How To Pitch

When you’re jetting off for the long holiday weekend, remember the stories and places you come across — they could land you a cover story.

GO, the award-winning in-flight magazine for Airtran, is seeking in-depth travel pieces on markets that are less-covered. ”We want to inspire really interesting ways of seeing different places,” said Jaime Lowe, GO‘s executive editor. “We want as many people as possible to get excited about learning about other communities, being surrounded by new experiences and pushing themselves, through travel.”

While most mags advise new writers to break in through smaller, front- or back-of-book stories, GO has a meaty feature well that’s ripe for the pitchin’ — even for first-time freelancers. “We’re always looking for new writers with great stories,” said Lowe. “A great idea always wins. If there’s an excellent travel narrative, we’ll assign it.”

For more details on breaking in, read How To Pitch: GO.

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General parenting magazines are aplenty in this industry, but Family Circle specifically zeroes in on the life of raising a teenager. So, scribes hoping for a byline need to make sure they offer concrete tips for the health and well-being of readers’ families.

“We offer essential advice for tough parenting challenges, fun suggestions for family activities, healthy and delicious recipes, and DIY projects to create a comfortable home,” said senior associate editor Stephanie Emma Pfeffer.

If you’re bursting with ideas in any of those topics, you’re in luck. FC relies on freelancers for about 60 percent of its content.

Get more guidelines in How To Pitch: Family Circle.

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Landing a byline at a regional pub when you’re an out-of-towner takes some effort, but as long as you keep in mind the audience you’re writing for, editors are usually open-minded.

Take The Boston Globe Magazine, for example. Editor-in-chief Susanne Althoff asks freelancers to remember that the Globe magazine is, at root, a local magazine. “That doesn’t mean we’re not interested in national trend stories,” she said. “But it’s got to be a trend that’s of interest to readers in the Boston area, or in the greater Boston/New England area.”

Find out where to send your story ideas in How To Pitch: The Boston Globe Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

At Afar, editors are seeking stories of travelers who like to juice the place they’re visiting for all it’s worth — interacting with the locals, going off the touristy trail to shop in real marketplaces, and eating indigenous, authentically prepared meals.

Although their median income hovers just above the six-figure mark and they enjoy all of the earmarks of luxury, the mag’s readers like a real-life experience with their vacationing. With that in mind, aspiring Afar writers need to bring their A-game (think affluence and authenticity) to snag an assignment.

“There’s a real emphasis on giving readers a deeper dive, a sort of street-level view of a place,” editor-in-chief Julia Cosgrove explained.

Find out which sections are ripe for input in How To Pitch: Afar.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Want to see your byline next to those of Food Network stars? It is difficult, but not impossible.

Right now, about 5 to 10 percent of Food Network Magazine‘s content is freelance-generated, at most. ”We’re a hard pitch. I can probably count on one or two hands how many pitches we’ve accepted since we launched,” said deputy editor Tracy Saelinger. “That said, we welcome ideas from writers, but they just have to be newsy, quirky and fun. We get pitched lots of tired trends that feel like old news.”

For details on three freelancer-friendly sections, read How To Pitch: Food Network Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Despite all the recent reshuffling in its staff,  Maxim remains tethered to its initial man-minded mission, featuring pieces with the brashly irreverent yet surprisingly instructive tone of an enlightened frat brother.

“I’d say the level of humor and discourse has gotten a little sharper and smarter,” said editor-in-chief Dan Bova, “but the goal is still to be that plain-spoken, witty best friend guiding you through the guy universe.”

But don’t think you’re going to break in with a pitch about yet another celebrity. ”Somebody proposing we should interview Chris Rock is not being particularly helpful. We do most of the star-wrangling ourselves,” Bova explained.

So, what type of pitches are editors looking for? Get the details in How To Pitch: Maxim

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Initially launched as a newsletter for women in entertainment by industry veteran Jamie Foster Brown, Sister 2 Sister has been breaking stories in black Hollywood since 1988. But it’s the lifestyle half of S2S where freelancers can break in with pitches on tips and trends on food, fitness, style and more.

In fact, the magazine prides itself on educating African-American women 18-49 in all aspects of their lives. And writing for an independent title means you can relax your language a little. “We don’t do stuffy,” said senior editor Ericka Boston. “Our pieces have a conversational tone.” But, just like anywhere else, your grammar and AP Style mastery does matter.

Get details on specific sections to pitch and word counts in How To Pitch: Sister 2 Sister.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

If you follow the burgeoning startup scene in New York, Inc. may have some assignments for you. While Inc. occupies the same shelf space of other business publications like Entrepreneur, Fast Company and Forbes, the magazine has a distinction that separates itself from its competitors.

“We are a magazine about people who are incredibly passionate and have the will to start a business from scratch,” said Alexandra Brez, managing editor. ”We are different because of our sophistication, as well as our connection to and interest in community events. And we are a very likable brand. People are proud to be featured by us.”

For pitching guidelines and information on open sections, read How To Pitch: Inc.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Since launching in 1951, Jet has sought out to be the authority on breaking information in the black community — but this is not your mama’s Jet. Freelancers who fail to do their journalistic due diligence will be swiftly sniffed out.

“If you just send me whatever and it’s not very well thought-out and it makes no sense for my magazine, you’re wasting my time. And I remember that,” says editor-in-chief Mitzi Miller. “A lot of things have changed recently with Jet in terms of our tone and the type of stories that we’re now covering, and I can tell when writers have truly been paying attention and when they’re just like, ‘Oh, I remember when my mom used to read Jet.’”

Since pitching is your one opportunity to make an impression, get to the point of the story succinctly and swiftly, advises Miller. ”Make it impossible for me to say no.”

Find out which sections are open in How To Pitch: Jet.

The editors of AARP The Magazine are set on featuring rich content that inspires, informs and entertains, but freelancers don’t need to have reached the second half of life to break into this widely-read publication. All it takes is a timely story that resonates with their 50-plus audience.

“We tend to green-light freelance queries that are innovative, forward-looking and indicate that the writer has carefully studied the magazine,” deputy editor Marilyn Milloy said. And, lucky for you, any section not penned by a regular columnist is wide open to pitches.

Get all the details in mediabistro.com’s How To Pitch: AARP The Magazine.