It’s a hazard for any freelancer: the query email that seems to land in a black hole. Writer Cyrus Farivar wanted in to The Economist, so after his introductory email got devoured by the editor’s spam filter, he didn’t settle for radio silence. A follow-up introduction made it past the virtual gatekeeper, and his pitches got his stories into this respected magazine. Our breakdown of his introductory note and a subsequent, story-landing query walks you through what about his approach worked, so you can enjoy similar success.
What the Writer Did
Cyrus Farivar: “If I’m trying to write for a publication I’ve never written before, and it’s somewhere like The Economist and they don’t know me, I try to figure out, who do I know who works there, or who’s written for them? I try to establish a rapport (via email) if I can, and see what they’re looking for.
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I got the email address of Tom Standage (business editor, The Economist) from my friend [redacted]. I emailed Tom probably four or five times between August 2005 and December 2005.
The (Introductory) Pitch
| From: Cyrus Farivar To: Tom Standage Date: November 18, 2005Dear Mr. Standage,(1)My name is Cyrus Farivar and I’m a friend of [REDACTED]. (2) We write for a lot of the same publications including The New York Times and Macworld. (3) I’ve also written for Slate, Wired, Wired News and others. (4)He said that I should contact you about possibly freelancing for the Technology Quarterly section (5) — so, I’m interested. Is there anything in particular that you feel like is lacking in your coverage right now? (6) Anything that you’d like to see? (7) I’d love to talk to you further about this. (8) Thanks, |
What the Writer Did Next
Cyrus Farivar: There were any number of reasons why [Tom] didn’t respond — I didn’t take it personally. After he didn’t respond, I asked [our mutual contact] to bug him for me, and lo, Tom did respond with an assignment. From then on, I pitched a few other things (some were taken, some weren’t). I pitched [the “exergaming” piece] on December 15, 2006 by email. It ran on March 8, 2007.
The (Story) Pitch
| From: Cyrus Farivar To: Tom Standage Date: December 15, 2006Ok, I’ll keep pitching until one of ’em sticks. 😉(9)The story is about a new teen-only gym (it restricts membership to kids 13-18), called Overtime Fitness, that’s based out here in Mountain View, California — less than a mile from Google headquarters. (10) The gym, which was founded by Patrick Ferrell (of GamePro Publishing, and who started the E3 tradeshow in LA), (11) incorporates elements of videogaming into a more traditional workout setting. (12) While in one corner of the gym there is boxing equipment with gloves and a punching bag, there is also a virtual boxing video game that requires the player to shadow box at a screen. (13) Indeed, all of the five video game setups in the gym have some physical aspect to them, and Ferrell views them as bait in order to draw the generation reared on a steady diet of Xbox and Playstation into the gym and working out. (14) Overtime Fitness is the emergent property of the marriage of athletics and video games. (15) Previously, these two emerged with the Nintendo Power Pad in the 1980s, and more recently with Dance Dance Revolution (the gym has one of its competitors, In the Groove 2) — which have been used around the country for weight-loss and physical education programs over the last few years. (16) Further, this would dovetail nicely with the über-hot video game system of the year, the Nintendo Wii. (17) The Wii has a controller (Wiimote) that will allow for physical motion into a more traditional stationary game — allowing the gamer to swing the controller around to control a battle ax, and so forth. I wouldn’t be surprised if Overtime Fitness brings in a Wii in the future. In short, the piece would be an analysis of how today, we’ve ended up with a new gym that features video games (albeit physically-oriented ones), and a new video game system that now wants to incorporate movement into its titles. (18) -C (19) |
Why the Editor Bit
Tom Standage: What seems to have happened is that Cyrus’s direct approach to me never arrived (it probably fell victim to a spam filter). I am very strict about replying to pitch emails so, had his message arrived, I would have answered it. But [a subsequent] message, mentioning [our mutual contact] did get to me. I’ve known [the contact] for some time and I trust his judgment, but I also Googled Cyrus and saw that he had done a very good piece on the “$100 laptop” for Slate. That meant I was inclined to take him seriously. Slate is an excellent publication, similar to The Economist in many ways, so if he can write for them, he can write for us. Writing for a peer publication (in the case of the Technology Quarterly section [TQ], that means Tech Review, Wired,Business 2.0, etc.) is the single most important qualification I’m looking for.
Cyrus pitched me some more ideas, and did a piece on GPS-assisted tourism for me. Then, in December 2006, he pitched the “exergaming” piece. The Wii had just come out, and I had
bought one on the launch day, and everyone was raving about it. I was planning the March TQ and wanted a way to write about it that would also move the story on from the Wii, which by that stage would be three months old. So his exergaming pitch was ideal, and I said “yes” to it right away.
I liked his exergaming idea because it broadened the story beyond the Wii mania. The story that ran was pretty much as he pitched it, though we threw in a couple of things that happened after the pitch and before publication. What I liked about the pitch was that he was offering a story that would also serve as a brief history of exergaming, going right back to the 1980s and the Nintendo Power Glove, etc., so it had a retro appeal, as well. I am a big fan of historical analogy, and of placing modern developments in historical context. By including the history of these kinds of games we were doing more than just saying “gee, whiz” about the Wii. We were showing that it is the latest in a long line of products. This is what we try to do at The Economist: to cover things in a comprehensive way, so that even if you know nothing about the subject the relevant background material is in the piece.
In general, I don’t mind being emailed by stringers. The barrier to entry for new stringers is low; I read every pitch and reply to every one, and I have many, many stringers with whom I have never even spoken on the phone — I do it all by email. So, it’s not hard to get my attention — you just have to have a good idea. The main thing I am looking for (apart from a good idea) is evidence that the stringer will be able to deliver something printable, and the best evidence for that is previous work for Wired, Slate, New Scientist, Tech Review, BBC, etc. Cyrus had all the right experience.
Key Components of the Pitch
(1) If you’re emailing to introduce yourself to an editor, put a professional foot forward with a formal salutation. Back to pitch
(2) Don’t bury a personal connection — let it work for you by citing it up front. Back to pitch
(3) Mentioning that you and your mutual contact write for many of the same outlets is a graceful way of introducing your credentials, and associating yourself with reliability. Back to pitch
(4) In a preliminary email sans story idea, the onus is on you to sell yourself and what you offer even harder, so don’t hesitate to cite all your relevant credentials. Back to pitch
(5) Stipulating the specific section this editor handles shows that the writer has done his homework and isn’t pitching blind. Back to pitch
(6) Position yourself as a valuable resource by offering to fill holes in the editor’s area of coverage. Back to pitch
(7) Editors love reliable writers to whom they can assign ideas generated in-house, for which the writer is clearly volunteering. Back to pitch
(8) Enthusiasm’s okay, provided you’re succinct. Back to pitch
(9) You can be a talented freelancer with great story ideas and still experience rejection from an editor with whom you’ve established a relationship — here, the writer demonstrates good humor by not taking previous ‘No’s personally. Back to pitch
(10) In classic news lede style, the writer concisely maps out his idea’s “what” and “where.” Back to pitch
(11) In describing the “who” behind his subject, the writer shows he’s done his research by offering background and context about the gym owner. Providing background info germane to your topic positions you as an authority on your subject. Back to pitch
(12) Contrast is essential to an addictively readable piece, and the writer neatly contrasts the newer medium of gaming with the “traditional workout setting.” Back to pitch
(13) Now that the stage has been set with the story’s essential info and a bit of tension, the writer includes descriptive detail that his unusual subject has set the reader up to want. Back to pitch
(14) The notion of the gym owner luring young customers with video game “bait” is intriguing, while the word choice of “steady diet” complements the writer’s subject of health and fitness. The writer shows here that he can engage in wordplay without being heavy-handed, a balance editors want their writers to strike in any extended article. Back to pitch
(15) Dubbing his subject “emergent” is key here — it reinforces that the relevance of the writer’s topic is on the rise, and merits the attention of an article. Proving that your story idea’s ahead of the curve will inspire an editor to assign it so his or her outlet can be among the first to cover it. Back to pitch
(16) Weaving a historical element into the piece places the writer’s idea in a larger context, reinforcing the need for his story. Back to pitch
(17) Mentioning the Wii this late in his query serves the writer well, proving that his piece isn’t a straightforward writeup about the system, but one that skillfully integrates the new technology into a larger idea through the lesser-known subject of the exergaming gym. Back to pitch
(18) Summing up the query in a sentence is a good way to close, leaving the editor with a clear sense of the story. Back to pitch
(19) Now that the writer’s pitching an editor with whom he’s got a relationship, an informal signoff is fine. Back to pitch
