The ultimate guide to pitching freelance features that sell

Enhance your techniques with the Freelance Writing Network's complete pitching guide.

Ahead of tomorrow’s second edition of publications paying $1/word for freelance features, here’s an updated guide to help you pitch your next story with confidence and land a commission from your dream publication.

New to pitching? Sharpening your skills? This guide covers everything you need to write feature pitches that actually sell.

Still looking for somewhere to pitch? Start here. The Freelance Writing Network has you covered with curated, high-paying opportunities:

• 29 publications paying $2/word

• 40 publications paying $1/word

• 40 Publications paying for travel writing

• 33 publications paying for personal essays

• 32 publications paying for food, drink & cooking writing

• 30 publications paying for science writing

• 35 publications paying for love & relationships writing

• 25 publications paying for creative nonfiction

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The ultimate guide to pitching freelance features that sell

Know who you’re pitching

This is something I mention regularly when sharing pitch calls. Know exactly who it is you’re pitching to. That includes the tone, structure, and types of stories they run. If you want to get commissioned, you need to know this in detail.

You’d be surprised how many writers pitch without reading the publication. How can you possibly convince an editor you’re worth commissioning if you don’t even read the work they’ve edited?

And that also means you have to know who your editor is. It’s worthwhile to know at least one piece they’ve edited that you can reference. It shows you read the publication and know what they publish.

It helps the editor visualise your pitch if you point to a similar story they’ve published.

You should always do your due diligence on researching a publication before you send a pitch to them. If you don’t prepare properly, you’re much more likely to end up in the ‘No’ pile.

Read submission guidelines (if they have them)

I get that sometimes they are quite long. But trust me, editors know when you haven’t read them. One editor I spoke to told me she was often amazed at how many freelancers had clearly not read the publication’s pitch guidelines. They exist to help you pitch well and ignoring them is a red flag.

If you can’t find submission guidelines, you should still take the time to research the publication. Read their ‘About’ section. Read recent articles. Look through the site like an editor would: check headlines, recurring formats and the tone of recent pieces. You need to be clear that you know exactly who you’re pitching.