Tips on How to Pitch
Your Article for Print and On-line Media
Tidbits to Share
During my Blueprint program I listened to Steve Harrison interview
Joel Schwartzberg, author of “The 40-Year Old Version: Humoirs of a Divorced
Dad”. The subject was about pitching your
articles to print and on-line media. Here are some of the dos and don’ts, and
things I took away from that interview.
Before contacting
your target media, you should research publications so you can better
understand what it is they need and want from you. Read, and check out the magazines you are
interested in. You can go to book stores or magazine stands and check out
Newsweek, Smithsonian, Self magazine, New York Magazine, Esquire, Education
Week Magazine/Newspaper, or whatever subject your writing/article will fold
into nicely.
Pick out a magazine that you think you can write for; one that you
feel you will have something to offer.
Don’t submit or pitch anything that doesn’t fit the media you are
considering. They hate pitches that don’t make a good fit for their publication,
and it makes them angry when they know you didn’t even read their publication. It’s a waste of their very precious time. Also, they do not accept simultaneous
submissions. Therefore, you will need to
submit one at a time, and wait for a rejection or an acceptance.
Find out the name of the feature or sections
editor for the publication you have chosen to submit to. Also you will need their e-mail address/address.
You can Google the publication and search for them. The Editor-In-Chief does not accept
submissions. They are looking for unique essays. They want something that stands out; something
that is in keeping with what’s in the news, or popular at the moment. A timely subject has a better chance of being
accepted. Don’t use more than two or
three sentences to sell your essay in the beginning. You want to grab them in a few seconds upon
opening your e-mail.
These editors and
producers are busy busy, and will lose interest right away if you start to tell
your life story, or give too much background information before you get to your
point. They are interested in what you have
to offer their publication. They move through
hundreds of submissions and will choose what benefits their needs, and grabs
them first. Tell them why you submitted,
why your essay /article is compelling, and timely.
After you have researched, Googled the magazine, and looked
up the features, or sections editor for that publication, then compose a good hook
to grab them immediately upon opening your e-mail. Do it within a couple of
sentences, as I explained above. Paste
the essay/article in the body of the e-mail you are sending them (No
attachments). Also if your article is
very large, you can query them instead of sending the whole article, but
remember, get to the point in the first two or three lines. It’s very important
to grab the editor’s attention right away.
If you have a press
kit, don’t send it to them via e-mail, but rather, send a link for your on-line
press kit in the body of the e-mail, along with your submission. It’s easier
for them to just press your link than to have to be overwhelmed with a whole
package in the e-mail. Explain your link in detail in the body of your e-mail
submission. A link leading to a separate page for something pertaining
to your article is a good idea also; along with a picture of your book if
possible.
If you are able to get an essay published in a well known
magazine it can lead to media coverage for your books later on down the
road. If your article comes up, say in
the news, as one that is informational for their subject of discussion, it can
turn into a marketing tool for your books. If the news station Googles a
subject, say on educational strategies for elementary grade children, and you
have written an article on what grades three to five like to read, your article
could be just what they need to round out their news article or even a segment
of a show.
In that case, every time they
mention your subject matter they could be showing a picture of your book. It’s similar to what happened to Joel
Schwartzberg, Author of “The Forty Year Old Version” when he submitted an
article on depression. He ended up
having a picture of his book shown on TV each time they mentioned his article
pertaining to whatever it was they were doing a show on.
I hope you found this article informative. I will share more
on different subjects of writing, marketing, and information in general for our
world of writing. As I learn, I hope to share,
so we can all benefit together. The Best
Seller Blueprint Program has been a wealth of information for me. I’ll be back with more tidbits at a later
date.
