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So, you've decided to pitch us a story (or two). Here are some guidelines so that your email doesn't get instantly deleted.
- Actually pitch something. Don't just introduce yourself and tell us that you want to write about sports. Sending us a story idea gives us a pretty good indication that you want to write about sports.
- Keep your pitches brief and to the point. Chances are that if you can't summarize your pitch in about two or three grafs then we probably won't have the confidence in you to be able to tell that story well either.
- Don't pitch think pieces. Seriously. Don't.
- Write about people. All stories are human stories. Even if the story you've pitched us is about a corrupt system or a weird global phenomenon, that system or phenomenon has serious human consequences. So when you're writing the story, keep those human consequences in mind. Find a protagonist to peg your story to. We are naturally empathetic creatures. Don't be afraid of feelings.
- Avoid pitching first person unless absolutely necessary. There is a wide, weird world out there full of fascinating people doing wonderful and terrible things. If the subject of your story isn't more interesting than you are, then perhaps more reporting is in order.
- Be realistic. Don't pitch us writing a profile about a famous athlete if you stand no chance of getting access to said athlete. We aren't in the business of getting that access for you. If that were the case, then we'd just have one of our staffers write the story.
- Most successful pitches contain all of the following:
- A good core idea - timely, provocative, intriguing, original or some combination of those elements;
- A clear sense of what the article is about and how it will be structured and/or written;
- Enough concrete information to demonstrate that you understand the topic and aren't just bullshitting or pulling a half-baked idea out of your ass; preferably, you've already done some reporting and you want to do more;
- Some sort of reporting plan: who you're going to speak with, where you need to go, why that's the case, and how you intend to do it;
- An idea of when you can have a draft ready and how many words you think the topic merits.