Everything starts with background research. Here are resources that SOJC faculty find helpful and often recommend to their students.
How to: Get started as a freelance journalist, JournalismUK. This gets updated every couple of years, which is helpful. Overall, this gives a good sense of
Freelance Community, Society of Professional Journalists. Here’s how you make connections, put yourself out for hire, pick up some extra work. You need to be an SPJ member, and it’s worth it for the student rate of $35/year.
How (not) to pitch, Garance Franke-Ruta, The Atlantic. This advice really isn’t specific to The Atlantic magazine. Super useful.
Publications that pay $1/word, The International Freelancer. Generally these are for more experienced freelancers, but there is no harm in trying.
Freelancers on the best outlets to work for, Columbia Journalism Review. Just a good overview of how the best of the best do things.
Five reasons editors say “no” to a story pitch, IJnet. Sometimes it’s you or something you did. Often it’s not. It’s worthwhile to understand why.
How to pitch (to me) plus, what I would give my right arm for more of, by Jessica Reed, features editor for the Guardian U.S. Why the first paragraph matters so much, why your tone matters, what she looks for. Applicable more broadly than this editor.
Pitch Clinic: This is a Medium publication run by Jessica Reed, author of the above link. She breaks down what she likes and doesn’t like about specific pitches. These pieces will give you a peek into her thought process, which is pretty typical. And she’s funny.
What makes a good pitch? NPR editors weigh in, by Alison Macadam. Specific to audio storytelling, yet also principles that are good for anything.
