Ian Reeves

What you’ll need  Market knowledge  An idea  A hook  Research  Contacts  Pictures  Luck  Persistence

Market knowledge  Your target publication: know it inside out – sections, word counts, key staff (particularly commissioning editors)  Your target publication’s competitors – in print and online  The community that you will be reaching. Do your research.

The idea  Can come from anywhere  Likely to arise from your research into a specific community  Try to put yourself in their shoes and ask questions they want to answer  Ask:  Why is this interesting to the community?  Has it been done before? Or recently?

The hook  Why is this interesting now?  Is there a news story that has put the issue into the spotlight?  Are there reports/investigations/court cases underway that will help?  Is there a specific person or group of people looking for (or trying to avoid) publicity on the issue?

Research  You can’t do enough of it  Become an instant expert  Read all coverage you can find  Talk to as many interested parties as you can  Ask every contact who else you should speak to  Talk to PRs

Contacts  Identify the individuals or groups that are essential to your feature  Build their confidence in you  Explain what you need and where you plan to publish  Keep them posted about developments

Pictures  Does your publication use a staff photographer?  Will you need to source your own pictures?  Can your contacts help provide them?  Search the picture libraries and check the cost  Ask PRs

Luck  Budgets  Timing  Internal politics  Unethical staffers  Remember there’s no copyright on ideas

Persistence  Don’t be afraid to follow up your pitch  But don’t push it  Don’t expect a high success rate

The pitch  is fine – but generally first to check they’re accepting pitches  Keep it short – 4 pars is usually enough  Start with the hook – something with the ‘wow’ factor  Brief outline  Explain who your main sources will be  Be clear and specific about which section you’re pitching at  Suggested word count  Suggested illustrations  Brief biog details about yourself

Feature pitch resources  How to pitch to…. Various specific magazines  Company magazine features ed on how to pitch  Successful magazine writers on how to pitch  Time Out features editor’s perfect pitch  How not to pitch