5 Tips For Pitching To An Online Publication (From An Ex-Editor)
If you’re a writer, chances are you’ve already pitched or thought about pitching to an online publication. And while there could be many reasons why your pitch hasn’t gotten any bites, there’s no need to get discouraged! Like with everything, pitching is an art form and takes a bit of practice. But if you’re willing to put in the effort, the payoff could really help your publishing goals.
Anyway, to keep things brief: I used to be an editor for a pretty well-established media brand, so here are a few tips on pitching to online publications. This comes with the obvious caveat that NOT ALL PUBLICATIONS work like this — what works for some might not work for others, so always use your writerly judgment when pitching.
For The Love Of All That Is Holy, Please Address The Editor Directly
Like with any applications I’d receive when I was hiring for ANY job, if you don’t bother to look up the name of the person you are contacting, you’ve already lost the game.
In the age of Internet stalking, I refuse to believe you’re unable to spend 10 minutes looking up the name and correct email address of the person you’re pitching to. Editors can smell a cookie-cutter pitch from a mile away. Even worse, I’d get pitches with people forgetting to replace our competitors’ names from their very obvious generic copy. It’s lazy and makes me gag, so please ditch the “Hey there” or “To the editor” emails — they usually go straight in the junk mail folder.
(And if you start your pitches with “To Whom It May Concern,” my therapist has heard all about you.)
It Helps If You’ve Already Written The Article
With limited budgets, extreme lack of time, and an inbox that would reach 1,000 emails by like, 10 am, if you sent me shit like “So, I was thinking I could write an article about XYZ” and I didn’t know who you were, chances are your pitch would get a swift doom click to the Deleted folder.
Unless you’re a frequent contributor or you’ve already established a relationship with the editor so that they’re open to your pitches, if you’ve never pitched for a particular publication, it really really really helps that you:
have an article topic that is tailor-made for the publication’s audience; and,
have already researched and written the piece.
If you know several publications that have similar audiences, it doesn’t hurt to pitch the same article. This might be my personal preference, but if you claim exclusivity (e.g. “I’ve only pitched this to your publication and have noticed your competitors don’t have a piece on this topic yet”), I would’ve definitely considered running your article, provided it would actually work for our audience.
Soz But I Don’t Care About Your Portfolio
If there’s not a job ad on the publication’s website specifically asking for writer applications, I personally didn’t look at writer portfolios — I didn’t have time. I’d get so many writers just sending me their portfolios “just in case” and it was a sad waste, ’cause I’d never get to them.
Again, I don’t know if this applies to other editors, but if I’m interested in your pitch, I’ll ask for your portfolio. However, it doesn’t hurt to have a link to your website or portfolio in your email signature or as a quick add-on at the end of your pitch — just don’t make it the main spiel.
Keep Your Pitch Short AF
Did I mention editors are extremely time-poor? It’s not just pitches that are clogging our inboxes — it’s emails from other media brands, PR companies, agencies, freelancers, co-workers, etc. etc. etc.
If I open a pitch and it’s like, 5 chunky paragraphs, I’m so sorry, but like, I don’t have the brain space to process your life story.
Of course, you should add personality to your pitch, don’t make it drab, but make sure to focus on the benefits your pitch would bring to the publication: is it a piece you’ve noticed they don’t have on-site but would work extremely well with their audience? Is it an update to an existing piece that they’ve published several years ago that might benefit from a refresh? Make it EXTREMELY obvious how the publication will benefit from your pitch.
If You’re In It For The Money, I’ve Got Bad News For You
Do you want to know what my editorial freelancer budget was during the pandemic?
A big fat zero.
We relied on interns and in-house writers during that time and it was Struggle City.™️
Of course, you should always demand payment for your work; however, depending on the industry you’re pitching, there might not be any budget for your piece. So if you’re pitching for $$$, make sure you’re pitching to publications who have the money to back you up and pay you. I will never ever advocate working for free…but if you’re trying to get your name out there or if you just really want to get published in a specific publication, be aware that they might not have the budget to pay you fairly for your piece.
(I don’t know about all my other editorial homies, but I had 0 control over our editorial budget and it totally sucked.)
