Pitching Editors

The Pitching Process

To “pitch an editor,” is to offer up your idea and suggest that they publish it. Most editors get a large volume of pitches, most of them subpar, and so ideally you’re standing out as someone who comes across as credible and well-informed about the process. 

Most pitches go unanswered. Getting an answer is in itself an achievement - even if an editor turns you down, getting a written reply at all is a sign of esteem that bodes well for future pitches. 

Different editors and publications have different preferences, and they don’t always make them public. That said, there are certain “best practices” to keep in mind.

If a publication asks for a finished piece, just send it without much preamble. Paste it into the email or form - don’t attach documents. (Would you open files from someone you don’t know?) 

If the outlet is open to it, send a pitch instead. That should be the shortest possible summary of what you hope to write about, written in everyday, conversational English. Avoid any academic jargon. Ideally a pitch would be 1-3 paragraphs, and not long ones. If the editor is interested in the pitch, they will then ask you to write the full piece. 

A good formula for your pitch is “Pitch: Very short title summary.” If you can figure out who the editor of a section is, and you can find their direct email, that can work well. Contact the Communications Office if you have a name, and we may be able to look up the email. Otherwise submitting “through the front door” to some kind of publicly available “opinion@outletname.com” address  is a totally viable way to go. 

Introduce yourself in simple, humble terms. “I am a professor/doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.” Do not add on centers or fellowship affiliations unless they are on the instantly-recognizable level of a Guggenheim/Carnegie/MacArthur Fellowship. There’s no need to list a formal title - you can put that in your email signature if you like. A simple identifier establishes you as credible. Then you want to get to the point of your pitch as quickly as possible. 

Don’t worry about giving your potential story the perfect headline. The headline will get rewritten 99% of the time. The only value in putting a headline on your pitch is to give the editor a sense of the story’s marketability to readers. It shows that you can make your topic sound appealing. 

If an editor expresses interest, it may be worth asking if they pay contributors. Do this before you write anything. Many will not pay for opinion pieces, but some will if you ask. 

It is good etiquette to pitch one outlet at a time, particularly competing outlets like major newspaper opinion sections. If you haven’t heard back in 48 hours, you probably won’t, and then it would be good manners to let the first outlet know that as you haven’t heard back, you’ll be pitching the story elsewhere. Some publications will free you to do that in their submission guidelines.

Pitching Yourself as a Source

It is very difficult to know what any reporter may be working on at a given time, but if you come across an article in the area of your expertise, written by a journalist who regularly covers that general area or topic, it would be perfectly appropriate to reach out to that journalist, complimenting/commenting on the recent article and suggesting that if every they needed a source in the future, you would be happy to talk. For a journalist active on Twitter, a DM might also be an appropriate way to reach out. If you need help finding contact info for any journalist, please contact the Communications office. 

We're Here to Help

While time doesn’t allow the Communications Office to ghostwrite your stories, we can help you talk through any story ideas you have and advise on pitching editors. We may also be able to offer feedback on your drafts. Please email Julie Sloane.