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How to Pitch: ElleThis new, freelance-friendly pub likes little-guy-triumphs tales, especially those from outside New York and LA.By Melissa Walker – February 9, 2007
Background: Elle began in France 60 years ago as a general-interest women's magazine with the breathy tagline, "Cherchez la femme." The title's mission? "To help readers find the woman inside themselves." Elle transcends the stereotype of the air-headed fashion magazine. When editor-in-chief Robbie (Roberta) Myers took over in 2000, she "upped the news factor," and seven years later, the magazine's reporting is still "topical and ambitious," says executive editor Alexandra Postman. "We do ample coverage of fashion news and trends, but we're also interested in the ecology of fashion -- cultural trends and issues that are relevant to style." Meaning? The arts, provocative and controversial figures, health issues and general interest pieces, says Postman. Yes, all of these topics are relevant to "the reader who covets a $1000 handbag." The magazine is closer in spirit to -- but less snobbish than -- cultured, style-minded titles Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, than service-oriented women's books like Glamour. "We give more space to broader cultural trends than our competitors do," says Postman. The magazine's editorial lineup features celebrity, fashion, health, and beauty pieces mixed in with cultural and political reportage. With a "sophisticated, straightforward, and upbeat tone," Elle targets affluent, cultured women in their 20s and 30s. Think sharp, smart fashionistas. These are, after all, the same readers who contribute the highly literate book reviews that appear in the column "Elle's Letters" Readers' Prize. What to pitch: The FOB "First" section includes 200- to 800-word profiles, reviews, and trend stories. Postman describes "First" as "a crib sheet of what you need to know to be culturally literate," covering art, music, TV, film, theater, dance, designers, and lifestyle topics such as travel and food. Writers should have their own PR contacts to show they have access to their subjects -- especially for a first pitch. Though it's unusual for a FOB section, "First" is a highly in-house affair. "We rely on a stable of regular Elle contributors," Postman says. Your best bet to break in? "Art" and "Dance." "We don't have regular columnists for those sections, so they are more open to freelancers." The good news is, that while the FOB is fairly tough to crack, the feature well is wide open. "We're hungry for really smart ideas," says Postman. "Unlike some other magazines where editors think up the ideas and then assign to their stable of writers, we are really writer-driven." It's true that many of the writers pitching have a history with the magazine, but Postman says that there are opportunities for writers with strong ideas and the Elle tone. "The 'Beauty/Body/Health' page accepts pitches," says Postman. "Usually, the story that makes the cut there is a personal narrative that feels right for us, or a reported piece from someone who has a particular area of expertise." In February '07, senior beauty and fashion writer Maggie Bullock wrote about a seaweed tablet that is the new rage in dieting. Don't let Bullock's staff status discourage you, however. "More than half of our ideas actually come from writers," says Postman. The feature well includes longer cultural and relationship articles, as well as "fairly hard-hitting" investigative pieces on topics including law, medicine, and politics. Postman says she likes "stories that can present some kind of freshly argued, contrarian or unconventional wisdom, where there's tension and something at stake for the reader." For "Profiles," Postman looks for "cultural figures who are lightning rods for certain issues, and of course, have an appeal to women. They can be from any field -- literature, medicine, media, politics." And in the "Mind/Body" section, Postman is interested in the psychological angle on physical phenomena. "It's a point of view that informs many of our pieces," she says, adding that Elle stories often dig deep into the psychology angle. "I'm interested more in provocation than inspiration. Stories with tension work well for us." She has also assigned pieces to freelancers about medical controversies, relationship trends, reported news -- in short, "zeitgeist pieces that cover cultural phenomena." Postman also buys a good number of personal essays, "though I'm very judicious about the essays I assign," she says. "If they're not zeitgeisty or responsive to something in the news, I might hold off." She buys the ones she loves, but admits that it often takes months for them to run because they can get bumped in favor of something more timely. "It helps to write an essay that somehow contributes to a broader cultural conversation," advises Postman. "It should feel current, like a dialogue rather than a chestnut." Recent freelance stories pitched and published: A personal essay by Gina Methlie about how her hesitation to commit mirrored her father's; a 'Mind/Body' investigative piece by Susan Orenstein about a new diet that purports to trick your body into losing weight; Dani Shapiro's essay about her relationship with her egg donor. What not to pitch: "No 'Nifty Gal' stories," says Postman, who's not into pieces whose sole job is to inspire. "Heart-tugging, human-interest articles about a heroine who overcomes some adversity -- the meat and potatoes of many women's magazines -- don't work well for Elle." In "Health," Postman is tired of fertility stories: "We've sliced it every which way," she says. "It would have to have an incredibly original angle or be very, very newsy for us to revisit fertility." With "Relationship" pieces, Postman dislikes the "Faux-nomenon," where "10 women are quoted about having experienced something similar, and then they're analyzed by two shrinks. Those stories don't have depth -- they're not terribly persuasive." Don't pitch stories without a timely element. If you're pitching an evergreen topic -- like a query Postman recently received on office gossip -- be sure to include a newsy hook. Etiquette: Email is best for pitches, but if you're sending clips, go the postal route -- and send clips similar to the type of story you're pitching. Postman likes to see a range of pieces, since "it's nice to see if someone can be versatile." She's also partial to clips that show what a writer's voice is like -- an element often missing in newspaper articles, she believes. To assign a long feature, Postman will want to see evidence of comparable work in your past. She's open to general "I'd like to write for you" letters from established writers, "but it's always better to come armed with ideas -- even if none of them work out, those can lead to a dialogue." For personal essays, "if a writer is somebody whose name I would know, I might assign an essay based on a short pitch of an idea. For those without a proven track record, I'd prefer to see a whole essay on spec." You'll either hear back immediately, within several weeks, or somewhere in between. ("You may get a boilerplate rejection note if we're swamped.") Lead time: Three months, "but plan up to six months
ahead." A last-minute pitch is okay for a very strong, newsy idea,
but use discretion. Contact info: For First: Candice Rainey, crainey@hfmus.com |
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Circulation:
One million