In the paradoxical world of freelance writing, your first few stories are essential.
After all, they dont know you yet.
Clips are all they have to go on.
Pictured here are books that Rick Wilber has written or edited. Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder
Well, that and the pitch itself.
It all comes together with the pitch, said freelance writer Susan Shain.
She shared her insider tips with us.
A lot of it is luck, Shain said.
Thats important to keep in mind.
There will be troves of rejections from editors even the most successful writers get rejected constantly.
Its part of the trade, especially when youre just starting out.
No Interest Til Almost 2027?
You have to persist.
It does get easier.
Wilber taught magazine writing for 40 years.
Now he is a genre fiction professor for Western Colorado Universitys MFA program.
An Idea Worth Pitching
Aha!
You have a great idea.
Time published that article two years ago!
And so did Forbes and People and Inc. To add insult to injury?
The Onion even spoofed it a couple times.
If youve thought of an idea, she said, its probably already on the internet multiple times.
But thats not necessarily a bad thing it can actually help refine your idea.
Do a search to see what angles, subtopics and viewpoints others have about it, Margolis said.
If there is insight or information that someone has missed, bingo.
You have a unique viewpoint.
After youve found your unique viewpoint, do a little pre-reporting.
Get in touch with a source, Shain said.
But dont do the full interview yet.
Let the source know that you plan to pitch the story to a few publications or websites.
Get the access first, Wilber said.
Know you have the access, then use that as your tool for your pitch.
But first you have to figure outwhereto pitch.
Submission Guidelines and Best Practices
At this point, youve refined your idea.
You havent written the first draft yet, but you might have an outline.
Now its time to find that potential story a good home.
Finding a good fit can be tricky.
They are there for a reason.
Sometimes the publication will have you submit your pitch via email with specific subject-line requirements.
Sometimes especially for literary magazines the publication will have you send it through a portal called Submittable.
Many publications have a masthead section that lists the writers and editors, some more visible than others.
You may also have to try the Contact Us section.
Try your best to get a first and last name of someone in a relevant department.
once you nail a contact name, youre on the right track.
Shain recommended a tool calledHunter.io, a website that helps you guess or verify email addresses.
For example, you could pop in in Adam Hardy and ThePennyHoarder.com.
Dont hit send until youve crafted the perfect pitch.
By this time your idea should be fleshed out well.
And editors want the answers.
Also, Wilber said to avoid teaching the editor.
Dont over-explain yourself or your idea in the pitch.
Its a delicate balancing act that requires a few tries before you get the hang of it.
Over the years, Shain has fine-tuned her pitches.
She likes to include a sentence to hook the editor in immediately.
She skips pleasantries altogether and includes a catchy headline and a quote from a source during the pre-reporting stage.
Even so, she estimates her pitch-to-acceptance ratio is about 1:10 to editors she doesnt already write for.
you’ve got the option to get rejection after rejection after rejection, Shain said.
You wonder if youre cut out for it.
Wilber said that new freelancers should not only expect rejection but embrace it.
Adam Hardy (@hardyjournalism) is an editorial assistant on the Make Money team at The Penny Hoarder.
The list of publications that have rejected him is far longer.Read hisfull bio here.
It sounds appealing right?
Check it out here!
