Would you do a post on how to pitch the big newspapers such as the Times, Washington Post, etc.? Is it different from pitching magazines since newspapers already have reporters on staff?
This is basically the reverse question from yesterday, and like I said, the process can be different between magazines and newspapers because of the frequency and style of the two mediums.
Here are my top tips for pitching newspapers:
1. Keep it short. Newspaper editors don’t have the time to wade through two pages of quotes and sidebar suggestions. Newspaper editors, even those from the Times and Washington Post, understand that you’ll be doing the bulk of your research and reporting later.
2. Don’t pitch breaking news. Once you’ve started writing for a newspaper or news magazine regularly, they might be open to suggestions or giving you assignments, but for your initial contact, avoid stories that need to go in tomorrow’s paper. Trust me, their reporters have it covered.
3. You know why breaking into the New York Times is so difficult? Because their editors and their correspondents read everything and know of pretty much everything that’s going on in a region. If one doesn’t, the other does. Can you find a story or trend that is new enough that none of them have heard of or thought of covering? It’s one of the hardest parts of breaking into these big papers, but that one big idea will be what you need to get your foot in the door.
4. When I first started pitching the Times, I made the classic mistake of sending through big investigative story ideas. Why I thought they’d see it fit to assign 4,000-word stories that would cost them thousands in legal fees to an unfamiliar writer, I don’t know, but I wanted to sparkle. I wanted to wow them with what I could do, these amazing stories that I could find. They never responded. So now when I say pitch a big idea, I don’t mean stories that are going to take you months or years to report. I mean find stories that are interesting to their audience but under-reported. Stories that are reported in local or regional language papers, stories that haven’t yet found their way to the mainstream but are important and timely. Again, I think this is actually the hardest part of writing for big newspapers and magazines, this finding of the idea. And needless to say, it can be a time-consuming enterprise. The good news is that it does get easier with practice.
5. If it’s been published in the Washington Post or other competing papers, don’t pitch it to the Times and vice versa. The editors have seen the story already. If they want to cover it, they’ll get their correspondents on it even before you’ve finished writing the pitch.
6. If it doesn’t have recent significance, don’t pitch it. Old stories are often re-reported, but they need to have new angles and new relevance to them. Unless your idea, even if it’s a feature story, has a news hook, it’s not going to work.
7. Find the right person to pitch. Newspapers are complicated beasts with editors spread over the entire world. If you’re an international writer, do you pitch to the bureau here, the editors in New York, section editors, what? The answer is that it depends from paper to paper and section to section. Find out. Do your research. Check out the bylines. Read the darn thing.
8. Finally, relax! Take a deep breath. Yes, it’s the New York Times or the Washington Post or whatever, but as with every other publication, the worst they can do is say no. And maybe they’ll say no again. And again. Until eventually, one day you’ll find an idea that’s the perfect fit, the query that hits the right spot, and you’ll wake up in the morning to an email that says, “Hi Mridu, I’m so-and-so from the New York Times. I’ve just gotten the go-ahead to work with you on this story.”
Good luck!