Never Run Out of Ideas: How to Generate Story Pitches Editors Want

Learn how to cultivate a deep reserve of ideas

Paula Vasan is a four-time Emmy-winning investigative journalist and communications strategist whose reporting has influenced legislation and reached millions across broadcast and digital platforms. Her career spans Wall Street reporting at Yahoo Finance, senior investigative roles at TEGNA, and communications leadership at TEDx, with bylines in The Atlantic, CNBC, and The Boston Globe.

4 min read • Originally published February 10, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Paula Vasan

4 min read • Originally published February 10, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Every writer — whether a novice or veteran journalist — has been there. You’ve got your laptop in front of you, a coffee by your side, maybe some snacks to munch on within reach. You put your fingers to the keyboard… and wait for a brilliant idea to strike — that eureka moment when you know exactly how to structure your story pitch to an editor, explaining why your idea is relevant to a particular publication and why you’re the person to write the story.

But when those ideas don’t come and you keep wrestling with vague concepts without any semblance of a story arc, it’s disheartening and all-around frustrating. Here, three seasoned writers share their tips on generating new ideas and spurring creativity when the idea well is running low.

Read industry sources. The mantra among successful freelancers: Read, read, read. By staying informed about everything going on about a particular beat and the news overall, your ideas will mature and multiply.

Andrea Coombes, an award-winning writer in San Francisco with more than 14 years of experience writing about personal finance, said the best way to spur ideas is just to read more, and that includes relevant blogs. “I also receive email updates from a number of government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and others,” she said. “Occasionally there’ll be a story idea in there, but it does mean dealing with a lot of emails.”

Sarah Laskow, who has been freelancing for five years since moving to New York City in 2010, admitted she is always reading studies and news on areas of interest to her. As a result, “I’ve done a lot of environmental reporting,” she said. “I came up with a story about deer farms that breed for antler size just by thinking about deer one day,” she explained.

For Coombes, the news — such as a new tax law — can prompt stories along the lines of “What does this mean for your bank account?” But she cautions that covering the news can be trickier as a freelancer, since the fast-turnaround stories are more likely to be handled in house.

Create a robust RSS feed. What better way to organize all the content you find online? Writer Alicia Lutes, who started freelancing after being laid off from Hollywood.com, her first full-time writing gig, said she has a thorough RSS feed that spans myriad topics in order to keep herself abreast not only of the news, but what issues, movements and social challenges are dominating daily conversations.

“When you immerse yourself in what’s going on in the world, you find not only new perspectives for yourself, but you see what and why things are resonating with society as a whole — all of which better informs you as a writer,” Lutes said. “You cannot write in a vacuum on the Internet.”

Use your surroundings as inspiration. In addition to being a voracious reader, Coombes said coming up with new ideas is mainly a matter of listening and asking questions. “And don’t forget that age-old idea generator: I wish I knew more about X, Y or Z,” she said.

A conversation with friends and relatives about their money problems or questions could be the beginning of a story for Coombes. Emails from readers might lead to a story. Talking with her sources about what they’re seeing, or asking them what problems their clients are facing are also great fodder for ideas.

And sometimes, said Coombes, it helps to work on another project — just as long as it’s outside of your usual beat.

“Whenever I’m out of ideas,” said Lutes, “I find leaving the house works best… a bit of reintegration with nature does the body good. Go for a walk, sit in a park, listen to the birds. Whatever gets you back to a place where you’re not stopped-up, ideas-wise.”

“If that doesn’t work, well, just keep writing,” added Lutes. “Write through the bullsh*t, as Ira Glass has said. Eventually, you’ll get there.”

Finally, don’t forget to record those ideas you generate on the fly. “I keep an ongoing file of things I find interesting,” said Laskow. “When I have time, I develop them into longer stories, and I have them on hand when editors email me and are looking for specific types of stories that fit into certain categories.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Topics:

Go Freelance, Journalism Advice

Business Basics

Health Insurance Options Every Freelancer Should Know About

Find out which health plans are available when you're self-employed

By Paula Vasan

5 min read • Originally published March 6, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Paula Vasan

5 min read • Originally published March 6, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

The question as a freelancer is not whether health insurance is necessary (it’s mandated now by the Affordable Care Act), it’s what type of health insurance works best for the self-employed.

Without a doubt, shopping for health insurance can be a stressful and daunting task. You could shop around for an individual policy, you may be able to continue on your former employer’s plan or you could get COBRA if you’re between jobs. Whatever the case, it’s essential to research the process heavily. Perhaps there are options available to you that you didn’t even realize were on the table.

Be prepared. Shopping for the right plan will take a lot of time and likely many phone calls and emails. If you love your current health care providers, for example, reach out to all of them first, find out what they accept and see if there is a common denominator. Then you’ll have to decide if you’re able to go through a union, or if you’ll have to achieve the best type of health insurance through another means.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the options available to freelancers.

Sign up for an individual policy. On the federal website HealthCare.gov, you can compare single health insurance plans in your area. February 15 was the last day to enroll for 2015; however, you may qualify for the special enrollment period if you get married, have a baby or lose your previous health coverage.

“The process [of finding a health plan] can be overwhelming,” says Kerry Hannon, a personal finance expert and author. “I used an independent agent to help me sift through the choices, then selected one independently from that group.”

When doing your own research, ask doctors which carriers they accept to help winnow your choices of insurers and plans, adds Hannon.

Another source is the National Association of Health Underwriters, which can help you identify three to four insurance plans in your area.

Continue on your former employer’s plan. If you took early retirement, you can try to get on your former company’s health insurance plan. According to a recent Towers Watson survey, the cost for Medicare-eligible retirees getting health coverage from their former employers in 2014 averaged $4,986 for single plans and $11,689 for family plans.

Lean on your parents — if you can be claimed as a dependent. If you’re under 26 years old, you’re in luck. The Affordable Care Act requires plans and issuers that offer dependent coverage to make the coverage available until the adult child reaches the age of 26, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Freelancer John Surico, who is 23 and based in New York City, gets health insurance from a parent’s plan, thanks to Obamacare. “The ability to be on my parents’ insurance has lifted a frightening burden on my freelance career. But it also constantly reminds me how prepared I have to be when I turn 26,” says Surico, who started freelancing full time after graduating in 2013 and now writes for a host of publications, including The New York Times, VICE and Narratively.

“This option is definitely a good thing if you’re just getting started in your career,” says Hannon. So recent grads may be able to breathe a little sigh of relief until they are able to afford a plan of their own.

Get on a spouse’s company-sponsored health plan. With this option, your spouse would pay a higher premium for family coverage, but it would still cost less than if you obtained an individual policy, explains Hannon.”

In 2014, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $16,834, up 3 percent from the previous year, with workers on average paying $4,823 toward the cost of their coverage, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).

Just keep in mind that most plans won’t allow employees to add a family member after open enrollment season, typically at the beginning or end of the calendar year.

Consider COBRA coverage. According to Hannon, it’s a good option if you’re between jobs and need quality health insurance quickly, for a short period of time. “Freelancers should know that COBRA only lasts for 18 months, but it’s a good Band-Aid between full-time jobs for health insurance,” she says.

COBRA is not cheap, however. Freelancers should be prepared to shell out more than average for it, since you are paying for the cost of the coverage plus administrative fees.

Join a professional group. Full-time freelancer Noah Davis has paid $457 a month for health insurance for the last three years through Freelancers Union, an option for many New York State residents.

He explains: “In my mind, the issues are a) cost and b) the confusing details of all the different plans. Considering how much other people pay and what they have to go through to get health insurance, I feel good about my coverage and cost. Sometimes I think I should get a cheaper plan that just covers catastrophes, but then I reconsider and that feels like an unnecessary risk given my situation.”

Other professional groups to look into for group insurance rates include AARP, and alumni and church associations. If you’re running a small business, it would be wise to check with your local chamber of commerce or the Small Business Service Bureau. In addition, the National Association for the Self-Employed offers insurance plans.

Do your homework to see where you can get better prices within a group plan rather than going at it alone.

Open a health savings account. If you have a high-deductible health insurance plan, consider pairing it with a health savings account (HSA), offered through various banks and mutual funds. Contributions are tax free, and you’ll be able to make tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses, such as deductibles and co-payments.

Unlike with some employer HSAs that have a “use it or lose it” policy, an individual HSA will carry over to the next year, and accumulated savings never expire.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to do your due diligence to get the best rates on whichever health plan you choose. Compare premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses — and comparison shop on sites like eHealth and NetQuote.com.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Topics:

Business Basics, Go Freelance

Business Basics

First-Time Freelancer? Here’s How to Survive Tax Season

Get in control of your taxes by thinking ahead

By Brittany Taylor

Brittany Taylor is an enterprise marketing manager and content strategist with over a decade of experience in B2B content marketing, brand building, and ghostwriting, with bylines in SELF, Teen Vogue, and Mediabistro. She currently leads content and branding across multiple brands at HireQuest Inc.

7 min read • Originally published March 16, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Brittany Taylor

7 min read • Originally published March 16, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Tax season is an easy enough concept when you’re a full-time staffer: You fill out a W-4 when you start, you get a W-2 in January, and then you pick a tax software, answer its questions and start dreaming of what you’re going to do with all the cash Uncle Sam’s been slipping out of your paycheck. But when you go solo, life gets dicey. There’s a whole new set of forms, a whole new set of taxes and a whole new set of rules. Yikes.

Before you give up on the IRS and pull the covers up over your head, hear us out. We interviewed a handful of fabulous accountants who specialize in filing taxes for creatives. Meet our tax guides: Howard Samuels, CPA MST, at Rosenfield and Co. in Florham Park, N.J.; Jonathan Medows, CPA, from New York City; Andrew Poulos, EA, ABA, ATP, from Atlanta, Ga; and Gail Rosen, CPA, PC, from Martinsville, N.J. Here, they answer frequently asked questions from inquiring, self-employed minds.

What is the 30 percent self-employment tax everyone talks about?

“When you work for a company, half of the social security tax comes out of your paycheck and the other half the employer has to match,” Samuels says. “When you’re self-employed, you have to pay it all. You are essentially the employer and the employee. All they did was change the terminology, calling it ‘self-employment tax’ instead of social security (or FICA) and Medicare.”

Self-employment tax comes out to roughly 15 percent. The rest of that 30 percent figure consists of federal and state income taxes, and while it’s a good ballpark, it can vary depending on your location. For example, a freelancer in New England will likely pay a larger percentage of state income tax than a freelancer in Florida.

Where you work and/or live will decide how much and how many different taxes you need to pay. Medows, who himself is a Big Apple freelancer, says after the typical federal and state, he also is on the hook for city, regional and unincorporated business tax.

What about other items that would normally be taken out of my paycheck pre-tax, like health care and retirement savings?

Ah, benefits — those are all up to you. “You can take [health insurance] as a deduction when you’re self-employed,” Medows says. That includes premiums for medical, dental and vision. “Same thing for IRA contributions, which have the potential to be tax deferred.” Both decrease your tax liability.

Since we’re talking about savings, also have plans in place for an emergency fund, just in case.

Will I be responsible for sales tax, too?

Here’s where it can get tricky. Generally speaking, sales tax is charged only for tangible products — something you can hold in your hand. If you’re a graphic designer, for example, you typically would not have to charge sales tax for a digital file containing a business card design. However, if you were to print out 500 business cards featuring that design, then you would have to charge sales tax. Got it?

Say you are selling tangible goods to an end user. First, you’d go to your state and register your business. You’ll receive a unique sales tax ID number. Depending on your sales volume, you’ll remit the sales tax you’ve collected to the state on a weekly, a monthly, a quarterly or an annual basis.

“Every state has different laws when it comes to sales tax,” Samuels emphasizes, so it’s essential that you visit a CPA [aka a certified public accountant] to establish whether or not you’ll need to start charging it. And if you do, he added, “It is very important that if you collect it — even if you’re late — [that] you file it or you will go to jail. The state sees sales tax as their money — so if you don’t remit it, you’re stealing from the state government.”

Does this mean I need to hire an accountant?

“It depends,” Medows says. “An accountant will help you take the right deductions, make sure you don’t miss deductions or take things you shouldn’t take. If you have any phobia about it, it’s best to get professional help.”

One other thing to keep in mind, Medow adds: “Sometimes it helps a freelancer to have a CPA relationship because later on, when they try to buy a house or borrow money, banks will insist on letters from their CPAs regarding their business. That can be difficult if you don’t have a professional relationship.”

If you do decide to go with a pro, Poulos urges you to find an accountant or tax professional who has experience and is licensed — look for an Enrolled Agent (EA) or a CPA. Yep, those letters have real meaning. “Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the tax preparers around the country are unlicensed,” he tells us. “A high amount of tax fraud and sometimes identity theft occurs from unlicensed tax preparers.”

And look for one who’s around for the entire year, not just during tax season, he advises. You’ll want guidance if you happen to be audited or if you have questions about estimated taxes, sales tax or anything else that comes up throughout the year.

Expect to pay $200 to a couple thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of your tax return. Poulos tells us he charges a freelancer with 10 or fewer 1099s and fairly organized records between $325 and $375.

What makes the price go up? Samuels echoes the importance of organization. His firm supplies clients with a spreadsheet that has the various deductions and expenses set up in a template. You would fill this out before you go, ideally. Alternatively, you can bring your box of receipts and piles of invoices and let the accountant sort it out — but this method will be far more expensive because, well, time is money.

What specifically do I need to keep track of?

Medows is emphatic about his No. 1: the money you earn. “Make sure you’re collecting money from your clients. Sometimes freelancers just aren’t on top of their receivables.” In line with this is the amount you’ve paid throughout the year in estimated taxes.

Next on the list: “Expenses!” Medows says. “You have to save original receipts or scan images of them. That’s a big deal for freelancers — they get an audit, someone asks them to prove what they’ve put down and they don’t have receipts. Credit card and bank statements are insufficient proof for IRS purposes.”

For an expense to be deductible it has to be “ordinary” and “necessary,” Rosen says. Therefore, keep track of the money you spend on office supplies, business dues, business publications, accounting fees for your business, business cards, business entertainment (50 percent deductible), gifts (limited to $25 a person a year), postage, printing, continuing education computers, software, etc.

And don’t forget about the business miles you drive. Log every trip — starting point, ending point, the number of miles in between, and why you were driving there — and decide how you want to deduct it. There are two methods, Rosen says: standard and actual. With the standard method, you can deduct a certain amount of money per mile ($0.56 in 2014), plus tolls and parking. The actual method is more complicated. First add up all of your automobile expenses and then multiple it by the percentage the car was used for business. To figure out the percentage, divide business miles by total miles driven for the entire year.

Needless to say, “organization can be a big problem,” Samuels tells us. “I advise all of my freelance clients to buy an accordion file and label each section with a different type of expense — health care, marketing, office supplies and so on. Make sure you get a receipt for everything…and put it in the folder. Then you’re all set.”

And how long should you hold onto all this paperwork? “Three years, per the IRS website,” Medows says, “but if they ever accuse you of fraud, that can go back six years. I would err on the side of caution and say six years.”

What happens if I mess up?

Nothing scary — you’re not going to go to jail (well, unless you hoard sales tax…).

“If you underpay, you might owe a penalty up to 10 percent,” Medows explains. “If you overpay, they’ll give you the money back (or you can put it toward next year’s estimated taxes).

Concludes Medows: “The biggest problem I see when freelancers start out is they don’t save money, and when it comes time to pay taxes, they don’t have the money and they blow it off. The IRS will help you. They’ll set up a payment plan. But if you don’t have the money, don’t not file. That’ll just make a bad situation worse.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Topics:

Business Basics, Go Freelance

Productivity

7 Proven Ways to Be a More Productive Freelance Writer

Learn how efficiency can lead to a more profitable freelance career

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

Amanda Layman is a B2B tech content writer and strategist with over 15 years of experience creating content for startups and enterprise brands. She founded Tigris, a content agency serving leading tech companies, and authored The New Freelance: A Book for Writers.

9 min read • Originally published April 24, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Amanda Layman Low

@AmandaLaymanLow

9 min read • Originally published April 24, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

I recently performed a little efficiency test to make sense of my profit and losses — the latter of which had been feeling especially heavy lately. I assessed my workload in terms of both money and time, and the results were surprising. When I broke down each client by hourly pay, my main client, the one that pays my rent and most of my groceries, was paying me the lowest hourly amount.

On top of that, I was spending $217 a week on full-time daycare for my daughter, and out of a need to get my money’s worth, I was keeping her in daycare from open until close and using more of that time for recreation than work. Although it was helpful for my physical and mental health to get that break, it made it more difficult to get back into the flow of work in the afternoon. After assessing everything, I found I was really only working five hours a day, and most of that time was devoted to my lowest-paying client. Not exactly a strong business model.

Out of a desire to improve my own productivity, I interviewed four freelancers who shared their efficiency tips with me. Here, I’ve boiled down their advice to seven tips.

1. Create your own efficiency test.

It’s impossible to know how you can boost efficiency without understanding your weaknesses. First, track your time. Freelance writer Rebecca Matter suggests you determine how much time you’re spending on each client, and then evaluate your hourly rate for each. “I think people resist this sometimes because they think they know where their money is coming from, but in my experience, every time you track your time you will be surprised,” she says.

Matter goes on to describe the 80/20 rule, which means the best clients will only require 20 percent of your time, while the worst ones are likely eating up 80 percent of your time. It may seem counterintuitive, but she recommends identifying which side clients are on, “and if they’re on the 80 percent side of your time, it’s probably good to get them out,” she says. Cutting out busywork may make your schedule feel frighteningly open at first, but that’s time you could be spending acquiring less needy or better-paying clients.

2. Plan out your workday in advance.

Regardless of when you do it, making a plan for how you’re going to spend your hours will help you anticipate your workload and stay on task. It doesn’t have to be detailed down to the minute, either. When freelance writer Maria Bellos Fisher was caring for her newborn at home, she had to organize the limited time she had. “The night before, I would think of two or three tasks that I wanted to get done the next day and I would put them on my calendar,” says Bellos Fisher. That way, during any moment of downtime, she could quickly refocus on one of her goals.

Freelance writer Valerie Bordeau faces challenges with her schedule due to fibromyalgia and strategizes by batching her tasks together. She says if she has a day in which she isn’t feeling well, she’ll spend it working on all her rough drafts. You can batch home-related tasks, as well, to save time and streamline your day. Bellos Fisher schedules all of her personal appointments back to back in one day, so she doesn’t have to break her work flow to accommodate doctor visits and other errands.

I like to make a list the night before of everything I hope to accomplish the next day. It feels good to check each one off as the day goes on, and whatever I don’t complete that day gets moved to tomorrow’s list.

3. Do the hardest thing first, every day.

I remember reading a quote attributed to Mark Twain that really stuck with me: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” In my experience, it’s the same with working from home as a writer. On my handy daily to-do list, I’ll rank my tasks in order of difficulty. Not only does this quash procrastination, but it allows me to use the hours in which I’m sharpest — between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. — for the hardest work.

Matter agrees with this notion: “There’s always going to be this thing on your list that you resist. That’s the thing you tackle first — because it’s going to weigh you down the rest of the day. You’re going to be thinking about it. You’re going to be worrying about it. It’s going to distract you. If you just hit it head-on, you can get it off your list and be done with it.”

4. Treat your business like a business.

It’s the oldest rule in the book — and for good reason. If you treat your business like a business, you’ll create an environment in which you can grow, write what you want and be profitable. If you treat it like a hobby, you may have fun, but it’s not going to bring the income or advancement you want.

The first step to treating your work like a business is to schedule both work times and break times. Without regular working hours, you run into one of two problems: either you’re never fully shut off, meaning you’re constantly returning to your computer and never getting a chance to refresh, or you lose track of time and run the risk of wasting the precious working hours you do have.

The next step is to establish a space or signal that separates your work from your home life. Matter says, “I think it’s important to put your physical self in a working spot…just something that tells your body and brain, ‘I’m at work right now.'” So, what if you don’t have the means to create an actual home office? Simply stake out a corner of a room at home where you can put your desk. Regardless, Matter continues, “I think it’s important to find a way to signal that you’re working.”

For Amy Shey Jacobs, a freelance writer and entrepreneur, when she’s at home, her signal is a closed door. “If I get a cup of coffee and sit at my desk…I find it’s kind of my sanctuary,” she says. If you don’t have access to a separate space, consider renting a desk at a coworking facility or becoming a regular at a coffee shop that inspires you.

5. Know when to say yes or no.

For the new freelancer who’s prepared to work for peanuts (or a byline), it seems insane that you would ever say no to a project. However, all freelancers face the decision at some point about which projects to take and which to pass on. Jacobs says you “have to go with your gut and intuition, and where you are at your best.” Choosing projects that fit your expertise, experience level and passions will result in your best work. Jacobs adds, “When things are in your wheelhouse, it makes it easier to get more work done. You’re not starting from scratch. You’ve built up a repertoire of people you can call… I find it is amazing for efficiency.”

In addition to knowing your expertise, you should also know your limits. Bellos Fisher explains, “I would never take an assignment if I was way too busy because I never want to disappoint anybody.”

Bordeau offers three criteria to run a project through before you decide to take it. “No. 1 is does it match the income I need,” she says. If not, depending on your financial situation, it may be better not to take it. However, for lower-paying projects, it may still be OK to say yes if it builds a skill set you need, if it’s actually going to advance you or if it’s something that’s going to give you better work, says Bordeau.

6. Know what distracts you, and face it head-on.

It’s important to identify those things that tempt to pull you away from your office chair. Bordeau suggests you make a game plan, knowing that those distractions will always be there. She says you should ask yourself, “How will I attack this distraction before it attacks me?” Bordeau herself struggles with chatty family members and receiving personal phone calls, and has found that carving out her own writing space makes a difference. One of her friends actually locks herself in the bathroom to write. It’s an extreme example, but if it helps set boundaries and keep your family from distracting you, something like this may be necessary.

In my five years as a freelance writer, I’ve always struggled with my propensity for Web surfing. It’s so challenging to not go down that rabbit hole of mindless clicking when I’m constantly using the Internet for research and email, but recently I’ve made a concentrated effort to change. I try to only check my email when I’m not in the middle of writing. As for social media, if I find myself checking Facebook every two minutes, I take a moment to assess why I’m feeling the need to switch gears. Sometimes it’s my subconscious trying to tell me I need a legitimate break — a snack, a moment away from the computer or even human interaction.

Bellos Fisher made the same observation about social media: “Facebook was my huge vice. But you know, it was a vice and it was a lifeline. I am an extrovert and I was doing an introvert’s job.” She says stepping away for a bit made her feel less isolated. Acknowledge and listen to your distractions: They may be telling you something essential about your work or personal life. Then make the changes you need to make to accommodate your work-life balance.

7. Be a good boss, to yourself.

Your efficiency and productivity is entirely dependent on you. Being your own boss doesn’t mean being the cool boss who tells you to take the whole afternoon off when there’s a hard deadline at the end of the day — it means you should treat yourself and your business with respect and professionalism. “Don’t let your business run you,” warns Bordeau. “You run your business. That’s the balance every business owner has, whether you’re running a burger shop, a freelance business or a Fortune 500 company.”

And a good boss knows how to separate work from play, and take each seriously. Know when you need to unplug and what refreshes you. Says Jacobs, “I find that mindless television starting at 10 is a necessity for me, so pretty much I’m watching ‘Watch What Happens: Live’ on a nightly basis. That’s my power-down [time].”

For me, spending time with my daughter, making art, working on my home and — yes, mindless time on Netflix — is essential to my unwinding process. Anytime I try to replace these activities with work during off-hours I find myself getting easily frustrated and, over the long-term, burned out.

Your efficiency and productivity is within your control. Believing this, and being mindful of how you spend your hours and dollars, is the closest thing to the secret to success as a freelancer.

Topics:

Be Inspired, Journalism Advice, Productivity

How to Pitch

Personal Essay Markets, Part II: More Publications That Want Your Stories

Give your story a universal angle to get published in one of these 15 outlets

By Jenny Rough

Jenny Rough is a writer and former attorney with over 20 years of experience crafting stories for magazines, newspapers, and podcasts, and currently serves as letters editor for AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. She holds a J.D. summa cum laude from Pepperdine and a bachelor's in creative writing from Miami University.

8 min read • Originally published May 11, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Jenny Rough

8 min read • Originally published May 11, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Part I of this feature listed 10 personal essay markets. Now we’re bringing you more venues that love printing this distinct and accessible style of writing. We spoke with editors at pubs that focus on everything from sex and parenting to what those with a green thumb experience from the human, rather than how-to, side of gardening.

So get those great ideas ready and be sure to come back for our final installment of the print markets in Part III, as well as our digital guide in Part IV.

11. Elle

Elle uses personal narrative as a way to explore the gray area of hot-button issues, from health to culture, so timeless “chestnut” topics probably won’t get ink. An example of a past piece explored how one woman crossed the line from Facebook friends to a full-blown affair.
Length: 2,000 words
Pay: $2 a word
Assigning editors: Rachel Baker, RACHELBAKER at HEARST dot COM; or Ben Dickinson, BDICKINSON at HEARST dot COM
Dickinson’s advice: “They’re called personal essays for a reason, so please be as open as possible in your manuscript.” Elle editors say they hate getting submissions that read as if the writer is holding back.

12. Geez

Geez is a quarterly Canadian publication for social-justice-minded readers on the fringes of faith. With roots in the Christian tradition, it’s for the over-churched, out-churched and unchurchable. Geez is ad-free, feminist, post-colonial, LGBTQ inclusive, eco-conscious and class sensitive. Look for the magazine’s call for pitches on its website or send an email to STORIES at GEEZMAGAZINE dot ORG to be added to its writers’ email list.
Length: 650 to 1,300 words for creative nonfiction pieces; 50 to 350 words for flash nonfiction essays
Pay: $25-$75 or more, depending on length
Assigning editors: Aiden Enns and Kyla Neufeld, AIDEN at GEEZMAGAZINE dot ORG, KYLA at GEEZMAGAZINE dot ORG (send submissions to STORIES at GEEZMAGAZINE dot ORG)
Neufeld’s advice: “We look for stories of people subverting our assumptions of the North American way.”

13. Good Housekeeping — “Heart-to-Heart”

“Heart-to-Heart” is Good Housekeeping’s personal essay page that runs in the “Real Life” section. It seeks submissions on a wide range of topics (relationships, parenting, loss, aging).
Length: 500 to 750 words
Pay: $1,000
Assigning editor: Kristen Mascia, KMASCIA at HEARST dot COM
Mascia’s advice: “We’re quite open to ideas as long as they take readers on a little journey.” Writers who’d like to try out an essay will find it helpful to read BLESSINGS: Reflections on Gratitude, Love, and What Makes Us Happy (Sterling, 2009), a selection of Good Housekeeping essays by well-known writers who were invited to contribute.

14. GreenPrints

Known as “the weeder’s digest,” GreenPrints focuses on the human, rather than how-to, side of gardening. “After all, gardening is a relationship, not a recipe,” said editor Pat Stone.
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: Up to $150
Assigning editor: Pat Stone, PAT at GREENPRINTS dot COM
Stone’s advice: None, other than his detailed (and humorous) writer’s guidelines.

15. Guideposts

Guideposts is an interfaith magazine that seeks uplifting true stories about how faith has helped you overcome an obstacle or changed your life. A past example includes a story of a lawyer who intended to go on a short missions trip to Uganda and ended up fighting for incarcerated youth.
Length: 750 to 1,500 words
Pay: $250-$500
Assigning editor: Rick Hamlin, RHAMLIN at GUIDEPOSTS dot ORG
Hamlin’s advice: “We are looking for narratives of personal change with vivid scenes. They must offer some spiritual help to the reader.”

16. Hemispheres — “Travel Essay”

Hemispheres is United Airlines’ in-flight magazine. Its travel essay column is open to freelancers. Rather than covering any specific places or travel experiences, the column aims to get at how travel can be a transformative experience or can challenge travelers’ notion about themselves or the world around them. One successful essay involved the author being forced to rethink his feelings about the human victims of wild animals after confronting a hungry lion on safari. Other successful essays included one about the joys of rediscovering your hometown through the eyes of a tourist, and another about the security that a wary traveler found in a hotel robe.
Length: 900 words
Pay: $900
Assigning editors: Jordan Heller and Chris Wright, FIRSTNAME at HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE dot COM
Heller’s advice: “Rather than pitch, just write the damn thing and send it in. If we like it, we’ll print it and pay you for it.”

17. Knit Simple — “Last Stitch”

“Last Stitch” essays should tie into either knitting or crochet. There are no other guidelines.
Length: 1,000-1,200 words; essays of shorter length will not be considered.
Pay: $150
Assigning editor: Leslie Barber, LESLIE at SOHOPUBLISHINGCO dot COM
Barber’s advice: “Writers should tell a story that will resonate with fellow stitchers.”

18. Literary magazines (see The Examined Life, Hunger Mountain, The Threepenny Review, Tin House)

Are essays for literary magazines different from those for consumer mags? “It’s not that literary writing is ‘good’ and consumer magazine writing is ‘bad,'” said writer Alle C. Hall, a teacher at Richard Hugo House. “Consumer magazines are looking to get information to the reader, so the writing needs to be good, but it’s not everything. In a literary magazine, the writing is the whole point.”
Length: Typically 3,000-5,000 words, though a few take up to 10,000. There’s also a category called the short-short for pieces under 1,000 words, as can be found in Brevity.
Pay: A few literary magazines pay a flat fee for essays, such as The American Scholar ($500), but many pay in copies only. Most of the ones that do pay, such as The Antioch Review and The Georgia Review, typically pay per printed page, and that can range from $1 a page to $50 a page.
Hall’s advice: “As everyone says, read the journals — but how, right? Follow two publications for a year, either online or through a subscription. If a writer can identify which publications make the most sense for his or her style and voice, the writer will spend far less energy on rejection.”

19. Los Angeles Times — “L.A. Affairs”

This first-person column in the Saturday section chronicles romance and relationships, and the essay should tie into Southern California. A past example is a woman who reunites with a college friend on an online dating site and finds love was there all along.
Length: 750-850 words
Pay: $300
Assigning editor: Assistant managing editor Alice Short. Please submit essays to HOME at LATIMES dot COM.
Editors’ advice: In addition to details outlined in our submission guidelines, we’re especially on the lookout for stories about new and recent relationships that give a sense of today’s dating scene.

20. Marie Claire — “Love + Sex”

Marie Claire’s “Love + Sex” section is looking for strong, literary writing and nonformulaic essays based on compelling personal stories about the ways that smart, empowered women are navigating relationships and romance, heartbreak and sexuality, partnership and singlehood.
Length: 1,000-1,500
Pay: $2 a word
Assigning editor: Lane Florsheim, LFLORSHEIM at HEARST dot COM
Editors’ advice: We’re happy to review pitches or full submissions. Writers should definitely review past issues to get a sense of our style.

21. Men’s Journal — “Essay”
This adventure-travel magazine publishes a first-person story in its “Essay” column each month. A recent example was a piece by a runner who suffers from a compulsive need to train.
Length: 2,000 words
Pay: Varies, depending on writer skill and topic
Assigning editor: Ryan Krogh, RYAN dot KROGH at MENSJOURNAL dot COM
Fischer’s advice: “Review past examples. Our favorite essays uncover meaning through action.”

22. More — “Attitude,” “Memoir” and “Second Sex”
More welcomes strong writing and a fresh point of view that targets the mag’s demographic (women in their mid-30s and above); that often means the writer is in that age group, too. “Memoir” essays range further and deeper than “Attitude,” mapping personal growth and relationships over time. “Second Sex” essays are written by men.
Length: “Attitude” runs 1,200 to 1,800 words; “Memoir” runs up to 3,500 words; “Second Sex” runs 1,200 to 1,800 words.
Pay: Roughly $2 a word
Assigning editor: Cathleen Medwick, CATHLEEN dot MEDWICK at MEREDITH dot COM; Nanette Varian edits Second Sex, NANETTE dot VARIAN at MEREDITH dot COM; Laura Sinberg edits work-related essays, LAURA dot SINBERG at MEREDITH dot COM
Medwick’s advice: “Parenting [topics aren’t] taboo, though our readers are likely to have older children.”

23. The New York Times — “Modern Love”
Everyone has an equal shot at this “human relationships” column that consists of unsolicited submissions, including the occasional book excerpt. All essays are read, and editor Dan Jones aims to respond to submissions within six weeks, but response times may vary due to volume and backlog. Review “Q&A: Modern Love” and the Modern Love Facebook page, where Jones has posted a bunch of tips and comments that writers might find helpful.
Length: 1,600 words
Pay: $300
Assigning editor: Dan Jones, MODERNLOVE at NYTIMES dot COM (read more of his tips on twitter @danjonesnyt)
Jones’ advice: “Although we seek to present a broad range of relationship experience, this range does not extend to a love of places, pets or books. And we receive far too many essays about the death of a loved one for how often we can cover that topic.” Both the Modern Love anthology and the book Love Illuminated give great insight into the column. Writers should also review submission guidelines.

24. The New York Times — “Private Lives”
These personal essays from writers around the globe share stories about the lives of individuals, such as family dynamics (“All Parents Are Cowards“), emergencies (“What Would You Grab in a Fire?“) or loss (“Giving Up My Small-Town Fantasy“).
Length: 900 to 1,200 words
Pay: Varies
Assigning editor: Honor Jones; send submissions to OPED at NYTIMES dot COM
Jones’ advice: Please review past examples.

25. Pacific Standard — “Life in the Data”
Here’s how editor Maria Streshinsky describes “Life in the Data” columns: “Our back page consists of a short personal narrative essay about the interaction between a big social or behavioral pattern — be it demographic, psychological, economic, geographical or cultural — and one’s own personal, lived experience.”
Length: 750 words
Pay: Generally $1 a word
Assigning editor: Maria Streshinsky, MSTRESHINSKY at PSMAG dot COM
Streshinsky’s advice: “We’re looking for personal narrative essays about the experience of being a number; of wrestling with facts; of the tension between intuitive, instinctual, emotional experience and cold, bloodless, sublime fact. We’re not looking for reporting stunts; we’re looking for first-person experience.”

Topics:

How to Pitch

Career Transition

Sound Off: How Superfans Land Gigs as Sports PA Announcers

Get off the bench and onto the speakers with these guidelines for breaking in as a stadium announcer

By Samantha Melamed

6 min read • Originally published May 16, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Samantha Melamed

6 min read • Originally published May 16, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Radio and TV play-by-play and color announcers may be the best-known personalities in the sports broadcasting business — but only as a public address announcer can you earn a nickname like the “Voice of God.” (That, of course, refers to Yankees P.A. legend Bob Sheppard, who retired last fall.) Those who hold P.A. gigs say they’re among the best jobs in sports, with all of the kinetic energy of stadium crowds and none of the wearing travel demands.

Announcers come to these posts from a broad range of backgrounds and day jobs, but they all have two things in common: Strong voices, and a driving passion for sports.

Public address announcers often start out in radio — especially local sports broadcasting — or in commercial voiceover studios. But just as often, they’re merely avid fans. Sheppard, for one, was a schoolteacher. New Jersey Nets announcer Gary Sussman is the team’s vice president of public relations by day. Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies announcer Dan Baker is coordinator of broadcast relations at Drexel University. Denver Nuggets P.A. man Kyle Speller is a pastor and a voiceover professional. And Boston Celtics announcer Eddie Palladino is chief of staff for Massachusetts’ state auditor.

The Gig

Virtually all P.A. announcers work on a part-time basis. But the details of the position, including the workload and pay grade, vary drastically depending on the size of the market and on the sport. At most stadiums, announcers must arrive several hours before a game to read through scripts that can include pages of pre-game acknowledgements, as well as learn the pronunciations of names and meet with their supervisors in the team’s marketing department.

The amount of support announcers have during games also varies: Dean has a spotter and a production assistant on hand at all times, whereas when Baker first started with the Phillies, he was doing double-duty by updating the scoreboard, as well.

Still, once the game starts, the responsibilities are fairly straightforward: announcing the outcome of each play in football, noting goals and penalties in hockey, and reporting at-bats and lineup changes in baseball.

But when it comes to basketball, announcers are sometimes expected to be unofficial cheerleaders. Speller, for one, sees pumping up the crowd as a key part of his assignment. “You’re informing the crowd of what’s going on, but you want to keep the crowd engaged at all times,” he says. So, he tries to come up with creative nicknames or vocal flourishes for each player to test out crowd-pleasing ways of announcing plays, and to elicit responses from the fans.

How to Break In

As with most jobs, there are two ways to land an in-stadium announcing gig: Work hard and network harder — or be incredibly lucky. While there are Cinderella stories of fans that scored jobs in open auditions based on sheer talent and passion, more often teams rely on word of mouth, networking or calling in a few known candidates to audition for a P.A. role.

To improve your odds, making your voice known in the local sports market is crucial. Mike McCartney, the stadium announcer for the Kansas City Royals, made his way by proving himself as a sports broadcaster on the Royals’ radio network. By word of mouth, he learned of P.A. auditions, landed a back-up announcing job and eventually became the team’s announcer. That, in turn, led to a second announcing job, for the University of Missouri-Kansas City basketball teams.

“To be successful,” says McCartney, “you need to be a fan first.” Therefore, you’re far more likely to succeed as a local. That’s even truer among baseball farm team announcing jobs in far-flung locations. There, being a devoted local fan could land you the gig, he says, “but I wouldn’t necessarily expect to move up the ranks to the big league club.”

Another way to improve your networking opportunities is to get involved with the team in some other capacity. Philadelphia’s Baker landed his Phillies job by networking through his sports broadcasting connections. But since he also had his eye on the Eagles P.A. gig, he began working on the sidelines as a spotter and statistician for visiting TV crews. Once he had gotten to know the marketing staff, he let them know that he wanted to be considered if the P.A. job became vacant — and he was.

Denver’s Speller got his start the other way. Although he was doing voiceover work, he had no sports contacts, so getting the Nuggets job “was like a miracle,” he says. He came across a call for audition tapes on the Nuggets’ Web site, went into a sound studio and put together his sample introduction of the team’s starting five, mixed with music. The team liked it enough to bring him in for an audition, and eventually hired him.

However you get your foot in the door, being practiced is key. Announcers recommend starting with low-paying or unpaid announcing jobs at college, high school or even Little League. Getting used to the rhythm of a sport and the anxiety of public speaking is important practice. Yankees announcer Paul Olden started out as a teenager announcing everything from cafeteria lunch specials to University of Southern California baseball. Whatever the venue, says Baker, you’re building a local reputation, so “treat every job like it’s an audition.”

Above all, says Olden, don’t forget the cardinal rule of P.A. work: “Never mispronounce a name.”

Other Opportunities

A stadium announcing job may not open doors the way a highly visible TV position could. But P.A. positions have led announcers to a broad array of other stadium gigs, from the World Cup to the Super Bowl, stadium concerts, racetrack announcing, college sports broadcasting and more. And for those with voiceover businesses, it boosts their visibility and credibility, As McCartney says, “It doesn’t hurt if I’m auditioning for a job, and the guy [doing the hiring] is a big Royals fan.”

For Baker, the Phillies post led to local TV and radio play-by-play jobs for college basketball, backup announcing for the 76ers and Flyers, and his current full-time job overseeing college broadcasting. And at the very least, most P.A. announcers do find opportunities to work additional events, ranging from fan fantasy camps to fundraisers on behalf of the team.

Reality Check

Beyond the obvious — rain delays and the possibility of watching a losing team self-destruct — there are a few drawbacks to the life of a P.A. announcer. Chief among them is the pay, which is variable, and the benefits, which are usually limited to getting the best seat in the house at every game.

“It’s the best part-time job in the world,” as Baker puts it. The Yankees’ Olden negotiated a full-time salary by adding speaking engagements, photography work and other responsibilities to his position — but, remember, he’s working for the wealthiest team in baseball. Most other announcers have little choice but to hang onto their day jobs.

In general, McCartney estimates that pay ranges from $150 to $250 per professional sporting events, and $30 to $100 for college-level games — but it could be more or less, depending on the size of the market. (Most other announcers declined to discuss compensation.)

As for Dean, he takes home $500 from each Cowboys football extravaganza. “You don’t do it for the money,” he explains. “I do it because I’m one of 30-something people who get to do this. And because if the Cowboys win a Super Bowl, everybody from the janitor to the public-address announcer gets a ring.”

Topics:

Be Inspired, Career Transition, Get a Media Job

Journalism Advice

Pitch Perfect: 7 Steps to Landing Your Next Magazine Assignment

How to craft a can't-say-no-to-this pitch

By Kristen Fischer

Kristen Fischer is a freelance writer, journalist, and copywriter with over 20 years of experience, currently serving as a health writer for AARP with previous staff roles at WebMD and WW. Her work has appeared in Prevention, Healthline, Woman's Day, Parade, and Writer's Digest, and she is the author of four books.

6 min read • Originally published June 4, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Kristen Fischer

6 min read • Originally published June 4, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

Think about all the assignments you had last year. Were there enough juicy, well paying articles to allow you to jet to the Bahamas, or did your pitiful word counts barely keep you from trolling Craigslist for a new 9-to-5?

No matter what stage your writing career is in, the difference between the former and the latter hinges on one thing and one thing only: a can’t-say-no-to-this pitch. And, while a “hey, let me write about xyz” sent through Google Chat might work on an editor you’ve known for years, such laziness (sorry, but that’s what it is) isn’t going to bring in any new business.

Luckily, with just a few tweaks, you can give your queries the additional one-two punch that will get editors salivating – and assigning – for years to come.

1. Get to the point.

Linda Formichelli, a freelance writer and editor of the Renegade Writer blog says it’s imperative to make your first paragraph more than stellar. She believes that many writers have wonderful ideas, but they don’t articulate them well in their opening paragraph, which dissuades an editor from assigning the piece.

“Don’t bury your lede. Don’t do a lot of throat clearing,” she explains. “Just get right into it, because you only have a few seconds.”

Editors want to grab the attention of their readers, so you have to do the same to them with your query, she added. If you need inspiration, try opening with a really surprising statistic, a good quote or an interesting personal anecdote, which can grab the editor and encourage her to dole out the assignment – today.

2. Rethink your angle.

“It’s very rare that a writer’s great idea alone will sell their pitch. Remember, editors and other writers read the same press releases, spot the same trends and recycle the same topics,” warns Dawn Papandrea, managing editor at The CollegeBound Network, which was formerly a print publication.

“What will set a query apart is when a writer figures out how to package a story idea in an interesting way.”

Whether that means choosing a certain side of a story or including a service-oriented sidebar, those are details that can separate your query from thousands others like it.

Abigail Lewis, editor at Whole Life Times, agrees that having a strong hook is key. “We [editors] can definitely brainstorm further, but give us a sense of how you want to approach the subject, and types of experts you might like to include.”

That brings us to the next tip…

3. Do your research.

Formichelli says a huge roadblock to landing an assignment is not doing your homework. So, interview a few key subjects in advance or simply list who you would like to feature in the article to show the editor that you have some direction and aren’t pitching a topic blind. (Bonus points for suggesting a companion sidebar or charticle based on your findings.)

“If she’s [the editor] going to take a chance on a writer, especially one she doesn’t know, she wants to know ‘What’s going to be in this article?’ She doesn’t want to have some writer tease her and say ‘Oh yeah, I have five great tips,’ and not know what the tips are and just hope that once she hires the writer, they’re going to be good,” Formichelli says. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Beef up a pitch with some specific, targeted details and examples,” suggests Zachary Petit, managing editor at Writer’s Digest. “It’s easy to overlook a brilliant idea if it’s a one-liner in a slush pile loaded with other queries. Make yours stand out.”

4. Pre-write the article.

Many writers are on the fence about how much research to do. After all, isn’t interviewing sources and partially writing the article in advance a lot of work to do without the guarantee of it getting published?

Formichelli, who writes regularly for consumer and women’s magazines, is careful to say that while trade magazines typically assign pieces with less detail, the big ones want as much as they can get their hands on.

“For the magazines that I write for, they’ve actually told me that they want the longer queries; they want to see the research. They want the quotes.”

Sending a quick query can be a waste of time if you know the type of magazine you are targeting wants a longer pitch. Formichelli says she usually writes most of an article ahead of time and pointed to one key benefit of the strategy: saving time. “If you do the research and then get the assignment, it’s already written,” she says.

Freelance writer Carol Tice adds that if you don’t have a lot of experience or clips in your portfolio, you’ll typically need to flesh out your query with more reporting.

“You’ve got to just totally prove to them that you can do it inside the query, because you don’t have the other [clips],” Tice says. “The less experience you have, the more you have to almost deliver the whole article in the query.”

“People resist doing that ’cause they think, ‘Oh that’s so much work,’ but that’s the only way you’re going to get it.”

5. Create a sense of urgency.

Tice says that writers need to specify in their query why the article needs to be written right now. If you don’t, you risk seeing your idea tabled indefinitely.

“Then it goes into a pile that editors have of, ‘I find this interesting but it’s not an emergency, but I’d do it,’ and then it never gets done,” she explains. “Really, only the urgent stuff gets done.”

Do some research on the topic to tie it into a timeline, she says. Reference a new study or note an upcoming related event to show why it is critical to publish ASAP. “You’ve got to give them that, ‘Why now?'” she says.

Tice points to a feature she recently sold to a prominent business publication about how to protect your business during a divorce. “I just made the case that, you know, with the down economy, the divorce rate’s probably up… there’s a lot of relationship stress out there right now… a lot of financial stress, and this is probably a great time to be thinking about that, and you know, they bought that,” she says.

6. Include your credentials.

Formichelli believes it is vital to show an editor you are qualified to write for them, either through a strong pitch or by mentioning your background.

“I think it’s good to include credentials just to assure the editor that you know what you’re doing. You either have experience on the topic or you’re an experienced writer,” she says.

Just keep it to a few sentences, urges Tice. “The more you blabber about yourself, the more suspicious the editor’s going to be that you don’t understand how this works,” she says.

7. Step away from the computer.

As writers, we’re sometimes too focused on our work. We fall so in love with an idea that we may not be able to see it clearly enough to really articulate and sell it.

“Sometimes you’re too close to it,” says Formichelli, who suggests sharing pitches with a friend or writing group for feedback before hitting ‘send.’

Go back through the aforementioned steps and make sure your angle, lede and research are as strong as possible. If the pitch still isn’t gelling, give it a few days so you can revisit it later with a fresh perspective—namely, the editor’s.

Topics:

Go Freelance, Journalism Advice

Journalism Advice

The Real Reasons Editors Reject Your Pitch (and How to Fix It)

Uncover the truth behind the "no" to land more assignments

By Kristen Fischer

5 min read • Originally published June 10, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Kristen Fischer

5 min read • Originally published June 10, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

“We’ll pass. Thanks.”

“Not right for us.”

“Thanks, but no.”

If you’ve received any of these as a response to a magazine article query, you’re definitely not alone. While many journalists are happy to receive some sort of response — some editors don’t acknowledge queries unless they want to assign a piece — it can be frustrating to figure out why your pitch wasn’t picked up.

Luckily for you, we’ve put together some insights on exactly why your query got axed. Use this information to soothe your ego and do better next time.

“We don’t cover those types of stories.”

Translation: You’re pitching the wrong publication.

Lisa Haney, senior editor at Fitness, says she receives plenty of queries that have nothing to do with what the magazine covers. “You really need to know the magazine you’re pitching,” she explained. In proposing an article on a topic that is so off-target from what the magazine covers, she noted, “It shows that you’re not prepared, that you really just don’t know the magazine and that you haven’t taken the time to really check it out.”

Linda Hamilton, health editor at Woman’s World, agreed. She said she’s hesitant to take on new writers, because they often don’t take the time to understand her pub’s style, voice or the type of content it runs. For example, Woman’s World doesn’t like health stories that use scare tactics in the reporting. “It’s going to be a real turn-off if a writer doesn’t keep that in mind,” Hamilton added.

Another reason Hamilton uses a small base of writers that she can count on is that time is of the essence when running a weekly publication; the content has to be on point and need minimal revisions in order to meet deadlines. If a writer has a great proposal that’s well-written, she said she may take a chance on it, but admits that doesn’t happen too often.

“I need somebody that knows the magazine so well that they can come up with ideas,” Hamilton said.

“We’re not taking pitches at this time.”

Translation: No, really. The magazine isn’t accepting article queries right now.

Keep in mind that the media world has been shaken up in the past few years. As such, some publications don’t have the budget to pay freelancers, use them much less or have moved all writing operations in-house. If you keep up with publication guidelines, you’ll know which magazines are accepting freelance work, so you don’t waste your time pitching those that aren’t.

“[This is] all the more reason to do your best to cultivate as close-knit a relationship as you can with the publications and media outlets you most want to write for,” advised Michelle Goodman, a writer and author in Seattle.

“We’ve already run that.”

Translation: You pitched an old idea or the angle isn’t specific enough.

Magazines typically publish stories on the same topic, but the key is to approach these concepts with an angle the publication hasn’t used before.

“You might have checked the publication’s database to make sure they haven’t done the story yet, but maybe it’s already assigned and in the works with another writer and just hasn’t appeared in print or pixels yet,” noted Goodman. “Try to take that as a positive sign. At least you’re on the right track.”

Haney says that when writers pitch an evergreen topic without a creative angle, the pitch may be passed up. “It needs a really cool, new study or packaging device… that we’re like, ‘Oh wow! That’s a new take on it.”

Dawn Papandrea agrees. The seasoned freelance writer and magazine editor from Staten Island, N.Y. says that packaging counts more than the idea itself at times. “If you can work in ‘surprising’ or ‘newsy’ hooks to tell the editor why it’s worth reading right now, even better,” she advised. “Try to think in terms of ‘Would I click this headline if I saw it online?’ or ‘Would I buy this magazine if I saw this story on the cover?’ That’s what editors are looking for.”

Papandrea added that writers should query their timeliest topics to websites over print pubs. “Magazines are six months out sometimes, so watch out if you’re pitching seasonal ideas,” she said.

“We’re not assigning features at this time.”

Translation: You’re low on experience, so pitch front-of-book pieces instead.

It may very well be a fantastic article idea, but if you do not have much of a track record as a freelance magazine writer, you’re better off breaking in with a shorter, front-of-book (FOB) piece.

“[Pitching FOB articles is] a really great strategy, especially if you haven’t had national magazine experience yet,” Haney said. This gives you the chance to cultivate a relationship with an editor, who then may be more likely to take a chance on you when larger assignments become available.

Hamilton says that editors at the larger titles also want to see clips from national publications. Specifically, she wants multiple samples from the same publication. That tells her that the writer does a good enough job not only pitching and selling him or herself, but writing and revising.

“They’ve gone back to you, so obviously you’ve done a good job,” she said.

No response

Translation: The editor is consumed with deadlines, or your pitch flat-out sucks and was deleted (on purpose).

Editors are busy and sometimes they don’t have time to let you know the pitch isn’t right. When the response is nonexistent, it’s all right to check in to make sure he or she got your query. In other cases, sometimes an editor just doesn’t have the heart to tell you that your query doesn’t make the cut.

So, to increase your odds of staying out of the slush pile, make sure your copy is — you guessed it — free of typos, grammatical errors or plain old goofs. Examples: spelling an editor’s name wrong, including the name of the wrong magazine in the letter or sending hefty attachments with an email.

“Make it easy for the editor to love you,” advised Goodman. “They really do need good stories. Yours just have to be better than everyone else’s to get an assignment with a new-to-you editor or publication.”

So, where do you go after rejection?

Look, rejection happens; it’s not the end of the world. The key to longevity as a writer is to just do your best to learn from the experience.

“I never scrap pitches that I believe in. I usually tweak them for a different publication and send it off,” Papandrea said. “I take rejections as an opportunity to open up a dialogue with an editor to find out what their current needs are so I can pitch accordingly.”

Topics:

Go Freelance, Journalism Advice

Networking

How Freelancers Can Meet Editors When They Don’t Live in New York

Develop editor contacts, even if you live off the island

By Celeste Mitchell

Celeste Mitchell is an editorial writer and editor with nearly 30 years of experience creating consumer lifestyle content for publications including Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and SELF. She previously served as Deputy Editor at Cosmopolitan and taught journalism courses through Mediabistro.

3 min read • Originally published June 12, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Celeste Mitchell

3 min read • Originally published June 12, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

In order to be a successful freelance writer, you need two things—sellable story ideas and contacts at publications. Non-New Yorkers have it easy with ideas: You’ll know about things your Manhattan editors won’t. But it definitely is tougher for you to get to know editors—tough, but not impossible.

Here are some ways to develop new contacts with editors when you don’t live anywhere near Manhattan (and even if you do):

Find editors

This first step is to make contact—ideally face-to-face contact—with any editor you can. A good opportunity to meet them is when they’ve traveled outside the city for a specific work-related event. It’s a chance to say hello—even if only to shake a hand and ask for a business card.

When might you be able to do this?

1. Attend conferences for writers and editors. New York editors are often invited to speak about their publications or industry issues. Make a point of introducing yourself and getting their contact information.

2. Take continuing-education courses taught by professional journalists. Bigger names are often brought to town, especially if it’s a onetime lecture or seminar. And in ongoing classes, the teacher—who will likely be a significant local journalist—will often bring in guest speakers who are working editors. Again, take time after class to shake hands with a lecturer or guest speaker and introduce yourself.

3. Ask family and friends if they know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who is on staff at a New York publication. Sending an email is an efficient way to cast a wide net for help.

4. If you already write for a local publication, it’s not a bad idea to ask your contact to put you in touch with anyone they know in New York.

Stay in touch

Once you’ve befriended an editor, do what you can to stay on his or her radar screen—without being a pest.

1. Send news about yourself. Write a synopsis of your background that highlights your expertise and writing skills.

2. Whenever your work is published, update your editor by sending a copy of the article.

3. Send serious pitch letters via email or snail mail. (Find out from your contact how he or she prefers to receive query letters.)

4. If you happen to see an editor you’ve met on a TV show or if you hear her speaking as a guest on a radio show, send a complimentary note or email.

5. Pass along interesting articles from newspapers, magazines and websites on industry news.

6. Follow up with an email or phone call a week or two after sending a query letter. Try to confirm that the document was received and offer to provide additional information should it be required.

Finally, come visit New York

Once you have a few contacts, one of the best things you can do for your freelance career is to make an annual or biannual pilgrimage to New York to say hello. Get the most out of your trip by planning your visit to coincide with a writer’s conference or other event at which you can meet more editors.

1. Email and/or call your contacts a month or so in advance to make arrangements. Give them the specific dates you will be in town and ask to meet for lunch or coffee to discuss story ideas.

2. At your meeting, pitch your ideas verbally (bring reference notes) and listen carefully to your editor’s feedback. Take notes. Ask questions. Don’t get defensive. She’ll either love or hate your ideas, but usually she’ll explain why they do or don’t work for the magazine. Listen carefully to these suggestions, which are valuable insight into the personality of the magazine. Also, if one of your ideas shows potential, she may spend time brainstorming with you to find a way to turn it into a sellable concept.

3. Plus—who knows?—if you’re really lucky, this meeting may include a visit and tour of the publication’s editorial office, which is yet another chance to meet even more editors who you’ll stay in touch with once you return home!

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Networking

Journalism Advice

6 Expert Tips for Landing Competitive Journalism Fellowships

Breathe new life into your career with the right program

By Meena Thiruvengadam

5 min read • Originally published June 15, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Meena Thiruvengadam

5 min read • Originally published June 15, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

For a working journalist, a fellowship from a university or foundation can be the best thing to reinvigorate your career, providing funding and other assistance for reporting projects, study and travel.

Unfortunately, applying for them is kind of like dating: lots of different options, some with longer-term commitments than others and rejection is almost inevitable.

“We’re impressed by applications that are sincere, that show there’s been a lot of thought put into the essays and where the applicant demonstrates a genuine passion for their work and for learning, because that’s really what this [year’s program] is about,” says Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

The Nieman Foundation awards several fellowships each year, including its flagship Nieman Fellowships, which allow journalists to spend an academic year studying at Harvard while receiving a healthy stipend in addition to tuition and other benefits.

Meanwhile, John S. Knight Fellowships give journalists the opportunity to study at Stanford, Knight-Wallace fellows study at the University of Michigan, Knight-Bagehot fellows study at Columbia, and several organizations, including the International Center for Journalists and East-West Center, offer shorter-term fellowships as well, often focusing on subjects or geographical regions.

Regardless of the program you’re applying for, here’s how you can stand out in an increasingly competitive crowd.

1. Find the right fit

Micheline Maynard, a former New York Times correspondent and author who has held Knight-Bagehot, Knight-Wallace, Japan Society and Hoover fellowships and is a Reynolds visiting professor of business journalism at Central Michigan University, describes journalism fellowships as “part of the learning continuum.”

Fellowships should build on the work you’ve already done in your career and provide you with new knowledge or skills for future endeavors.

Maynard has used her experiences to study at an Ivy League university, work on books and to develop a more international perspective by living abroad. “I would not be the journalist I am without the fellowships I’ve done. Every one taught me something and opened my eyes,” she says.

2. Plan ahead

For many journalists, the path toward a fellowship can begin years before an application is submitted. “I had been thinking about it for a couple of years by the time I finally sat down to write my essays,” says Lipinski, who did a Nieman fellowship in 1990.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to spend months tweaking your essay, but you should put time and effort into seeking strong letters of recommendation and making well-researched and realistic proposals.

You also shouldn’t wait until the last minute to get started or to figure out the quirks of online application systems.

3. Consult former fellows

Aisha Sultan, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch parenting columnist and Knight-Wallace fellow, recommends asking former fellows how they made themselves stand out in their applications and interviews. “Don’t discount anyone’s experience,” she says.

Depending on your relationship with the person, you could also ask for a letter of recommendation or an email to the program director. “Directors and selection committees are impressed with big names, but they are just as likely to appreciate a letter from someone close to the program,” Maynard says.

If you don’t personally know any fellowship recipients, NPR consultant Doug Mitchell, who has been both a Fulbright Scholar and Knight International Fellow, suggests using social networks to figure out which of your contacts might have an “in” to a program and ask for introductions.

He also recommends looking closely at the backgrounds of past fellows, which are often readily available online.

“There’s usually some kind of guiding principle to the acceptance of fellows, and you can usually ascertain at least some information about what that is by looking at a list of fellows.”

4. Do your reporting

Sultan sees the fellowship application as one opportunity for journalists to showcase their reporting skills.

“You have a lot of opportunities to highlight what you can do as a reporter from the people you talk to, your knowledge of the institution you’re applying to and the amount and quality of research you put into your proposal.”

She recommends being specific about classes you would take and professors you may want to work with as part of a fellowship. “The more that you do to set up your own path, the better it will look to a selection committee,” she says.

5. Craft a strong essay

Maynard suggests telling a personal story. “Don’t write your personal essay as if you’re summing up your resume,” she says. “Choose an instance when you did or learned something that affected the rest of your career.”

Patrick Butler, vice president for programs for the International Center for Journalists, urges applicants to proofread closely. “These are journalism fellowships. If you’re sloppy, and if I as an editor wouldn’t want to run your work, I will take that into account in deciding whether you should receive a fellowship,” he says.

Birgit Rieck, assistant director of the Knight-Wallace fellowship program at the University of Michigan, recommends getting the opinion of someone who knows you well but isn’t your best friend.

“You want to know how you’re coming across, because you want the selection committee to get the right idea of who you are when they read your application.”

6. Come up with a doable project

Some projects sound great but are far too ambitious, dangerous or simply not feasible to pull off within the confines of a fellowship program.

“We look for applicants that are both ambitious and realistic,” says Jim Bettinger, director of the John S. Knight journalism fellowship program at Stanford. “We look for evidence the person can actually do what they’re proposing to do.”

That can mean having technical or language skills. “Sometimes people have this idea that if they just come to Stanford there’ll be computer science geeks falling over to work on their project, but that’s not necessarily the case,” Bettinger says.

“You have to show in your application that you have the skills to do what you’re proposing and that you are the right person to carry it out.”

It can also mean being able to safely carry out the project being proposed. “Some regions people are proposing reporting on are tightly controlled, and applicants aren’t fully taking the dangers or required resources into account,” ICFJ’s Butler says.

Sometimes it isn’t you, it’s them

Don’t let a rejection letter stop you. Sometimes all it takes is a second or third try.

It also may not be the quality of your application that’s holding you back.

“I’m looking to put a class together that’s going to form a really dynamic year for each of them,” the Nieman Foundation’s Lipinski says. “We don’t want everybody coming from similar backgrounds. We want a rich diversity of experiences and interests.”

That’s something applicants can’t sway, so Sultan suggests accepting it instead. “You can’t take it personally if you don’t get picked,” she says. Sometimes it’s just completely outside of your control.”

Topics:

Go Freelance, Journalism Advice

What is the 30 percent self-employment tax everyone talks about?

What about other items that would normally be taken out of my paycheck pre-tax, like health care and retirement savings?

Will I be responsible for sales tax, too?

Does this mean I need to hire an accountant?

What specifically do I need to keep track of?

What happens if I mess up?

1. Create your own efficiency test.

2. Plan out your workday in advance.

3. Do the hardest thing first, every day.

4. Treat your business like a business.

5. Know when to say yes or no.

6. Know what distracts you, and face it head-on.

7. Be a good boss, to yourself.

The Gig

How to Break In

Other Opportunities

Reality Check

1. Get to the point.

2. Rethink your angle.

3. Do your research.

4. Pre-write the article.

5. Create a sense of urgency.

6. Include your credentials.

7. Step away from the computer.

Find editors

When might you be able to do this?

Stay in touch

Finally, come visit New York

1. Find the right fit

2. Plan ahead

3. Consult former fellows

4. Do your reporting

5. Craft a strong essay

6. Come up with a doable project

Sometimes it isn’t you, it’s them

Leslie Pepper