for example — how long or detailed are their pitches.

Whether to pre-pitch

It is exhausting to research and craft a pitch and then press send only to have the pitch ignored or rejected. One suggestion is to pre-pitch an idea. Send an editor a short pitch. Lead with your credentials and then include just a few sentences describing the story. This effort works well, says one experienced freelancer because it saves the time of heavily researching and preparing a pitch that may not end up flying.
Some editors may not feel comfortable with pre-pitching. Barbara Mantel, AHCJ’s freelance community correspondent, is going to add this question to editors for the Market Guides.
A future Lunch and Learn will cover the art of the pre-pitch.

Pitch length and content

At some point you are going to have to submit a fleshed-out pitch, and one of the most commonly asked questions on pitching panels is how long to make your pitch. This can depend on whether you’re pitching a news story, a short feature, or a 3,000 word or longer narrative piece.
If you are pitching an ambitious feature to an editor with whom you have never worked, make the pitch on the longer side, otherwise three-to-five grafs works well.
Pitches should answer all of the following questions: Why this story; why now; why this publication; and why you are the best person to write this piece. Editors want to see that you have done some homework, and they are interested in your credentials. Sound confident. Say why you are the perfect person to write this story—are you traveling to a conference on this topic? Is this your specialty?
Here’s how to structure your pitch: Put your credentials at the top. Give a short background and say why they matter. Then write a strong proposal. You can also include a list of potential sources.
Remember, the most important part of your pitch is the email subject line. Say it is a “freelancer pitch,” then follow with a lapel-grabbing title.
Most pitches today are sent by email, but it’s also okay to reach out to an editor at a conference or send a message or comment via Twitter.

When and how to follow up

For a news story or a very timely pitch, follow up in a few days — or just say in your pitch that if you don’t hear from them in a few days — you’ll assume they are not interested and move on.
For short or long features follow up in about two weeks.
One participant follows up by starting a new email, rather than responding to her original pitch. She includes something like, “I wanted to make sure you saw this pitch. It might have been lost in email.”

Find new markets

One writer checks Twitter often to see which editors are looking for pitches.
Subscribe to Sonia Weisner’s newsetter, a subscription service that rounds up pitch calls on Twitter. It’s $3/month, or what you can afford. Some of the work includes low-paying gigs, at 10 cents/word, and work for international markets.
Try Freelance Success, a market guide that starts at $14.99/month.
Follow AHCJ’s Market Guides.