How to pitch a story, not an idea
The 3 simple questions that will maximise your pitching success
You can easily beat off competition from 90 per cent of the pitches that land in any editor’s inbox by making sure you are pitching stories, not concepts.
Far too many of the pitches I receive are about broad ideas - and these can be difficult and time-consuming for journalists to turn into articles, which makes them easy to ignore.
So how can you make sure you’re pitching a story - and what makes this different from a more general idea?
Asking yourself these 3 questions as you’re crafting your pitch will help you figure it out (I use these every time I pitch):
1. What specifics are you offering?
I receive so many pitches about very broad subjects - but the best stories are always about specifics.
For example, I often get expert pitches along the lines of:
Have you considered writing about the problems women have getting diagnosed with endometriosis? I have an expert who can talk about the condition.
I cover women’s health, so I’ll happily write about this topic - but there’s no story in this pitch, it’s just a broad concept. Can you imagine what the headline on this article would be? Nothing jumps out because there’s no obvious news angle or feature hook here.
The pitch is asking the journalist to come up with a specific angle (so the expert can have publicity) - and that’s not our job.
But here are three ways you could make this more specific and turn it into a story which DOES get commissioned:
Pitch a strong opinion
Expert criticises GPs for “ignoring” endometriosis symptoms - I can offer you an interview with a [qualified] expert who says medical misogny is affecting diagnosis rates of this common condition - and is calling for better training.
When your expert has something specific to say - especially if it’s likely to spark debate - and/or is actively doing something (like launching a campaign or a call to action), the broad idea becomes a story.
Pitch a case study
“Doctors ignored my concerns until I nearly died from endometriosis complications” - I can offer you an exclusive case study who has had this experience and an expert who can talk about the condition.
There is a specific story here about one woman’s shocking experience - that creates a hook from which the journalist can interview the expert.
Pitch a stats story
New research shows a third of women visit the GP at least five times before being diagnosed with endometriosis - I have exclusive stats and an expert you can talk to about why it is hard to get a diagnosis.
When you pitch new statistics (whether they’re from a survey, an expert’s customer database or a new analysis of existing public data) you are creating a specific story about one aspect of the broader idea - which creates a hook to get the expert publicity.
You can also absolutely do a combination of all of the above!
2. Who are the people in your story?
Every article needs people - and your pitch needs to spell out who they are.
If you’re pitching a first-person case study, then this “who” question will have an obvious answer.
If you’re pitching, say, a new piece of tech equipment, you’re going to have to think a bit harder:
Who are the people whose lives will be changed by this? Can you include a case study?
Does the founder have a fascinating personal story to tell about what inspired them?
Does an expert have a strong opinion/call to action you could pitch as the focus?
Highlight who will feature and spell out how/why they are part of the story.
And make sure they’re available for interview/comment and you’ve attached some sample pictures. Editor Leah Milner spoke to Get Featured earlier this year about why pictures can make or break a pitch.
3. Can you sum it up in a short subject line?
This is my go-to technique for ensuring I’ve nailed the point of the story. Nothing sharpens your focus like having to compress the whole idea down into a single, short sentence.
Your subject line is essentially the headline you’re putting on your pitch. So imagine what the headline would look like in your target publication and aim for as close to that style as possible.
For example:
I nearly died after doctors ignored my endometriosis symptoms
Doing this is also a great technique for figuring out if you’re trying to pitch something too broad or vague: If it doesn’t work as a headline, it won’t work as a story.
I’ve shared loads of info about how to nail your email subject lines in this post.
And yes, annoyingly, all of these things take more time than just pitching: Would you like to write about X topic? - but that’s the point.
If you do the extra work to come up with a solid story and offer that to a busy journalist, they are infinitely more likely to take you up on that than if you ask them to do that work themselves.
It’s something I do all the time when pitching to editors and staff journalists, who I know don’t have any spare time - and it works!
Coming up next week, I’ll be sharing my guide to deadline times and press days at major publications. This post will be free to read but you’ll need to subscribe to get it in your inbox.