Writing an op-ed: Pitching tips
An audio version is available at SoundCloud
Holly: You have an op-ed ready to go. It has a clear argument, strong evidence, it’s timely, you’ve considered the counter-argument and it has a specific call to action. Now it’s time to pitch!
Welcome to the Aspen Institute New Voices Fellowship Tips! My name is Holly Kearl and I manage the alumni of our fellowship program. Today, I am talking with our Alumni Council members about their tips and experiences with pitching. First, here is some practical advice:
Before you pitch an article, you should know who you want to reach and what kinds of news outlets they read. Then, check out those news outlets and make sure they haven’t already published a piece like yours. Read a few pieces to make sure your article seems like it will be a fit. Then, get the contact information for the editor and draft your pitch.
Keep the pitch short, a paragraph or so, and mention the newhook, your main argument and your credentials for writing the piece. In essence, you want to answer for them WHAT you are writing on, WHY it’s timely and WHY you are the person to write it. If you’ve written for other outlets, it can be good to mention them, so they know you have a proven track record with op-eds.
Most outlets ask you to paste your op-ed below your pitch, not as an attachment. At the end of your article, write the one sentence bio you want them to use if they run your piece. In the subject line, write “Pitch” followed by something attention grabbing about your article.
If you haven’t gotten a response in about 48 hours, you may want to send a short, polite check-in email to the editor to see if they’ve had a chance to read and consider your piece. If you don’t get a response a day or two later, you can send another check-in. And a day or two after that, you may want to ask, “I assume you’re passing on my piece?” If they don’t respond after a few hours, you can pitch it someplace else.
It is bad form to pitch more than one outlet at a time, so if you decide you want to pitch it to a new outlet, be sure to let the first outlet know you are taking it out of consideration.
ElsaMarie D’Silva, you have pitched a lot of pieces, what has been your experience?
Elsa: Cultivate editors and try to engage them with your articles. Do not be disappointed if your piece is not accepted in the first go. Do let them know that you are available to write on the topic in the future. Also ask your fellow ANV friends for help if needed.
Holly: True. You have a community to tap into! Sathya Raghu Mokkapati, you have some related advice, right?
Sathya: Yes, listen to what editors want in the area of your expertise. Even when you write to them, be super willing to get their feedback and change your OpEd, if need be. There is nothing like meeting in person, if you get a chance to. Relationship goes to a very different level where things start moving fast. After all, they are humans ! I send to some of the editors the articles that I write for other OpEds too. I think it lends more credibility.
Holly: Yes, mentioning in the pitch where else you’ve been published can really help. Esther Ngumbi, you are prolific at pitching. What are your tips?
Esther: Be open. Don’t take a rejection personally. Always thank the editors-whether they accept your piece or not. Always let them know you are available if they ever have a topic they want you to write on. Sometimes, I have had Editors ask me to write a piece. I have come to love it — -because I know I do not have to pitch. I am still weak in this, but, before you pitch, take a minute or so to see if they have published something about the topic you are pitching on. If they have done it — then consider pitching elsewhere.
Holly: One of your experiences with USA Today stands out, do you mind sharing what happened?
Esther: I still remember doing my best to beat the nuances that come with pitching a timely Op-Ed. This time, I was out of the country. So I did my best and came up with the piece. I sent to NPR and hoped on the plane. 8 hours later, upon touching down, and curious to see my piece on the outlet, because I was darn sure they will post it, I was only met by a rejection. Sorry Esther, we cannot use your piece-and this was the first email I read. Ahhh, I was devastated. But, then, I remembered, to use my own piece of advice — to sleep over it and try elsewhere. So, i, slept over it and pitched it to USA Today, the next day. I had pitched there before and had been rejected, but, this time, the editor accepted, with little corrections. The take -away — do not be devastated.
Holly: That’s great! Now, it takes a while to get to this point, we all have to start somewhere, Gulrez Shah Azhar, can you speak to that?
Gulrez: I think the first one is the most difficult. Once we have one down, then subsequent ones are easier to get published. I remember my first one took months. And it is easier to go to places where we have already published before. Though we all want all of our pieces in the NY Times, there are plenty of platforms. In fact since there is a specific dedicated following at various different platforms it makes sense to target appropriately. Having a social media presence definitely helps a lot. Be careful how you present yourself publicly. I try to tweet / post and comment on topics I believe I have professional and formal expertise. And refrain on publicly commenting on issues on which I have strong opinions but no expertise (trust me, there are many!).
Holly: That’s a good point. Editors may look you up before deciding to work with you, so think about what you say publicly and how you present yourself! It can be good to periodically Google yourself and see what pops up, too. Jacqueline Muna Shea, can you please share your thoughts on working with editors?
Jacqueline: Yes, I’ve found it is useful to get to know editors. Sometimes it’s useful to know them before you pitch and other times it’s better to develop the relationship over time. I found this helpful for “This is Africa,” a publication of the Financial Times. After writing two pieces, the editor invited my co-author and I to write a column. Sadly TIA no longer exists, but my contact is still at the FT and has been open to helping me publish in the FT. I finally published again in the FT this year. Besides getting to know editors, it’s been useful to cold call editors and pitch before writing pieces. This has worked especially well for local publications in Uganda. Local press now knows me and are able to tell me the best times to publish pieces. Otherwise, I’ve relied heavily on the Aspen New Voices network. I stopped getting down about rejection. I just modify pieces and pitch to other outlets. Sometimes it means I wait for another similar hook, but I think if the effort of writing and editing has gone into a piece, it must be published!
Holly: That’s great. Overall, when it comes to pitching, being polite, patient and persistent are all good traits to exhibit and they are traits each of you have exhibited in your process. The reality is, sometimes it can take pitching up to eight outlets and revising a newshook to keep the piece timely before you ultimately find it a home. Don’t give up! And if you have a piece you really want up as soon as possible and you aren’t getting responses from the editors, you can publish it yourself on Medium.com. In fact, New Voices fellows can contribute to our publication — just get in touch with me and I can help.
