Magazine Lecture #3

Jackie Thornton's Rules of Pitching to an Editor

• You need to persuade the editor that you can deliver all that you are promising within
• your pitch. For example, explain in detail evidence that a particular interview has taken/ will take place.
• Focuses on accuracy, no mistakes are allowed.
• Ensure that the style of you pitch matches the magazine/ newspaper that you are pitching to. 
• Gather as much information as possible to ensure that all areas and angles of your idea are covered.
• It is mportant to look at formats and decide what section of a publication your feature would go into.
• You need a killer first paragraph to prove that you are capable of writing in a compelling way. Try and summarise your entire work into this first paragraph.
• ‘The nut grab’ or the ‘say what factor’ needs to be described in your second paragraph. 
• Discuss why this story affects people. Why would people want to read this?
• Your third paragraph should include plans that you have for interviews.
• At the end of your pitch, write one sentence about yourself (biographical) and give references. This is a good way of getting back up support from other reporters.
• Always send the pitch in the body of an email; editors don’t want to waste time opening attachments.
• Use 7 words max in the subject field of an email.
• Get someone else to read through you pitch besides yourself as they will have more chance of spotting any errors.
• You should follow up your email the next day for newspapers and 1-2 weeks for magazines.
• There is a fine line between being keen to write for a particular publication and appearing desperate. Show gratitude but don’t appear desperate.