MIT Technology Review Freelance Market Guide

Fees: Fees for this digital and print publication are between $1 and $2 per word, depending on the writer’s experience, the story and the publication route. Editors commission front-of-book short pieces (around 300 words), news stories (800-1,000 words), analysis pieces (800-1,000 words) and features (2,500-4,000 words) from freelancers for the website. The print magazine runs features as well as essays, short profiles and book reviews.

Submit to: Rachel Courtland, commissioning editor, Rachel.Courtland@technologyreview.com. Include “PITCH” in the subject line.

Website: https://www.technologyreview.com

Owner: This independent media company was founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Readership demographics: Readers are people who want to stay up to date with how technology is changing the world.

Frequency of publication: The digital platform is updated daily. The print magazine is published bi-monthly.

What editors want in a pitch: “Most of the stories that MIT Technology Review commissions come from pitches, but we do reach out to writers with assignments,” according to its pitching guide. “We also issue a bi-monthly call for pitches for the print magazine.” Freelancers who would like to be considered for assignments and be informed of calls for print pitches should fill out this form.

News stories: Be sure to include in the pitch why this scientific or technological development is an important advance and not incremental. It must be important to a broad audience and not just researchers in the field.

Analysis pieces: These pieces add context, insight and new information to news of the day to move the story forward.

Features: Features can be straightforward reports, profiles, narrative features, and deep investigations. “Your pitch should not only explain what the story is and why it is important but show how you’d tell it in a compelling way,” according to the pitching guide. Include in the pitch the main characters, the challenges they face in the story, and how the story resolves. Think nut graf.

Essays: The pitch needs a clear argument. Writers should include why they are qualified to write this essay.

Writers new to MIT Technology Review should include a short bio and links to a few clips. Courtland advises health care reporters to keep in mind that MIT Technology Review does not publish what she calls straight healthcare stories. “The story would have to have some kind of technology angle,” she said.

Is Courtland receptive to receiving pre-pitches?: “I usually call those like ‘half pitches’ and that is fine,” she said.

What are the most common mistakes Courtland sees in pitches: “One is not telling me about yourself, such as including links to past clips and an explanation as to your experience,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be long, but we need something.” Another mistake is pitching a topic instead of a focused story, and a third mistake would be not providing sufficient context for the story idea. “That includes explaining what has been covered elsewhere and how your story would be different,” Courtland said.

Lead time for pitches: “I usually try to give the reader a very quick ‘I’ve received this’ email, and then I usually try to respond with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ within a week,” said Courtland. Sometimes she’ll email the author some clarifying questions before giving them the thumbs up or down. Other times, she may send them immediately to another editor to discuss the pitch.

Best place to break into the publication: The easiest place for someone new to the publication to start would be to pitch a short front-of-the-book piece or an online news story.