We’ve now reached the very last part in our behind-the-scenes series on some of my biggest, most profitable, and most prestigious assignments, and I’m capping it off with the publication I’m asked about the most—The New York Times.
Before I do, though, don’t forget that I’m offering a free download of several of my most successful pitches that landed me my first assignments with these top publications. Get them here.
In which I pitch the New York Times
It’s 2006. Again. What can I say? 2006 was a big year for me.
Anyway, so yes, it’s 2006, I’m 24 years old, I’ve been writing for Elle regularly, people are appreciating my work, and I’m loving my life and career. I haven’t yet discovered that my boyfriend, who I’ve left my home and family for, has mental health issues, is psychotic and violent, and is actively and intentionally trying to isolate me from my social circle.
I’m on a high and I pitch The New York Times. I don’t know this yet, but I clearly get the wrong editor because I get a very nice email response saying that while they really like my writing style and are impressed by my work and credits, they already have a full-time staff in India and don’t take freelance contributions.
I believe this and so don’t pitch them again for a year.
One year later
By this time I’ve discovered the lies, the cheating, the violence of my psychotic boyfriend and stupidly put up with all of this for a while. But then he goes ahead and sells two of my stories to The New York Times, and that, THAT, is just unacceptable. I cannot, will not, put up with it.
I dump his sorry ass.
My first reaction to seeing stories I was working on in The Times is to be gutted. (Also—aha! So they DO take freelance submissions!) I can’t read the newspaper or the website for months without my entire body quivering with rage. But slowly, I begin to get back my confidence, to realize that if my ideas are good enough to be published in The New York Times, heck, I should be pitching them.
But I don’t. Not for another year or so.
Love, life, travel
It’s now 2009. I’ve just returned from spending an incredible nine months in the US, where my skills and confidence have grown to the point where I feel that I can achieve much more than the targets I’d initially set for myself. I have formed a community of international journalists, I’ve received tips and advice, and I’ve learned to see how big the world is and how much opportunity there is when you no longer limit yourself to one particular region.
I’m also engaged. I met a dimpled, blue-eyed British journalist named Sam before I left India, and not only have we survived the long-distance relationship, we’re stronger than ever.
I start writing for Time.
My editor at Time invites Sam and me to dinner at her place and I spend most of the evening chatting with an American journalist, who is funny and brilliant and who I get on with very well.
In the taxi back home, Sam says to me, “And you say you’re no good at networking. Now that you have an in at the New York Times, you should pitch them again.”
I have no idea what he’s going on about.
“Who’s the in?”
“The woman you were talking to, the one you got on so well with? The New York Times journalist?”
“She was a New York Times journalist? Shit, I had no idea.”
Two days later, Sam sends me an email with a link to a story in a regional newspaper on roads made with plastic. “Send this to the NYT,” he writes. “It’s a local news story that hasn’t been anywhere yet and they will love it. Email the woman you met and ask if she’ll give you the name of the right editor. Do it. DO IT.”
For once, I do exactly as he says. I get the name of the right editor. I pitch them the story.
A few weeks later, I am published in The New York Times.
Four months later, I marry the man.
The query letter
This is the email I sent:
Dear Editor:
[My contact] at the New York Times suggested I contact you.
I have a story idea [contact] thought you may be interested in and so I’m including it below for your consideration.
A bit about me: I’m a freelance journalist based in New Delhi, India, and write for TIME, Parade, GlobalPost, Ms., Marie Claire, and Women’s eNews, among others. Please feel free to check out my work on my website [LINK].
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
**
Pitch: The Plastic Road Less Traveled
Two problems: One, the monsoon every year ensures that India’s already battered roads bleed and suffer extensive damage. Two, tons of wasted plastic disposed improperly is becoming a huge environmental menace, and the country’s landfills are overflowing with it.
One solution: plastic roads.
In Chennai and other parts of the state of Tamil Nadu, experimental plastic roads (1,500 kilometers) have already been placed. The result: cheaper, environment-friendly roads that not only don’t have to be repaired each year, but have no potholes, something most of the country’s roads can’t boast.
In fact, the idea has been so successful that it is being implemented in other cities of India as well: in New Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata.
The roads came about because of K K Plastic Waste Management Private Ltd, which was formed after the founder Ahmed Khan came up with the idea while he was experimenting with different kinds of plastic materials. He conducted research for several years, building one road, then approached the Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi (CRRI) to do further research and lay many more. It is done, though, with every state government’s approval as well as supervision.
There is currently only a 1km stretch of plastic road in Delhi, but like I mentioned, 1,500 kms in the state of Tamil Nadu, and several stretches in the city of Bangalore, the IT hub of the country, where many more are planned. In fact, the government of Bangalore is looking to make the city plastic roads only.
A unique feature of the project is that it actually makes use of the waste plastic bags that are used for food packaging as well as several other waste plastic that comes from everyday living and often ends up in the country’s landfills (and is typically burned causing health problems in surrounding areas). The costs of road-building have gone down by 10-15%.
**
Here’s the published story: Plastic Roads Offer Greener Way to Travel in India
Lessons learned
1. Marry well. No seriously, marry well.
2. If you’re going to spend half an hour chatting to someone at a party, you should consider asking them where they work. (Unless you’ve already done #1, in which case you’re covered.)
3. Pick up the local and regional newspapers. You’re not going to find stories that sell to The New York Times in The Washington Post.
4. If you heard this story in isolation, you’d think I probably just got lucky to have met someone at a party. But my being at this party in itself involved years of effort, patience, disappointment, and hard work, as evidenced in the TIME case study. That’s the thing about these things—the beginning is always the hardest part. Once the ball starts rolling and you gain some momentum, things do start getting easier. But you have to be strong and patient enough not to give up during those initial difficult years.
5. Do not give up on yourself. Ever.
I hope you’ve enjoyed all of the case studies you’ve read over the last week. I’m absolutely loving all the emails I’ve been getting and will respond to every single one individually as soon as I can. Keep them coming. I’m grateful for each and everyone of them and for you. Thanks for reading and happy pitching!
(Missed part of the series? Here’s Part 1. And Part 2. Part 3 lives here. Click here for Part 4. And the final one, Part 5.)