Fordham

1. Fordham April 30: Last Class!

2. April 30th- Final Class • Class wrap-up and lecture: How to Pitch • Complete in-class critiques and evaluations • Submit final stories and revisions. Absolute deadline on these Monday May 7th. Email confirmation on submission is crucial. • Listen to some of your audio stories if there is time. • Last presentation? Jeanna? • Final exam with Pr. Campbell May 10?

3. Assignments • First Person • Investigative • Live Tweet and Summary • Audio Story • Op-Ed or First Person • Revision • Presentation

4. How to Pitch

5. What is Pitching? • Pitching is how journalists (both on staff and freelance) get their pieces published. • There are two kinds of pitches: Full submissions Semi-reported idea pitches (New journalists sometimes pitch “on-spec.”)

6. Figure out who to pitch • This can sometimes be tricky. • Check out the masthead • Managing editor usually works. • Steer clear of assistant editors who probably actually want to be writers. • Try not to pitch people with a ton of bylines in the magazine • Never pitch reporters, ever.

7. Consider “Lead Time” • The time between pitch and publication. • Most newspapers have very short lead times • Most magazines have three or more months lead time. • Regular columns usually have longer lead time and may fill up faster, even at newspapers.

8. So, how to pitch…. • Research your target title: Read at least 6 back issues carefully. • Tailor your pitch: No generic letters, write in the style and voice of the publication, no more than 2 ideas per email. Pitch a specific section of a specific magazine. “This idea seems like a good fit for Glamour’s ‘It Happened to Me’ section.” • Proofread: This seems obvious, but it is amazing how many pitches arrive with blatant grammatical errors.

9. 4. Be persistent: Follow up (but not too much) on your pitch, Also follow up with the editor so they keep you in mind. 5. Connections connect you: If you have them, use them. Check out linked in or facebook to see if you have a connection. 6. Know what the editor is up to: Check their twitter feed, their bio, etc. Flattery, if it isn’t too blatant, can work wonders.

10. 7. Be willing to do the most ridiculous assignments, at least at first. Never say no. 8. Provide contact information! 9. Here’s something you probably don’t want to hear…..you need to pre-report your story before you pitch it. And probably only 1 in 10 of your ideas is actually going to survive the pre-reporting phase.

11. 10. You should pitch in MAX 5 paragraphs, more on this formula in a moment. 11. Pitch FOB before your long narrative feature. 12. If you get an assignment, be the most prompt, easiest to work with journalist in the world with clean copy, accurate sources and contact info for the fact checkers. 13. Try to get a contract that details your fee and if possible, includes a “kill fee.”

12. Pitch formula (NO more than a page) • First graph should show you can write in a compelling way. It should also summarize or excerpt your story. • Nut graf: why we should care about this story. Why this story affects people in the real world • 3rd: your specific plan for reporting this story, use specific names and places • 4th: The kicker- remind the editor the question you’ll answer and why the answer is important to the mag’s audience • 5th: Your qualifications or why you should write this story. Plus your contact info and when you’ll follow up. (When you follow up: include your original pitch and clips but write a specific, short follow up email.)

13. Pitching a completed piece • Almost never do this. • Unless it is a first person piece and then editors want the whole thing.

14. If your pitch gets rejected, keep trying. • Repitch elsewhere. • Keep pitching the same editor if they seem amenable to you. • Be confident