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For anyone starting out in journalism who is feeling daunted about pitching and getting a commission, here’s a thread about my first paid commission outside of my day job.
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This was 7 months ago. Since then, I have sent around 100 pitches, only a very very small number of which have been successful, but the ideas and the way I write the pitch improve every time.
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I didn’t know what I was doing. I’d only just discovered what a pitch was and that it was even possible to email an editor of a big publication without any prior communication and with hardly any experience.
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Having scoured Twitter for an email address, I sent the commissioning editor at Stylist an absolute essay of an email, which had a really generic subject line and contained 4 different article ideas, each with a huge explanatory paragraph.
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My intro was a big ramble about myself and included a link (not even a hyperlink) to one unpaid article I’d written for a very small online publication.
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I didn’t mention deadlines, word counts, sources, experts I would speak to - I just presented some very half-baked ideas based on my own life and my experiences during the pandemic.
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I didn’t know about chasing up on pitches, so I just left it after pressing send and assumed it was another ignored/unopened email in the editor’s busy inbox. 15 days later, she replied to commission 1 of the 4 ideas.
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She sent a full brief after a few more emails, but I didn’t know that was a thing that might happen, so I’d already enthusiastically started writing and had to pretty much start again. I didn’t care because I was just so excited.
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A few weeks later, somehow my silly little idea had turned into a proper article on an actual magazine’s website where it might be read by an actual established readership. This is it, if anyone would like to see. https://www.stylist.co.uk/long-reads/coronavirus-anxiety-uk-lockdown-dont-cry-emotional-exhaustion/394049
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So yeah, please don’t be disheartened if you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing because that doesn’t mean you won’t get a commission. If it would help, though, I’ve written a blog post about all the things I’ve learnt about pitching. https://harriella.co.uk/2020/10/01/what-i-learnt-about-pitching-while-on-furlough-fao-writers/
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My DMs are open if anyone would like to chat or ask questions. I am by no means an expert, but I’ve written things I’m really proud of and have got bylines I never thought I’d get in a million years, so hopefully that’s encouraging xxx
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