Pitch: [Outlet] — [story in five words]
Replace the blue placeholders with your own words and delete the grey notes as you go. Keep the finished email under 200 words, and send it to one person.
Outlet | [Publication, show or newsletter] |
Reporter | [First and last name, spelled exactly] |
Beat | [What they cover, in a few words] |
Their recent story | [Title and date of a piece you read] |
News date or deadline | [Launch, event or embargo date] |
Sent on | [Date] |
Follow up on | [Three to seven days after sending, or before their deadline if they're on one] |
Subject line
Name the story, not your company. Labels such as Story idea:, Source:, Pitch: or Embargoed until … help a reporter sort the inbox.
[The story in about ten words]
See subject lines for different pitches
Product launch: Story idea: a $59 bike light that dims for oncoming riders
Expert source: Source for your sales tax story: CPA who files for 300 online sellers
Podcast guest: Guest idea for Main Street Money: the bakery that cut its waste by a third
Event: Photo op Sat., Oct. 9: a children's parade and a riverboat of authors
Follow-up: Re: the original subject line, in the same thread
Greeting and first line
Hi [first name],
[One or two lines about their readers or their recent work: a story they ran and what you noticed in it]
Skip “I hope this finds you well.” The first lines are often the only ones a reporter reads before deciding.
The news in two sentences
[Who is doing what, when and where]
[The one detail that makes it news: a number, a price, a first, a date]
Why it matters to their readers
[One or two sentences connecting the news to what this reporter covers]
What you can offer
Access: [who they can interview, and when]
Material: [review unit, data, photos or documents, as links]
Timing: [exclusive until a date, embargo time, or free to use now]
The ask
[One question they can answer with yes or no]
Signature
[Your name]
[Role, organization]
[Phone]
[One link: your press page or the release]
Before you hit send: under 200 words, one reporter per email, links instead of attachments, and the release (if you have one) pasted below your signature.
See a full pitch email
Subject: Story idea: a $59 bike light that dims for oncoming riders
Hi Priya,
Your readers who ride the river path after dark told you last month what bothers them most: other cyclists' lights in their eyes. Here's a light built for that problem, shipping May 18.
Copperline's Halo 2 is a $59 front light that senses oncoming headlights and dims its beam within half a second, then brightens again when the path is clear. There's no app and nothing to pair.
In a month of testing on that same path, it dimmed for 412 of 420 oncoming lights. The ride log and photos are at copperline.example/press.
I can get a review unit to you this week, and our head of engineering can show you how the sensor works in 15 minutes. The release is below.
Would you like a unit to test?
Jess Odum
Communications Lead, Copperline
(208) 555-0177
Fictional example: the company, people and phone number are invented.
Follow-up (send once)
Reply in the same thread with one new fact or offer: for a news pitch, usually three to seven days later; for a story on deadline, before the deadline or not at all. If you hear nothing after that, move on.
Hi [first name],
[One new thing: a person to interview, a number, a photo, a date]
[An easy way to say no, such as: No worries if it isn't a fit this time.]
See a follow-up email
Subject: Re: Story idea: a $59 bike light that dims for oncoming riders
Hi Priya,
One update in case it's useful: a commuter club of about 60 Boise cyclists has been testing early Halo 2 units for two weeks, and three of them would talk to you about the river path you wrote about. The review unit is still yours if you want it.
No worries if it isn't a fit this time.
Jess
Before you send
The reporter's name and outlet are spelled correctly
The first line refers to something they actually wrote
The news is in the first two sentences, with a date
The email is under 200 words and has one ask
Photos, data and the release are links, not attachments
It goes to one reporter, not a list
The follow-up date is in the table above