60+ pitching guides for Vox, NatGeo, Wired, Vulture, WaPo, Wirecutter, Slate, and more
Discover more from Freelancing With Tim
60+ pitching guides for Vox, NatGeo, Wired, Vulture, WaPo, Wirecutter, Slate, and more
Go forth and pitch!
(Illustration by Matt Lubchansky)
Hello and welcome to Freelancing With Tim! This newsletter is a weekly resource for journalists full of tips, advice, and guidance about making it in the industry. It covers everything from writing the perfect pitch and building a freelance business to crafting a longform narrative feature and generating story ideas.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider a paid subscription. For $6/month or $60/year, you’ll get an extra newsletter every week, access to the full archive of Zoom panels and workshops, invites to subscriber-only events, early registration for Zoom workshops, 50% off every paid event, and so much more. Click here to see options for subscribing.
Now let’s get to the goods: all those excellent pitching guides. Good luck!
(Updated 9/29/23)
The Guardian (Jessica Reed, Head of Narrative)
The Washington Post, Inspired Life
The Atlantic (General advice)
Deadspin (R.I.P., but it’s an excellent guide)
The Outline (also R.I.P., but another useful guide)
Catapult (also R.I.P., but another useful guide, mainly focused on personal essays)
Oh, a few other things …
• I am happy to announce I am resuming one-on-one pitch reviews and coaching sessions! Schedule a time to go over a pitch, work on story development, talk about career development, get advice on building a successful freelance business, get edits on a story, or anything else you need help with. Book a timeslot on my Calendly here.
• Friendly reminder to take 15 minutes right now and email that editor who has owed you money for an assignment for months. It works!
• For paid subscribers: There are very few concrete, unbreakable rules in pitching. However … I wrote about the only four mandatory components that need to be in every pitch, regardless of the story. Read them all here.
If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, click here to see options for subscribing to get access to past paid-only posts, including the full archive of recorded Zoom panels; a round up of what a bunch of publications pay freelance writers; the dos and don’ts of writing the perfect pitch; and much more. (Subscribers also get a 50% discount to every paid workshop!)
• Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
Okay bye ily!
-Tim ❤️