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Topic: Pitching The Huffington Post
| Author | Message |
| r. | Posted – 12/11/2009 4:25:18 PM | show profile | email poster | flag this post Hi, Does anyone know the best way to pitch the Huffington Post? I (think) they don't pay, but it seems like an outlet for some decent exposure. Has anyone had any experiences with them, good or bad? I've searched through the boards but haven't seen this posted. Thanks |
| lauraroberts78 | Posted – 12/11/2009 8:28:18 PM | show profile | email poster | flag this post same here I was just about to post this question myself. Their website doesn't seem to have any writers guidelines, as most do. Anybody got any answers on this one? Much obliged! |
| WordyBird | Posted – 12/12/2009 2:11:54 AM | show profile | flag this post The Huffington Post exploits writers. Why put money in Arianna's purse? Oh, wait. "Exposure." Don't kid yourself. There are plenty of outlets that will pay you for your hard work. |
| foodlit | Posted – 12/12/2009 12:21:47 PM | show profile | flag this post Agree with Wordy. Doubt that kind of exposure helps any, if it's obvious you're writing for free. I'd focus on writing for pay publications. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 1:13:38 PM | show profile | flag this post i wouldn't agree with that, foodlit I don't believe in writing for free. That said, a clip from HuffPo is far from a demerit. Many well-known writers (and dare I say, celebrities) write for it. If the OP is trying to build a portfolio (and it sounds like it from the post) then I think you could do considerably worse. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 12/12/2009 3:04:22 PM | show profile | flag this post If I'm a publisher and I know you wrote for free for someone else, I'd just ask you why you won't write for free for me, too. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 5:16:08 PM | show profile | flag this post i've been assigned I-don't-know-how-many stories in my life, certainly hundreds. I can't recall ever having a single conversation with the publisher or any of those publications. Next time you talk to the Sulzbergers, though, you make sure and ask them about this. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 5:16:45 PM | show profile | flag this post should read: 'any of those' |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 5:17:45 PM | show profile | flag this post third draft sheesh. 'of any of those...' |
| Grateful Deadline | Posted – 12/12/2009 5:53:06 PM | show profile | flag this post I can reword it: If I'm an editor and I know you wrote for free for someone else, I'd assume you'll write for free for me, too. Then I'll have budget to spend on other things. |
| Randy B. Hecht | Posted – 12/12/2009 8:19:34 PM | show profile | flag this post I'll leave aside the crapshoot of accurately (or not) reading the mind of a hypothetical editor and flip the question around to the non-hypothetical reporter: You have a pitch for an article you think is worth publishing. Given that there are print and online outfits that pay for such articles, why would you give it away for potential (and possibly imagined) "decent exposure" instead of selling it for a definite sum of money and a paid clip to add to your portfolio? Did anyone see The Daily Show some time back when Huffington made an appearance to hawk her book? She had the balls to try to dazzle Stewart with the "exposure" he could get by writing for her blog. He laughed at her, rolled his eyes, and said, "I have A TV SHOW." Same principle applies to us, except our line is, "I have PAYING editors." I don't wake up each morning looking for ways to make some BS progressive poseur richer than she already is. I wake up each morning looking for ways to increase MY net worth. And since there are still, even in this economy, ways to do that, giving it away is all downside and no upside. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 9:03:57 PM | show profile | flag this post Personally, I don't write for free, nor do I recommend that anyone else give away the store. My only point is that I think it's absurd to say that an editor at a mag that pays for articles will ask you to write for free because you've showed them a clip from HuffPo. If you pitch an idea to National Geographic with clips from your local newspaper, will the editor demand to pay you the cheap hometown rate? FWIW, I think that with HuffPo raking in the kind of cash that most print outlets would kill to even approach, they got a lot of nerve asking people to work for free. Some much for their much-touted liberal/progressive/whatever values. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 12/12/2009 9:05:13 PM | show profile | flag this post there's no avoiding typos today. last night was a bit too, uh, celebratory. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 12/13/2009 5:20:02 PM | show profile | flag this post All right, let me re-word this: If you don't respect yourself and your work enough to demand payment when writing for someone else, then your writing must not be worth paying for. Just my opinion. |
| Village Gal | Posted – 12/13/2009 5:21:20 PM | show profile | flag this post I know a couple of peeps who placed essays there- they did not pitch, just sent the completed piece. they don't pay. |
| Lindsey Lou! | Posted – 12/13/2009 9:35:32 PM | show profile | flag this post Honestly, I think writing for HuffPo matters only if your name is already fairly well-known. Alec "my movie-career was a failure" Baldwin and Russell "I <3 Yoga" Simmons write for the site regularly. I'm almost certain they aren't writing for exposure to their writing portfolio. I agree with Wordy...don't write for free....at least not until you can afford to write for free. ------ www.lindseygregory.wordpress.com |
| nellie bly | Posted – 12/19/2009 4:26:10 AM | show profile | flag this post ah, the irony Fishbowl did a post today (okay yesterday) titled Arianna Huffington: A Living Wage for Journos 'Still Being Worked Out' "Our site is not built around the freebie," she said. "Our site is built around very hard-working editors and reporters who do all the curating and aggregating and original content. Then bloggers can write when they want, if they want." The Huffington Post's founder and editor in chief acknowledged that the question of how to fund journalism and pay a living wage "is still being worked out." I also know a couple of peeps who've published there. Political stuff, essays or editorials that were rejected by the Times |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 12/20/2009 10:44:30 PM | show profile | flag this post Email someone on the masthead. Trust me, if you can spell and are breathing, your work will be "published". You don't need to pitch. Send them a link to a blog post, and then tell them you want to write about some half-nude starlet and/or Sarah Palin. Despite Arianna's posturings, they're not in any position to pay, nor do they wish to be. |
