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HOW!TO!WRITE!A!STRONG!STORY!PROPOSAL!
—Sarah&Blustain,&deputy&editor,&The&Investigative&Fund&
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Keep!it!short!because!most!editors!have!no!time.!!
Once,!I!got!a!pitch!from!a!writer!that!was!4,000!words.!I!asked!her!to!cut!it!to!two!pages.!
She!did.!Then!she!sent!a!version!to!a!magazine!editor!that!was!3,000!words.!He!asked!her!
to!send!a!paragraph!so!he!could!sell!it!to!his! b oss.!The!point!being!that!in!most!cases!you!
should!actually!send!somewhere!between!one!paragraph!and!1,000!words.!My!target!is!
usually!500!words.!
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Be!direct!because!most!editors!have!no!time.!
Editors!are!scanning!pitches!for!a!few!things,!and!they!want!to!be!able!to!find!them!
quickly.!Your!writing!should!be!good,!but!they!don’t!want!your!most!poetic!language,!all!
your!findings,!or!your!entire!reporting!plan.!The!pitch!is!(hopefully)!the!beginning!of!a!
conversation,!not!the!whole!conversation.!
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Give!editors!what!they!need!to!take!your!pitch!up!the!editorial!ladder.!
I!normally!recommend!a!four-paragraph!pitch.!There!are!four!important!things!to!get!in:!!
a)!what!the!story!is;!!
b)!why!it!matters!--!and!why!it!matters!now;!!
c)!what!your!findings!are;!and!!
d)!why!you!should!be!the!one!to!write!it.!
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Breaking!those!down:!!
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a)&What&the&story&is.!
This!is!your!first!paragraph,!and!I!would!try!to!do!it!in!under!five!sentences.!It’s!similar!to!
what!is!usually!called!the!elevator!pitch,!but!I!always!find!it!more!helpful!to!think!of!it!as!
“how!would!you!explain!this!to!your!grandmother.”!This!is!important!because!editors!you!
are!pitching!may!not!be!very!well!informed!on!the!particular!topic!you!have!spent!your!last!
three!months!researching.!Very!basically,!lay!out!what!the!story!is!you!are!trying!to!tell.!For!
news!stories,!what’s!the!news?!For!a!magazine!story,!what’s!the!form!(profile,!essay,!etc.)!
and!what’s!your!angle?!!It’s!okay!to!have!a!“lede,”!but!not!a!long,!literary!one;!it!should!be!
more!like!one!sentence,!and!a!short!one.!!
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b)&Why&does&this&matter.!
This!is!your!second!paragraph.!Try!starting!it!using!some!variation!of:!“The!significance!of!
this!story!is!…”!or!“This!story!matters!because!…”!You!can!cut!those!out,!but!it’s!a!good!
habit!to!get!into!writing!it.!The!significance!paragraph!is!your!opportunity!to!tie!this!to!a!
larger!trend,!news!event,!etc.!Usually!I!think!this!paragraph!is!about!three!sentences!long,!
and!the!first!or!second!should!include!the!peg!for!the!story!as!well!—!i.e.,!why&this&matters&
now.!And!if!you!are!covering!a!story!that!a!lot!of!other!people!have!written!about,!make!
sure!you!add!a!sentence!that!says,!“This!story!is!different!from!the!other!coverage!on!this!
topic!because…”!or,!“My!story!will!significantly!change!the!storyline!on!this!topic!…”!
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c)&What&goods&did&you&get!
For!an!investigative!piece,!this!is!where!you!lay!out!your!findings.!Some!questions!to!think!
about!for!this!part:!How!long!have!you!worked!on!it?!What!special!access!do!you!have!(if!a!
profile,!mention!if!you!have!access!to!the!person!you!are!profiling,!plus!all!her!friends!and!
pets)?!What!kind!of!proprietary!reporting!do!you!have?!You!are!trying!to!let!the!editor!
know!what!you’ve!got!that’s!special.!If!bulleted!items!are!useful!to!show!what!your!findings!
are,!this!would!be!the!place!to!include!them.!
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One!note!of!caution:!You!don’t!want!to!put!in!too!much!and!give!away!your!findings!to!an!
outlet!that!could!assign!the!piece!to!another!reporter.!But!you!have!to!give!enough!to!give!
them!a!sense!of!the!kind!of!thing!you!have.!So!you!can!tell!them!that!you!have!an!exclusive!
source,!a!category!of!information,!or!some!data!crunched,!but!you!don’t!have!to!put!in!the!
name!of!the!source!or!all!the!details!of!the!information!or!data.!This!is!a!good!place!to!
consult!with!your!Investigative!Fund!editor!to!make!sure!you!are!representing!your!work!
but!also!protecting!it.!!
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d)!Why&you&are&the&right&person&to&do&this&story!
This!is!the!“about!the!author”!paragraph.!Don’t!include!your!whole!resume.!Just!two!or!
three!sentences!that!include!what!matters!most!for!this!pitch:!This!could!include!your!
highest!profile!credentials,!but!don’t!forget!that!if!you!are!writing!a!piece!about!farming!in!
Maine,!you!want!to!make!sure!to!mention!it!if!you!grew!up!on!a!farm...!
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Send!it!two!ways.!
Sometimes!crazy!formatting!makes!emails!in!a!conversation!tough!to!read,!and!sometimes!
editors!are!reading!on!the!go.!So!put!your!pitch!both!in!the!body!of!the!email,!as!well!as!in!
an!attachment,!so!editors!can!read!however!they!prefer.!
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Be!available!to!continue!the!conversation.!
Conclude!by!offering!to!be!available!to!provide!any!other!information!they!might!need.!If!
the!pitch!is!time-sensitive,!note!when!you!need!to!hear!back!by.!(If! it!is!really!time-
sensitive,!put!that!in!the!first!paragraph.)!Thank!them!for!their!time,!or!say!something!else!
that’s!nice.!!
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Follow!up.!
Editors!are!busy!people!who!get!tons!of!email.!That’s!not!an!excuse,!but!it!is!a!reason!to!
wait!a!reasonable!time!(a!week!is!generally!polite,!unless!your!pitch!is!time-sensitive),!and!
then!reach!out!again.!Be!polite!and!helpful!in!your!follow-up!email,!and!either!respond!on!
the!same!email!thread,!or!copy!and!paste!your!initial!pitch!so!the!editor!doesn’t!have!to!do!
detective!work!to!dig!up!the!pitch!you’re!referencing.!!
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