Pitch a freelance story

Freelance writing is one of the best ways to keep working while you look for full time employment.  And it helps a lot to introduce yourself to editors.

The  “pitch” (a short proposal to an assignment editor) explains why your story idea is important, who you will interview, and what photo / video / interactive content you will develop for the story.  Think of stories that have strong visual elements — a hydro dam, an abandoned arsenic mine, a haunted coal company store…

  • Don’t write, “Hi, my name is Mary and Im a journalism student and I’d like to write a story for you.”

Start your pitch with a strong lead to get the editor’s attention. 

  • Write something like this: “Joy Lynn talks of the Whipple Coal Company Store as if it were haunted.  Which it is, of course, she tells the tour groups wandering through rooms of artifacts in the hundred-year-old building in Scarbro, West Virginia.   
  • Or this: “Arsenic used to be found in everything from pesticides to wallpaper, but these days, scientists are trying to keep the poisonous element out of water supplies.  Radford University  professor Jean Rockford is one of those scientists, and her approach is unique. “ 
  • Or this:  “It’s not Virginia’s smallest dam, and its only one of four municipally owned dams,  but as the city of Radford struggles with re-licensing its hydroelectric dam on the Little River, engineers and officials have run into problems that are typical of small dams throughout the country.”

And then:  Follow up with more information: ‘

  • What others have written, and how long ago 
  • How you will get the story — Who you’ll interview, what locations you will video or photograph, and what sources of information are out there. 
  • How soon you can have the story to the editor

And then:  Follow up with a brief paragraph of information about yourself and links to your work online.  

ONE ARTS MAGAZINE gives the editor’s email and says;   For pitches, please include a detailed description of your story idea and why it’s right for our magazine’s audience. If you are pitching the idea as a freelance writer, include 2–3 links to your previously published work. If we choose to move forward with your pitch, a member of our editorial team will be in touch.

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