March 10, noon ET
The perfect story pitch needs to answer detailed questions in a relatively short word length: why this story; why this story is perfect for this particular publication; why this story needs to be covered now; and how this story has been covered in the past.
You also need to sell yourself as the perfect writer. Obviously, a strong pitch can take more of an effort than pasting a link to a press release into an email and saying, “Hey did you see this?”
In this webcast, two experienced editors, Jessica Bylander of Health Affairs and Anna Maltby of Refinery29, will talk about pitching to their publications. They also will give advice on how to package a successful pitch, and how to package a successful story idea.
Jeanne Erdmann, an AHCJ board member and veteran freelance writer, will moderate the webcast and submit your questions to the editors.
About the speakers
Jessica Bylander (@jebylander) is a senior editor at Health Affairs and editor of the Narrative Matters section of the journal. Prior to joining Health Affairs, she was a medical technology reporter for “The Gray Sheet.” She received a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and holds a bachelor’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University.
Anna Maltby (@amalt) is director of health and wellness at Refinery29. She was previously on staff at Men’s Health, Marie Claire, Self, Fit Pregnancy, Natural Health and Condé Nast Traveler. As a freelancer, Maltby’s work has appeared in such outlets as The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, O, Family Circle, Fitness, Redbook, Dr. Oz The Good Life, Vogue.com, TeenVogue.com, MensJournal.com, CondeNastTraveler.com, FastCompany.com and Brides.com.
Jeanne Erdmann (@jeanne_erdmann) is an award-winning health and science writer based in Wentzville, Mo. Her work has appeared in Discover, Women’s Health, Aeon, Slate, The Washington Post, Nature, Nature Medicine and other publications. She is co-founder of The Open Notebook, a craft-focused website for science and health writers. She is the chair of AHCJ’s Freelance Committee.
