Pitch letters are short, usually between 250 and 500 words. But they must work very hard. You need to sell yourself and your story with this letter. It must grab the editor's attention, show that you can write, give the editor a snapshot of the story, demonstrate the story's relevance to the site's readers, and persuade that you are qualified to write this.
Think of the pitch letter as answering these five questions (that will inevitably be asked by the editor):
What is the story?
Why should we publish it?
How are you going to tell it?
Who are you?
Why are you the one to write it?
Like stories themselves, pitch letters have “leads” that serve the same function: to grab the reader's attention and get them to keep reading. One trick of pitch letter writing is to begin the pitch as you would the story.
Your assignment is to pitch your web feature (semester project) story, as if I'm the editor and the publication is Pima186. Print it out and bring it to class Tuesday.
Here's a sample outline:
Dear ____________ (always address to a specific editor).
Lede graph: Exactly like you'd write the lede to the story itself.
Idea graph: Quickly explain the larger story and its significance. Include any helpful statistics, recent news, any relevant links. Justify why this story belongs on this blog/site.
Sources graph: Demonstrate that you've done some research and have access to sources willing to be quoted, include any reporting ideas you have for the story.
About me graph: Who are you, where have you published (you can all say you have been writing on your own blog!), and why are you qualified to write this piece?
Ask graph: Ask if the editor is interested. If there are any dates or deadlines, mention them ("Would PimaWriting be interested in this story? The event is this Wednesday.")
Thanks for considering/Sincerely/Best,
Your name
contact info
blog/web site address if you have one
links to clips if you have them. (A clip is a published example of your work)
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