Finding editor contact info.

This is possibly the question I get most frequently. Sometimes it comes from people who aren’t Google-savvy*, other times it comes from those who are desperate for contacts.

Here are a few ways to go about finding impossible-to-find editor emails:

1) Google (or search engine of your choice)

Often a simple search for “foreign news editor [publication]” or “food editor [publication]” is all it takes.

2) Check socials

Most editors I know are on Twitter. Search “[publication] editor” or just “[publication]” and check bios and pitch calls (including comments) for emails. If all else fails, find the publication’s Twitter handle and scroll through their follow list.

3) Google the outlet’s or parent company’s “email format”

For instance, Health magazine is owned by Meredith. If I know the name of the commissioning editor (via Twitter or Google or LinkedIn), all I have to do is search “Meredith email format” and get this listing which tells me their format is first.last@meredith.com.

4) Use an email database like RocketReach or Hunter.io (both have free options)

5) Connect on social media

Tweet them, DM them, drop them a LinkedIn message (but obviously respect boundaries; don’t go adding people on Facebook or anything). I once tweeted an editor (his DMs were closed) asking if he was game for pitches. He tweeted back saying no, but gave me his email and told me to circle back in a couple of months. I did. Bada-bing-bada-boom—a story was commissioned for a very easy-to-work-with editor at a rate that I was chuffed with at the time.

*this is what I tell myself. I refuse to believe people are that entitled or that lazy when I get a DM saying “Can I have the editor at <publication’s> email?”

Contracts

Reading and Negotiating a Freelance Contract (The Open Notebook)

Confirmation of Commission (PDF from the National Union of Journalists)

5 tips for negotiating a freelance contract (IJNET)

Have A Free Freelancer Contract Template: You definitely need a contract. Here’s mine. Take it! (a contract template from the very generous Jyssica Schwartz)

This episode of The Writers’ Co-op podcast talks about contracts, covering everything from red flags to rights.

*Disclaimer: We are not lawyers. For legal advice, please consult with a lawyer.

Profile writing

[Also check out the “Sources and Interviews” resource page]

How to Write a Profile Article (MasterClass)

How Taffy Brodesser-Akner Writes a Celebrity Profile (Slate)

How To Write A Profile Story (CubReporters.org)

Interviewing Principles (Columbia Journalism)

R.I.P., the Celebrity Profile (NYT)

Profiles from around the web

The New Yorker

GQ

NYT’s Saturday Profiles

Catapult’s “Fifteen Minutes” vertical

Esquire

A list of the best profiles of 2017, according to the editors of Longreads

Sources and interviews

Where to find sources

Try HARO (Help A Reporter Out).

Tweet a journo request using #journorequest or #sourcerequest on Twitter (these get retweeted by other, bigger accounts such as @journo_request and @PRJournoRequest).

Twitter bios. LinkedIn. Google Scholar (most papers published in peer-reviewed journals have emails listed on them).

Google search, email/DM sources. (Hopefully, this goes without saying: while it’s fine to follow up on your request, please don’t harass sources.)

Ask friends, ask family.

Ask your editor.

On interviewing

Q&A: Larry King on asking simple questions and listening closely (CJR)

Is Larry King too soft on his guests or is it his “softness” that prevents knee-jerk defensiveness and encourages openness? Soft Questions? Larry King Explains His Interview Style (The Young Turks, YouTube)

Mike Dronkers’ TED Talk, ‘How to Interview “Almost” Anyone’ (TEDx Talks, YouTube)

Interviewing Principles (Columbia Journalism)

After the story is published

This is just my two cents: aim to send a published link/PDF to the people you interviewed, thanking them for their time and inputs. And, down the line, aim to check in with former sources where and when you can. Not solely because you can get a story out of it, but because it’s also just polite.

Op-eds

Everything op-ed (opposite the editorial; opinion, commentary, etc.) related can be found on The Op-Ed Project’s website.

Washington Post’s Opinion editor, Alyssa Rosenberg explains what makes a good opinion pitch in this Twitter thread.

Read guidelines on how to submit an op-ed essay to the New York Times here.

Guidelines on how to pitch an article to Guardian Opinion here.

How to submit an op-ed to The Boston Globe here.

Write first or pitch first?

Depending on where you pitch, you might be expected to submit a full draft before an editor gives you the green light. Having written a few op-eds that never saw the light of day for prestigious publications (in one instance, twice for the same editor), I now advocate against writing op-eds on spec (that is, submit a draft on a speculative basis).

I would argue that this is especially true if you’re an established mid-career journalist and have a set of clips. I know a lot of bigger publications, especially those based in the US suggest a completed draft is the norm, but, to me—an Indian writer based in India—it seems like a step in gatekeeping a number of already overworked and underpaid freelance voices.

Here are a few publications that (at least in my* experience) let you pitch first-

The Independent’s Indy Voices

CNN Opinion

Metro Opinion

South China Morning Post

The Daily Dot

HuffPost

The Guardian

Bustle

Glamour

Lacuna Voices

Pitching a argument before you’ve got a full draft down also lets the editor talk through the angle and the story with you. Perhaps there’s an overarching theme they want you to include. Perhaps they’re not interested in that particular angle, but something else you mentioned in the pitch caught their eye.

Also read Nicole Dieker’s take on this in “Ask a Freelancer: Should You Write Your Article Before You Pitch It?” for The Freelancer by Contently.

*disclaimer (because this is the internet): This is just my experience

Rates - setting them, getting them, etc.

Where to look up freelance rates for articles, essays, blogs, and more -

NUJ Rate for the Job (from the National Union of Journalists)

Who Pays Writers lets you search rates by publication

JournoResources put together this list of commissioned rates

IWW Freelance Journalists Union compiled this spreadsheet with rates and contact details

Contently’s Freelance Rates Database

Anna Codrea-Rado is working to close the #FreelancerPayGap - enter the rates you were quoted here and browse rates quoted to other freelancers here

Rahel Aima compiled freelancer years in review here

Sonia Weiser’s “Opportunities of the Week” newsletter usually includes rates (Weiser diligently replies to pitch calls and opportunities on Twitter asking people to share rates). It is paid, but I believe there are options available for those who find the subscription fee steep.

On setting rates

“How Much Should Writers Charge Per Word or Per Project?” by Robert Lee Brewer, Senior Editor at Writer’s Digest

“Asking for More: Negotiating Rates for Freelance Assignments” by Rachel Zamzow, The Open Notebook

How to say “Sorry, I’m not doing that for free” (via Reddit)

Rate transparency

Without getting too preachy, I will say that rate transparency is crucial to growing a sustainable freelance ecosystem. It ensures you don’t get lowballed into getting less than your worth, it prevents freelancer rate discrimination, and prevents you from wasting your time and the editor’s (if the publication’s rate is lower than you expect, say).

If a writer gets in touch with me asking if I can share a contact, I’ll be sure to include what I was paid alongside it. (If I don’t, give me a nudge.)

Also see #FreelancerPayGap - a Google Sheet that compares pay alongside ethnicity, experience, etc.

Pitching: how to pitch, where to pitch, pitch calls, etc.

How to pitch

If you’ve no idea what a pitch is or how to pitch anyone, start with this guide on Nieman Lab by NYT’s Tim Herrera: “How to successfully pitch The New York Times (or, well, anyone else)” as well as this all-’round great resource, aptly titled “Pitch, Bitch!” (many thanks to Chloé Braithwaite-Cvetojević for sending this through)

“The Art of Pitching: How I Got Published in The Atlantic” (via Campfire Labs)

“5 Tips for a Successful Freelance Writing Pitch” (via Writer’s Digest)

“How to pitch story ideas: tips from journalists” (via International Journalists’ Network)

“50+ pitching guides for NYT, NatGeo, Wired, WaPo, Bustle and more” (via Freelancing with Tim)

“Here Are A Load Of Successful Journalism Pitches To Help You With Yours” (via Journo Resources)

“How to write the perfect pitch” (via Journalism.co.uk)

Sample pitches

Journo Resources has a collection of successful journalism pitches

Successful Pitches (a database of pitches that includes word counts and subject lines)

The Open Notebook’s Pitch Database (a collection of successful pitches for science writers).

Where to find pitch calls + publications to pitch

Catapult has a list of submission and freelancing opportunities under their Don’t Write Alone column.

Freedom With Writing sends out an email with pitch calls, submission opportunities, etc.

IWW Freelance Journalists Union compiled this spreadsheet with rates and contact details.

This Google Doc contains “media outlets that publish science stories, mainly U.S., Australia, Canada, English-language; some Latin America,” compiled by Robin Lloyd.

Where to Pitch - enter your vertical, the search engine finds you publications to pitch and gives you their pitching guidelines.

Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week Newsletter.

This Google Sheet from an anonymous (at time of writing) person who goes by The Commission Hunter on Twitter.

The Society of Freelance Journalists has a great international Slack community of 1,200+ journalists, editors, and content creators. They share opportunities and provide each other with support.

The Reporter’s Notebook has compiled a list of paying publications that focus on beer (although some of these publications cover a range of other topics).

Contently’s Freelance Rates Database has a list of publications to pitch alongside their rates.

Journo Resources put together this list of commissioned rates. They also send out a weekly newsletter gathering freelance opportunities and gigs scouted from around the internet.

PitchWhiz, HackPack, The Dots (the latter is mainly suited for UK-based freelancers) all send out weekly newsletters with pitch calls and opportunities.

TravMedia, Food4Media, Telum Media also send out pitch requests from editors (the first two are travel- and food-specific respectively).

Other similar sites you might want to check out include Media Bistro and Media Beans.

Follow editors of your favourite publications and Writers of Color on Twitter for pitch calls.

Kaitlyn Artford retweets pitch calls and opportunities on Twitter. As does Chryselle D’Silva Dias.

Words + thoughts on "good" writing & journalism

In case you haven’t already stumbled across these, here is a list (in no particular order) of what to read and watch (or what I’ve read, watched, and liked at some point):

“How to write a good story in 800 words or less” by Roy Peter Clarke (Poynter)

“Craft in the Real World,” by Matthew Salesses. (Granted, this is aimed at writers of fiction, but the same issues — in my opinion — bleed into the world of nonfiction and journalism.)

Christiane Amanpour on “How to seek truth in an era of fake news”

School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University’s “A Conversation with Larry King” (If you cannot watch the entire conversation, skip to part 2 for King’s interviewing tips.)

Gender-Based Violence in the Media: A media ethics toolkit on sensitive reportage from Feminism In India

”Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide,” Fargo Nissim Tbakhi (Protean)