What Editors Are Looking For in Solutions Pitches
From ‘cinematic tension’ to a catchy headline, editors reveal the top ingredients that make pitches go from slush pile to Sunday feature.
For “Freelancer Fridays,” this month we’re doing a 3-part series on pitching solutions journalism stories. This is Part II. For ‘Part I: How to Prepare a Solutions Pitch — 10 Tips from Journalists in our Network’, go here. If you’re enjoying this series, we hope you’ll consider supporting the work we do at Solutions Journalism Network with a donation.
“Pitching is an art, not a science.” That’s according to Ryan Lenora Brown — Africa Correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor.
Ryan’s right — there’s no golden formula; each pitch should capture the journalist’s own flair, and the publication’s unique demands. But even though pitches should be creative, Ryan — like many story commissioners — knows one point to be true: “having a format doesn’t hurt.”
We asked editors in our network to elaborate on that pitching format. How should pitch emails begin? What should they include? What should they not include? Here’s what six editors in our network defined as the most key ingredients in a solutions story pitch:
1. A clear, detailed, time-sensitive answer to “Why should readers care?”
Linda Shaw, former education editor and long-time reporter at The Seattle Times (and now with SJN!), thinks establishing relevance — right away — is essential:
“If you’re writing about an effort outside of your city or state, make it clear, right from the start, why editors (and their readers) should care. They will lose interest quickly if they don’t know why it’s relevant to their lives.”
Ryan Lenora Brown seconds that , adding that context and timing are important:
“To make a pitch stand out, we look for ‘why is this important to our audience’? Why might someone want to know about a thing happening in a place far from them? And why is this the moment to zoom in on the issue?’”
And Sarah Garland, executive editor at The Hechinger Report, thirds it. She thinks the ideal pitch formula is “a succinct summary of why the story matters, what’s new, and how you will report it”:
“You should have enough reporting done that you can provide answers to the big questions that the editor might have.Why does this story matter? Whose lives does it affect? How is the situation or trend described in the story likely to play out? What are the likely consequences? What are the people in the story doing to change things? Are there any surprising or new statistics or other findings that illustrate the importance of the story? Why is this story new? Who will be the major characters of the story, and why are they the ideal vehicles for telling it?”
2. A sense you’re a good storyteller, and that there’s a story to tell.
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz, editorial director at YES! Magazine, reads 40 pitches a day. Yet she says the ones that stand out are pitches that offer a character-driven, dramatic story:
“In the pitch, show me you have a compelling ‘story’ to tell. We want characters and drama, not just people talking about their initiative.”
Ryan Lenora Brown agrees, noting how ‘the most common mistake she sees is when people pitch a topic, and not a story:
“For example, they’ll say, ‘there’s a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe’, or ‘there’s an election in Nigeria’, can I write you something about that?’ That’s a topic, and that topic might be interesting, but I need to know what story you’re going to tell within that topic. The difference between topics and stories is that stories have action, drama, characters, a central theme, or point.”
For Tina Rosenberg, co-author of the New York Times solutions-oriented “Fixes” column (and co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network), a marker of a good pitch is when the story can be easily summarized, like a movie plot:
Think of your pitch as a movie plot — one that you’re able to sum up in a sentence or two. You can tell that story in a complex way, of course. But you do need an elevator pitch. If it takes a long time to summarize the pitch idea, you might want to rethink the ‘story’ you’re trying to tell.
3. Evidence — qualitative or quantitative — of the response’s impact.
Nevertheless, most editors accepting solutions pitches concede that a good story alone isn’t enough. Tracy, for instance, also seeks to know the depth and breadth of the solution:
“Address potential impact — what audience would benefit, what other communities need to know this? Give me the “Hey, Mabel” numbers. Aside from what the initiative’s advocates say, what is the research or data on the problem or the solution that I won’t be able to ignore. Find the trend line of the solutions: Are other communities starting to do this?”
Roxanne Patel Shepelavy, executive editor at Philadelphia Citizen, agrees that substance is key. She says ‘nuanced explanations’, not basic primers, are what she seeks in a pitch:
“Assume our readers are smart (which they are), and won’t need a primer on basic urban topics like gentrification and transportation, for example. What they (and we) need are good reporting, smart takes and nuanced explanations of the issues facing where we live.”
And, as Linda Shaw notes, shedding light on local issues can invite evidence from elsewhere:
“That evidence can be qualitative or quantitative, and it can be from the effort you’re writing about or a similar one elsewhere, but evidence is key.”
4. An acknowledgment of the response’s limitations, and an eye to its replicability.
But to avoid coming off like a puffy PR piece, Tracy says rigor — an eye to limitations — is also crucial to recognize:
“For an ‘unfluffy’ solutions pitch, acknowledge limitations, or arguments against the response.
Tina Rosenberg also notes how she seeks to understand the response’s replicability in the pitches she reviews:
“For the Fixes column, the best solutions story pitches often have four ingredients. They show that the idea is (1) innovative, (2) replicable, (3) backed by evidence, of whether or not the response worked, and (4) is worth showing and learning from.”
5. An idea of how the article begins, and how the rest would follow.
Ryan Lenora Brown says her ideal pitches begin by telling a bit of the story:
“ Even if it’s just a few sentences, talk about what’s happening, anything that illuminates the scene, the characters, and give me a sense that you can write it.”
Sarah Garland also likes when the ‘beginning of a pitch reads like the beginning of the article’ that the author intends to write:
“It could be anecdotal or straight. If it’s anecdotal, keep in mind that you should keep it short — two or three sentences maximum. You want to get your reader (the editor) to the point quickly. The rest of the pitch should read more like a nut graf or billboard.”
6. A brief explanation of how you’ll report the story, and why you’re qualified to report it.
Sarah also wants to know about nuts and bolts of the story’s reporting process, and what the final product might look like:
How will you report the rest of the story, or what other questions do you plan on addressing once it’s complete? Also, be sure to estimate the number of words you’ll need and include ideas on what publications the story would be appropriate for.
Ryan Lenora Brown agrees, and adds that including a bit of background info on the author helps to envision the story’s reportage:
What’s your connection? Who have you written for? Send some links to stories you’ve done on similar topics.
7. A headline that sells the story’s value and shows its timeliness.
Ryan also says headlines help her envision the story’s final shape:
If you can think of what the headline might be, and if you can make that the title of the pitch, that helps us envision what that story might look like when it’s done.
And Sarah says the headline should encompass the meat — and urgency — of the story:
Think of your pitch as a slightly longer version of the headline. What is the burning question the story will answer? What will make the story irresistible to readers? The pitch should not only allow the editor to easily envision what the longer story will look like, it should demonstrate why we have to do this story now
8. An understanding of what the news outlet covers (and does not cover).
Roxanne Patel Shepelavy says one of her biggest tips is for journalists to truly understand the outlet they’re pitching, and ensuring their stories fit there:
I wish journalists would take the time to really understand what we do, both by reading stories and reading our manifesto, so they are pitching me pieces that are in line with our ethos, of solutions and civic engagement.
And, as Linda Shaw adds, there’s no need to label the pitch as SoJo:
For editors who aren’t familiar with solutions journalism, you don’t need to label an idea as a solutions story. These stories, after all, are just good enterprise pieces.
