In your freelance writing era? Here are the biggest pitching mistakes I made so you don’t have to
I’m not going to tell you exactly how to pitch to a magazine, but I will share what I did wrong so you get to find out the easy way
Freelancing in the early stages can be rough; it was for me. For someone aspiring to write long-form reads on far-ranging topics in big-name publications, you’d think how to pitch to a magazine would be something I felt confident about. I did not.
Until January 2024, and discounting a short stint as a paralegal, I had always pitched in-house, or to the editor of a publication in the same sector who I knew well. Newly uncoupled from any one title, planet Earth’s entire library of magazines unfolded before me.
It was overwhelming. Suddenly, my burning wish to be broadly published shrank in the expanding shadow cast by all the brilliant features writers of the world.
But, having gambled, quitting wasn’t an option. So, green as I was, I set to. Every spare minute I wasn’t working on features, I was pitching.
Being a writer isn’t always about posing with a laptop, sometimes you actually have to do some work. Photo: Wes Stone
Spoiler: I hardly landed any commissions in my first few months, and it was demoralising.
Feeding your ideas with research, seeking the hooks, honing the sell and finessing them into a slim paragraph is hard work and, crucially, doesn’t pay. Sending off an idea and getting a ‘no’ back – or worse, nothing – is bad enough, but several times over takes some swallowing.
My efforts felt fruitless at the time, but I’m glad I stuck at it. Getting on for three years later, I have a much better pitching success rate, I know far more about what editors want and how my time is best spent.
How to pitch to a magazine: mistakes I made so you don’t have to
It’s hard to summarise what my early freelance days taught me about how to pitch to a magazine, but if I had 10 minutes to tell you the mistakes to avoid, these would be them.
Don’t neglect using your contacts – and growing the list
If you’re currently working for a couple of editors, ask for their take on pitching. What do they look for from freelancers? What worked for them when they were pitching to editors themselves? Do they know any editors who are looking for reliable freelancers, and can they make an introduction?
One of my editors put me in touch with another who commissioned for a really aspirational title for me. That editor was kind enough to meet with me and give me some pointers on what kind of feature might get picked up in terms of length and subject matter.
It paid off, too. That meeting lead to my first byline outside the equestrian sector.
If your contacts book is limited, but you have a target publication that you’d love to write for, try reaching out to a frequent contributor whose style you admire. I’ve reached out to writers on Instagram for pitching advice and many are only too happy to send back a couple of pointers.
Sources for features also come under the contacts umbrella. More than once I’ve wanted to pursue an idea but I simply haven’t had any sources lined up.
Sometimes it’s worth asking editors if they could pass on contacts – they might be the voice your feature is crying out for. Or, if your idea isn’t time sensitive, ruminate on it – it will keep.
That said, it’s worth shooting for the moon when it comes to sources. I’ve sent DMs and emails with no hope of return, but every so often a big name will get back to you.
Whenever you happen to pick up a new contact, keep a hold of their number and, where possible, keep in touch. You never know when they might be useful.
Not ready to pitch? Write to an editor to ask if they are accepting pitches, and if they have any guidelines or upcoming specials they can share the details of. This gets your name on their radar and gives you insight into what they want. Some publications are quite prescriptive about pitch length and number of pitches per email, for example.
“If you can write well about horses, you can write well about other things” — Someone, probably. Photo: Wes Stone
Going too broad, too soon will hold you back
It is much easier to pitch on something you know a lot about already. For one thing, pitch writing becomes more efficient (more on that later), plus you’ll feel much more confident, which the editor will notice.
I got ahead of myself in the early days and became obsessed with opinion columns in daily newspapers, and desperately wanted to expand my catalog.
Writing about current affairs and popular culture inspired me, so I started spending ages researching and pitching to opinion editors. I loved putting the pitches together, but it was time consuming, and I wasn’t – and still am not – an established voice in this arena.
I didn’t get a single commission despite my countless hours of pitching.
So, I went back to my primary subject – horses – and wondered about adjacent topics; something still in the equine sphere, but perhaps with broader appeal. I hit on ragwort, and bagged my first byline outside of the equestrian sector.
From there, I realised I could quite easily sidestep to write about country matters and lifestyle, and have since landed several commissions with editors in this sector.
My point is this: it can feel limiting to stick to your niche, but this is how you become reliable and established. From there, branch off with topics that straddle your niche and some other thing. Inch by inch, your net will be cast wider. This is so much more effective than giving every ounce of energy to something you’re excited by, but having no skin in that particular game.
Make your way your passions via other areas. Your credibility, skill and expertise will be all the more established for having been grown on the scenic route.
Not every pitch needs to be a new idea
A brilliant writer told me that smart pitches can be delivered to several editors. You can spend hours on a pitch with no guarantee of commission, so if you can tweak that pitch to fit two or more magazines, then so much the better for your time management.
It is likely that you’ll need to revise your pitch to fit the style and requirements of different publications, even if they straddle the same subject matter. To be successful, you will need a strong understanding of the magazine and editor you are pitching to. This is easy enough to attain; you simply need to do a good chunk of reading.
Ultimately, it’s hard to make blanket statements on how to pitch to a magazine. Every publication has a different style, nuances of subject and a target audience all of their own.
The most broad advice I can offer is this: you might have an idea you believe in fiercely, but it needs to matter to the audience you are targeting. That could mean you need to play with the sell, the language, your sources, or you might need to tilt the angle away from what you personally feel to be the crux of the issue to make your reader sit up and take note.
Literally any writer will tell you reading is the foundation of good writing. Honest ones (pictured above) might tell you they don’t read enough. Photo: Wes Stone
Understand there will be many ‘no’s
Sometimes when editors reject a pitch, the reason crystallises instantly. Or, you perhaps knew it wasn’t your most solid pitch when you sent it. Other times, an idea that felt like a masterstroke is pushed aside. This is the most disheartening aspect of pitching.
While it’s good practice to give your work a critical eye, know this: a rejection doesn’t mean your idea was not worthy. Great pitches get rejected all the time, and it’s probably because it is a great pitch to the wrong readership.
Or, nos can happen due to recent or planned coverage of the subject you propose, budgets or editorial policy. For example, I pitched an article about working dogs to an editor who told me such pieces must be written by people with training credentials – fair enough!
Really, though, rejection is not personal, however it might feel. I will say that some editors say “no” more nicely than others, though. Great editors will tell you why it’s a no, good ones will say no politely, and some can’t or won’t get back to you. Or, your email went to spam.
This piece isn’t supposed to be an exhaustive guide on how to pitch to a magazine and is bound to have neglected other common pitching mistakes. But I hope it’s emboldened you to push ahead with freelancing, if you’ve read this far.
Go forth and pitch, reader – you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
