Your First Story Pitches Might Suck (but That's Okay)
The first time I ever pitched a newspaper with an article idea, it was a bit of a mess.
I sent the pitch to The Guardian’s cycling editor, and while the story – about an old man who won a 1,000-mile bicycle race – was an interesting one in itself, the pitch lacked originality, was way too long, and didn’t mention why I was in any special position to write (or rather, rehash) it.
Even so, I got somewhat lucky – the editor at the time happened to be looking for something cheerful and heartwarming as an antidote to the sombre stories he’d published of late, and this was just the thing.
That was 11 years ago, when I didn’t know much better. At that time, my pitching success rate was in the region of 10% (meaning one in ten pitches I sent got commissioned). These days, it’s more like 80%.
Like most writers starting out, my pitching technique sucked. And I’m happy to admit that. But the only reason I got to where I am now, where I can confidently pitch a publication with a strong sense that it’ll be picked up, is because I went through that important stage of trial and error and learning.
That first pitch I sent amounted to what I considered at the time to be a big win, but it took me several rejections to get my next break – which only occurred once I’d truly got to grips with what editors are looking for on a case by case basis.
Why pitches fail
To start with, many of your pitches to magazines and newspapers will inevitably receive either a rejection or no response at all (which in many cases is as good as a rejection). And will do so for a plethora of reasons, from the story not being quite right for the publication’s audience to leading in with the wrong angle.
The trouble is, most of the time you won’t know why your pitch in particular was rejected. Which doesn’t make learning from the process any easier. But it does force you to evaluate where you might have gone wrong: was the pitch too long, and therefore did it miss highlighting the most important details? Was it lacking a timely hook, therefore a sense of urgency and a good reason as to why this story needs telling now?
Normalising rejection
The big issue with rejections is the traditional method of framing them as a negative experience. On the contrary, they’re incredibly useful for someone – anyone – trying to hone their craft. Pitches, especially those early ones, are learning experiences, and even experienced writers have to put up with them from time to time. If I were to pitch a story now to a publication I’d never pitched before, for example, I know by now that it would take me one or two more attempts to properly zero in on what the publication’s really looking for.
One of writing’s biggest tragedies is that good talent can be stifled by an absence of practice. There’s something to be said about being comfortable with being bad at a skill, with the longer-term view that you’ll eventually get good at it. A lot of the time, the ones who ultimately fail on their pitching journey are those who, for whatever reason valid or not, have yet to come to terms with that.
There is also a lot to be said in learning from others – what part of your pitching technique worked, and what didn’t? That’s why it makes up such an important part of So You Want to be a Food Writer?, my pitching course for new food writers, featuring 1-to-1 tuition from yours truly.
Immediate access to the lessons, resources, and 1-to-1 support that'll help you become a professional food writer.