Journos covering all things green can land a byline at the website of Audubon, one of the nation’s oldest continuously published magazines. The advocacy magazine promotes the mission of saving birds, wildlife and habitat and serves as the flagship publication of the National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental groups in the country.

The mag’s website covers the same nature-friendly topics as the print mag, and editors are open to hearing from freelancers who want to write Web content and establish a relationship with the pub. In particular, they would love to receive more multimedia pitches, like videos, slideshows and audio pieces. 

For more info, read How To Pitch: Audubon.

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Just like its print counterpart, the Web incarnation of Inc hopes to provide the startup world with useful advice. “It’s a resource for business owners, fast-growing companies, entrepreneurs and people with an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Nicole Richardson, the site’s executive editor of special projects. Despite their similar missions, however, Inc.com ‘s content is decidedly more Web-friendly with short, service pieces. Plus, those with startup expertise can land a gig as a regular columnist.
 
For more details, read How To Pitch: Inc.com.

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

As if researching, writing, and publishing a story isn’t enough work, we have to promote them, too. It’s easy enough with social media, especially if you have a social media guru in your newsroom. But it’s also easy to get caught click baiting on Twitter. Noam Cohen of The New York Times wrote about the Twitter account @HuffPoSpoilers this week, which tweets summaries of Huffington Post stories, which are usually tweeted with vigor — and lots of buzzwords. Often, the story isn’t as interesting as the tweet.

Don’t fall into your publications tweeting traps. Let them tweet what they will, but take matters into your own hand, too. 

Whatever your platform, I think what comes before the link should be treated with as much care as your lede and 140 characters should suffice. 

•  Remember the 5 W’s and the H. It’s hard not to bait your followers, but don’t make me wonder where, say, that earthquake hit. If it’s so far away from your target reader that they may not click on the link, you’ll have to live with that.

• Unless you work for TMZ, lose the crazy adjectives. Did the congressperson really ‘explode’? Is Marissa Mayer really leading a ‘revolution’? Check yourself. 

• About retweeting. I often fall into the trap of tweeting story links with a vague, one word response. But I’m making a pledge to all my social media friends to start being more useful. If you tweet a story that’s not yours, tell me why I need to read it. ‘Right on,’ or ‘This is naive,’ are click-bait cliches. The short links give you so many characters to describe the story to me — use them wisely! Give me a reason to bookmark the link and read it later. Be your brand, and venture to have an opinion of your own now and again. 

Put out by one of the few independent publishing companies left in the country, Yankee aims to provide fresh and heartfelt accounts of life in the six New England states.  ”Our mission has always been New England. Is it about place? Is it about people interacting with place? That’s the first thing we ask and it’s the filter for everything — does it say something about New England?” said editor Mel Allen. 

Allen says the bi-monthly publication is more than open to pitches from freelancers. ”There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than finding new writers,” Allen said. “It’s the most fun part of the editor’s job.” He also stressed that his staff appreciates material that strays from the conventional. “Come in with a topic that will surprise us.”

Get all the details and editors’ contact info in How To Pitch: Yankee.

– Nicholas Braun

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After 65 years of circulation, Archaeology continues to provide the world with coverage of the latest developments in the field. Editor-in-chief Claudia Valentino told Mediabistro that the bimonthly publication takes pride in featuring content that combines thorough research with a writing style that stirs the imagination. ”We really, really try to focus both on excellent reporting, but terrific storytelling. Those two have to be present in every piece,” she explained.

“[Freelancers] won’t just be judged on the idea; they’ll be judged on the quality of the pitch,” said Valentino. “It’s possible that we might say, ‘Well, you know, that piece isn’t such a great idea for us, for various reasons that this person can’t know, but look at the quality of the pitch. Maybe we should think of them for something else.’”

With a kill rate of only 25 percent and pay rate of $1/word, Archaeology could reap lots of healthy bylines for writers. Get all the details in How To Pitch: Archaeology.

– Nicholas Braun

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.