Write the pitch, not the article.
I work with a lot of new writers who have zillions of ideas and are eager to get their work published. Some want to write books, but many want to write for magazines, or online publications. Like most of us, they have a dream list of magazines, websites, and publications where they want their byline (a line of text at the beginning of an article or story that shows their name) to appear.
I’m as enthusiastic about them getting published as they are. I truly want more writers from different backgrounds and lifestyles to get their work out in the world where readers can benefit from it. But right off the bat I bust a big myth that most new writers have about getting published. Publishers and editors don’t want to read your article or essay. They simply don’t have time and it’s not how business is done in the publishing world. Instead, they want to see your article pitch.
A pitch is a well-crafted, brief email that tells the editor what you want to write about, why their readers need to read it and why you’re the right writer for the piece. That’s all they have time for. This information comes as a big surprise to a lot of writers because they assumed that they’d write their article, then send it around for editors to read. Nope…like I said, they don’t have time to read every article that comes their way. They might get dozens, even hundreds of article pitches every week. If every one of those was a fully written article (and most are probably not well written) that they have to read, they’d never get anything else done. Editors know that if you’re a good writer with a good idea that fits in their publication and editorial calendar, then a brief email will suffice.
The key is to write your article pitch well enough to sell them your idea. Then, they’ll send you a contract and then, you write the article. It all starts with the first sentence. That’s called “the hook” and it must be good enough to make the editor want to read the next sentence and the one after that. If the first sentence is a stinker, or worse, boring, then there’s no chance they’ll want an entire article from you. You have to grab ‘em quick and keep ‘em reading. That’s the first step in the craft of pitch-writing.
I teach writers how to write a great pitch email in just four paragraphs. For publications that want even less info (they let you know in their submissions guidelines), you can edit that down to just a few sentences. It starts with the hook. Come on over to my website, watch a super short video, and I’ll teach you the rest. Write the pitch…not the article.
