Hot story idea? Check. Pitch ready to go? Check. Sent to the top ten publications you’d like to see it run in? Noooooo!
Stop right there. When you’re pitching, you want to target, target, target.
At the recent Walkley’s journalism conference I was reminded of this by a number of the speakers. Editor of Daily Life, Sarah Oakes said it very clearly.
Want to write 4 @DailyLifeAu? "Become a reader so you know it well; keep pitches short; & be professional" @SarahOakes #storyology
— Sue White (@suewhitewriter) August 9, 2013
As an editor, Sarah wants to be able to see from a pitch that the potential writer knows the publication well. Here’s a secret: she’s not alone. EVERY editor wants this. And EVERY publication is different. In my opinion, if you think one publication is virtually the same as its competitor, you haven’t done your research. Go back and look at them both again. Look at back editions. Take your time over the exercise and look for things that are different. (There are lots – and if you’re still not sure, you need to come and do one of these courses.)
When pitching:"Scattergun approach doesn't work. Pitch to 1-2 mags you know well," says @anneliknight I AGREE! #Storyology
— Sue White (@suewhitewriter) August 9, 2013
But what’s the difference between targeting one or two publications and a scattergun approach?
A scattergun approach means targeting anyone who you think would like your story.
A targetted approach means finding one or two publications you think the story is perfect for, pitching the story to ONE of them (no, not both), and WAITING to hear back. Yes, waiting. If they say no, pitch to the other.
But wait, I hear what you’re thinking. “I can’t wait!” Yes you can. Freelancing is a waiting game. (It’s also a game where the winners are the folks who follow up, have a strategy, and learn to handle the roller coaster of emotions which come with waiting.) So wait. Unless it’s time sensitive (in which case you’re probably writing news, not features, and therefore I can’t really help you), I’d wait 1-2 weeks. Then follow up. Then maybe follow up again, or simply move on.)
Can scattergun ever be good?
There’s no doubt that being published in many different publications is good for your portfolio. So if you’re just starting out, you can put this advice aside for a while and keep pitching (still one at a time) to a bunch of different publications till you find a home for your story. But over time – scattergun doesn’t work, because what helps you make the most money as a freelancer is getting to know a publication well.
When you get to know a publication well, you’ll get repeat work. Repeat work is far easier to get than work from someone who doesn’t know you. If you do enough repeat work for an editor, he or she will start sending stories your way. Brilliant – work you didn’t have to pitch in.
Okay – that’s the high level stuff, but I’m going to open this one to questions. In the comments below: what specifically do you want to know about the difference between a scattergun approach and a targeted approach to pitching?
Great tips Sue. My question is: Is it ever okay to pitch two variations of a story in the one pitch? Or does this look scattered and not focussed? Sometimes I feel that there could be two ways a story could go but I worry about providing both options as it might weaken my pitch/message. I’d love to hear your advice!
It’s a good question – and logically you’d think it would work. But I’ve tried this in the early days and I found editors didn’t really respond to the ‘options’. I found it was better to hang my hat on what I thought was the v. best angle and cross my fingers he/she agrees. I guess it DOES look scattered, not focussed – so the rule still applies 🙂
As someone just starting out, I recognise pitching a story to just one publication is fine its the waiting that is the hard part. A way of getting over the impatience – is to have a number of different stories on hand and being pitched at the same time. But having three or four good solid stories is a challenge as well – whilst you are waiting to get that run on the board!
The wait can be your undoing. I contacted an editor only one week after pitching a story and they said “sure try and pitch it somewhere else – we are too busy at the moment with launching a new web-site.”
My biggest challenge in trying to pitch is finding local publication which is suitable – I am scouring everywhere, internet; asking friends; the Australian writer’s market place; newsagents. Any good suggestions on how to find local publications? (ie. to pitch local stories to)
I hear you re the two weeks as a good suggestion – follow up and then move on. Its probably good to set up spreadsheet /diary with dates etc. and then just get distracted with writing to ensure you don’t get impatient.
Hi Jenn,
Thanks for the comments and for stopping by. Sounds like you’re doing a lot of the right things (newsagents, friends, AWM etc). I love the library for finding new publications, as they’ll have back editions so I can pick up patterns in what they’re running. Not sure if you’ve done the Feature Writing course at Australian Writers’ Centre – we talk about the issue of finding the right publication a lot in that course, and give people a bit of a formula to make it easier.
But overall, yes it’s really important to have a strategy in place if you want to make writing pay. Vital, in fact. As well as figuring out the difference between impatience and ‘fire in your belly’. The former, not so useful – the latter, really helpful. (Does sound like you have that!)
In terms of local publications – there are plenty of options but they won’t necessarily be the best payers. Also depends where you live how much of a market there is. It’s probably something I’d drill down to in a mentoring session – happy to do that with you if you like – sessions open again mid November.
But I DEFINITELY agree 3-4 good solid stories on the go is important – if you’re struggling with that definitely book in for mentoring because there’s a million ways to get that muscle moving. Or dig around old blog posts – probably some good tips on that there too.
All the best. Sue 🙂