For entrepreneurs looking to extend their influence, publishing articles for print or online publications is an attractive means for demonstrating authority in the marketplace. With your name attached to a byline, you provide evidence of your credibility. The question then becomes: how do you get the attention of editors?
Here are a few tips:
Know the Publication
Many new writers often make the mistake of pitching every publication they can think of with the belief that with higher volume of pitches comes a greater percentage of success. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Start by becoming familiar with a select few magazines and online publications that you’re interested in writing for and whose audience would naturally translate into potential clients or customers. Spend time on the publication’s website or leaf through back issues to get a feel for the style of the writing, the average length of the stories, and which section your story best fits. The more you know about a publication, the better you will be able to write a pitch that’s on-target.
“Be as clear as you can on your idea, what you want to include and why it’s going to benefit their audience. Create as little work for the editor as possible and try to deliver lots of value before you’ve even put words on the page,” says James Johnson, founder of Freelance Writer’s School.
Know the Publication’s Audience
The fastest way to know the publication’s audience is to check the about section of its website or Facebook page. Here the description will tell you the mission and vision of the publication and who their audience is. If you’re a holistic health expert looking to pitch a story of interest to parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you could visit the Facebook page of ADDitude Magazine, click About, and you’ll be greeted with this:
[Our mission is] To provide tools and information to improve the lives of children and adults with attention deficit disorder at home, at school, and at work, and to serve as a print and online support community for people with ADHD.
In no time, you’ll be able to figure out the audience of the publications where you’re looking to contribute stories.
Read the Writer’s Guidelines
A lot of good pitches get lost when the writer doesn’t look at the publication’s submission guidelines. These tell you specifically what the editor is looking for. A cursory Google search for “writer’s guidelines” or “submission guidelines” and the name of the magazine you’re interested in typically yields results. If not, visit the publication’s website.
Don’t pitch topics. Pitch stories.
If you emailed Peter Page, Entrepreneur magazine’s editor in charge of contributed content, to pitch why entrepreneurs should spend more time doing meaningful work and less time on social media he may or may not bite. After all, social media and productivity are hot topics, but this pitch is a mile wide and an inch deep. If you pitched a profile on why bestselling author Cal Newport never opened a Facebook account and why he’s $5 million richer because of it, now you’re talking story—compelling and specific which brings us to…
Confirm Your Sources
If you want to make an impression on an editor—and strengthen your pitch—confirm your sources. This means that whomever you intend to quote in your story has agreed before you pitch. You don’t have to have the interview dates scheduled, but it helps the editor to have confidence when they see that the source you’re quoting is accessible to you. If your story does not require external sources—you’re drawing and educating from your own expertise—you can skip this tip.
Write the Pitch
Now that you are familiar with the publication, know the audience, have a worthwhile story, and have your sources lined up you can confidently craft that pitch it’s time to write. Keep your pitch to a few quick sentences or a paragraph. Tell what the story is and why you’re the best person to write it. Be sure to add your bio (50-75 words) and links to writing clips for the editor to review.
Address the Editor by Name
Always use the editor’s name. If you can’t find it on the publication’s website or its masthead, ask someone who works for the publication (via Twitter, Facebook, a phone call). This heightens your professional image and will get further faster with an email that says, “Dear Ms. Smith” instead of “Dear Editor.”
Give it a Compelling Subject Line
You’ve put a lot of work into your pitch and now here is where you’ll either have your pitch read or deleted. A good subject line tells the editor what’s in the inbox. Your goal is to capture attention with a relevant and interest-sparking headline.
Freelance writer Shawn Radcliffe, who has written for magazines such as Men’s Health, advises, “Most editors get many queries, so the email subject has to be short and sweet. It also needs to pack in as much information as possible. I always start with “Pitch:” or “Query:” so editors know right off the bat what the email is for. If I’m pitching to a specific department or section of the publication, I will also include that in the subject (e.g. “Pitch – Get Fit:) Then I try to write a title that might work with the story I am pitching. You don’t want the subject to be too long, because not every email reader allows for long titles.”
Press Send
Now that you have these items in place, press send. If you don’t get a reply from an editor within a week, send a follow-up email. Editors get busy and their lack of a response doesn’t mean they are uninterested in your story pitch.
That’s it. These are my guidelines for crafting a successful pitch. I hope you found these tips helpful and please feel free to share any questions or comments below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Jones
Chris Jones is a 3-time Virginia Press Association award-winning journalist and graphic designer, an author, editor, ghostwriter, and speaker. He has worked as a sports writer and sports editor for a daily newspaper, a managing editor and an editor-in-chief at two magazines, and as a web content editor for two health websites. He also hosts The Art & Business of Writing podcast. Chris lives in the Virginia with wife and children. He is coauthoring a new book, Mended Faith, due out in Spring 2018 from Morgan James Publishing.
Learn more about Chris at www.chrisjonesink.com/