“Keep it (pitches) short and sweet and to the point. Editors get hundreds of pitches every single day and if you can help them get to a “yes” fast, do it.”
~Six-figure freelance writer Mandy Ellis, https://www.mandyellis.com/
Yes, the key is to write such a pitch as to make the editor sigh with relief at a writer finally “getting it.” They have to read your pitch and be so happy at a writer who writes well, has a voice, gets the publication, and has a halfway decent topic. So many writers shoot themselves in the foot by not trying hard with the pitch, when they ought to struggle writing it as much or more than the article itself.
Suggestions on how to break into freelance assignments (magazines, blogposts, newsletters):
1) Read a dozen articles from that publication until you have down pat the style, tone, and ideas they prefer.
2) Identify which sections allow freelancers (some sections, even with newsletters like FundsforWriters, have sections written in-house).
3) Study headlines hard. Yes, people start there in deciding whether to read further.
4) Do not use AI if they say do not use AI. You won’t be just rejected, but may be black-listed forever.
5) Do not send your resume and ask an editor what they need for the magazine. That’s so insulting, so lazy as a writer, and eats up an editor’s time. Understand a publication well enough to know whether you should pitch or send an LOI (letter of introduction).
6) Do not send a PDF.
7) Do not send an already formatted article with pictures. It comes across as stolen and plagiarized.
When I receive a request to write for me, it should come in the form of a pitch. That pitch should show that the writer has read the newsletter and its articles, understands its purpose, and has dissected the guidelines. Theoretically, a pitch initially should be whether an idea clicks, not a study in whether the writer knows what they are doing. But when it strays into asking for the guidelines (when they are already online), asking for ideas to write (also online in guidelines and examples), sending a CV without delivering a pitched article (we are interested in the pitch first), they’ve wasted everyone’s time and are guaranteed a rejection.
Some editors never send rejections. Think about it. When a writer hasn’t done their homework, hasn’t read guidelines, and asks an editor what they should write, it’s not worth an editor’s already wasted time to tell a writer why they’ve missed the mark. They’ve already shown they don’t pay attention anyway.
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