Put your thinking caps on today because we're not pitching to a magazine about shopping or weed. OK you probably have to use your thinking cap no matter where you pitch, but it's not often that we have a How to Pitch on a publication that I know my parents sometimes read. This is Phi Beta Kappa's quarterly publication of essays, so, the readership tends to be well-educated, writes Jessica Nordell. Pitch "Really good writing. Though everything in The American Scholar is written by freelancers, many are known scholars or have published in the magazine before, so it can be tricky to break in. But great writing stands out, and the cover letter tells all-[editor] Stipicevic says she can usually tell from the quality of writing in the letter whether the resulting piece will meet the magazine's standards. Articles are 3,000-5,000-word essays and geared to an educated, non-specialist readership." Stay away from fiction, though. Send email pitches, please.