If you’re a freelance journalist with an ambitious story idea, applying for a fellowship can be an excellent way to secure some funding and editorial guidance along the way. But many such opportunities require an editor to commit to publishing the project months — if not longer — in advance.
That can be a barrier. When it’s hard enough to get an editor to respond to a simple pitch, how do you convince them to not only sign off on a long-term assignment, but also write a glowing letter saying so?
We asked a few editors and former fellowship recipients what’s worked for them.
Start with an editor you have a trusted relationship with
It probably goes without saying, but you’re going to have a better chance if you approach an editor you’ve already established a strong working relationship with. “I have never asked an editor who I did not know to do a letter for me,” said Andrea King Collier, a freelance journalist, author and 2021 recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism.
Likewise, Stephanie Steinberg, the founder of the Detroit Writing Room and the New York Writing Room, said she typically only assigned short pieces to freelancers who were new to her when working as a magazine editor. “This helped me ensure their tone and reporting would be a good fit for the publication,” she said. It also allowed her to see how responsive to edits they were. Since a fellowship project is in-depth by nature, it’s a big risk to ask someone new to support you.
Try outlets with a history of publishing fellowship-supported stories
Sometimes, though, you must ask an editor you’re not so familiar with for their support. Maybe your go-to editors have moved on or aren’t working with freelancers. Maybe your go-to publications have folded. In those situations, freelance journalist Sheila M. Eldred said she turns to outlets that have previously published work that came out of the same fellowship she’s applying for.
Recently, she said, “I looked for someone who knew something about the fellowships and I thought would be better able to understand what I was looking for.” It paid off.
Lead with the idea, not the fellowship
Everyone we talked to emphasized: Sell the editor on the story idea first. If they want to publish it, it’s a no-brainer to back a fellowship that will help support the work and bring it to life.
“I view the ‘letter of support’ as an assignment letter,” said Meryl Davids Landau, a freelance journalist and author who received a Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship for a Washington Post story about end-of-life cancer patients using psilocybin for anxiety relief. “Do what you normally do when crafting a pitch to interest an editor, and hopefully you will get the assignment.”
For Landau, though, “what you normally do” is extensive. To prepare the pitch, she combed through research, interviewed a source and “wrote (and rewrote) a pretty detailed query” that was about five paragraphs long. When the Post asked for some more information, she supplied it. “They assigned the article (conditional on my getting the fellowship paying for the travel I needed to do it), which I included with my fellowship application,” she said.
Betsy Ladyzhets, an independent journalist and editor at The Sick Times, concurred. When getting a request for a fellowship letter of support, she said “generally, we ask for a pitch and put that through a similar evaluation to what we’d do for any freelance approval, though maybe less rigorous for journalists we’ve worked with before and trust to deliver.”
And if an editor feels wishy-washy, either work with them to hone the idea into something they’re as excited as you about — or take it elsewhere. You’ll spare yourself a hassle in the long run by avoiding a publication that’s not 100% committed to showcasing your work.
Make the letter-writing as easy as possible for the editor
Finally, do what you can to make the editor’s job simple. Steinberg typically requests six to eight weeks of notice for a letter of recommendation. She suggests writers also provide their resume, links to relevant work and a clear reason they’re applying for the fellowship.
Katherine Gammon, a freelance journalist and editor who’s received fellowships including the MIT Knight Science Fellowship, goes a step further and offers to draft the letter for the editor, leaving a few blanks for them to add their own accolades.
Ultimately, a stellar story idea backed by a prestigious fellowship is something a publication should be proud to run — it raises their profile too. Just be sure, Collier warns, the editor knows they still have to pay. “Some editors see the fellowship as free content for them,” she said. “Nope. Be clear.”
