Things have gelled rather quickly since my last update. The form of the piece I want to write about institutional reform has taken a more definite shape in my mind; I have added four books to my list that I think I need in order to get the details down but am confident I can write what I want once I go through those (and probably sooner).
So I’m asking for help from those of you who know what you are doing: freelancers and writers of all sorts who have pitched pieces to big publications.
My goals are a little different from yours; I’m not trying to make a living off of this, at least not right now. If I could place this piece in The Atlantic without compensation, I would in a heartbeat. I want reach and prestige, in that order.
To that end, I have two questions for you:
- Where should I pitch this piece? The basic selling point is “We need systematic institutional change, here’s what it should be and how we should get it done.” It will be a lengthy piece that goes through some fine institutional details as well as political strategy. As mentioned, The Atlantic is probably the ideal but I’d love to hear about other options.
- How should I go about this? Emailing the generic pitch alias at a publication seems…like an almost guaranteed way to never hear from them. I’ve tried looking into which editors are subject-matter appropriate for a given pitch, but my toolset is fairly limited there.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!
