Editors’ pitching advice for freelance journalists: Hook, surprise and persist

By Lindsey Leake, Freelance Health Journalism Fellow

Pitching is hard. Many freelance journalists worry about it since there’s no guarantee the fledgling story they’ve nurtured will catch an editor’s eye. With that frank sentiment, independent journalist Jeanne Erdmann kicked off the HJ25 panel “Straight talk from editors: What freelancers need to know” on May 30 in Los Angeles.

The 75-minute discussion between moderator Erdmann, the panel of four editors and about three dozen attendees covered everything from pay rates to revision policies, but focused on the art of pitching. Below are some of the panelists’ tips for rookie and seasoned freelancers alike.

How do I get an editor’s attention?

Catch editors off guard in an email subject line, said Slate senior technology editor Tony Tran. “Once you get my interest piqued before I even click on the email, I think I’m 90% of the way there,” he said.

The pitch itself, Tran stressed, should be novel and surprising. “I also want to be able to ask myself, ‘Why hasn’t this been freaking published anywhere else yet?’” he said. “Not only that, I want to be able to ask, ‘Why haven’t we published it yet?’”

Macon Morehouse, news director at Science News, seeks pitches that “look around the edges for things that might not be on our radar.” Though research content is central to Science News, Morehouse said pitches need a consumer angle: “It’s very important for us to explain the science, tell people why they should care.”

How long should a pitch be?

Judy Lin, the California editor at KFF Health News, has been hooked by three-sentence pitches. Substance, she said, matters more than word count. “If there’s clear news in a short pitch, [we’ll] pick up the phone and just get it going,” Lin said. Alternatively, a longer pitch showcases your pre-reporting. “I definitely want to see different arguments, different views, almost a high-level outline of where you would take the story,” she said.

Pitching a 10- to 20-minute audio narrative is another beast. Nichole Currie, who produces WHYY’s “The Pulse,” advises keeping your submission to two to three paragraphs. “The thing we really want to know is: Do you have access to the characters in your story?” Currie said. “You really want to wow us. Don’t bury the lede.”

Another don’t: Send a pitch that’s longer than its projected story length, Morehouse said. (It’s happened.) She’s also gotten some pitches that are so short they bring more questions than answers. “You do need to hit that balance between being short and succinct and informative, but not leaving you wondering what the story is going to be,” Morehouse said, encouraging writers to reach out for a copy of the Science News pitch template.

Slate offers an online pitch guide, Tran said. Both “The Pulse” and Science News are among AHCJ’s freelance market guides.

When should I follow up?

The panelists agreed editors shouldn’t ghost prospective writers. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll get a response from them on your first try. “Show us you’re a good reporter; look us up, pick up the phone and call us,” Lin said. “Don’t just send me an email. If you stop there, I question your journalism integrity … show me you’re persistent.”

Believing no response is worse than rejection, Tran said he tries to respond to every pitch — even if it’s weeks later. And because The Pulse’s editorial calendar gets filled out six to eight weeks in advance, Currie said it may take a while to get a response.

Unless your pitch is urgent, wait a week before following up, Morehouse said. “When I don’t take a pitch, I try to explain why,” she said. “Hopefully that is helpful information moving forward in terms of tailoring pitches that might work better the next time.”

Lindsey Leake is an award-winning, independent health journalist based outside Washington, D.C. She holds an M.A. in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Journalism and Digital Storytelling from American University and a B.A. from Princeton University.