Story Annotations

Feeding the world – and feeling despair

Feeding the world – and feeling despair

Editor’s note: The tragic news last week of suicides by creative celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain captured headlines and emotions. But despair does not discriminate. Storyboard contributor Julia Shipley…
June 12, 2018
Julia Shipley
At the Guardian's Long Read, no rigid formula or geographic limits

At the Guardian’s Long Read, no rigid formula or geographic limits

The editor's advice: Study what's been published before. Be authoritative, fresh and "arresting." Dare to send a (good) cold pitch
June 5, 2018
Katia Savchuk
The story ideas Mother Jones' managing editor wants to see

The story ideas Mother Jones’ managing editor wants to see

Mother Jones is known for its hard-hitting investigations, like Shane Bauer’s 35,000-word undercover account of working as a private prison guard in Louisiana, which won a National Magazine Award for…
April 17, 2018
Katia Savchuk
Pacific Standard's executive editor shares some do's and don'ts on pitching stories

Pacific Standard’s executive editor shares some do’s and don’ts on pitching stories

Jennifer Sahn also mounts a defense of the overwhelmed editor, and why you might not hear back right away when you email
March 6, 2018
Katia Savchuk
The thing with feathers: Burkhard Bilger and his haute-couture "plumassier"

The thing with feathers: Burkhard Bilger and his haute-couture “plumassier”

Is participatory journalism a good thing? Burkhard Bilger may have pondered that while clinging to the subject of his recent New Yorker profile as the twosome zoomed through Paris on…
February 27, 2018
Julia Shipley
How to break into The California Sunday Magazine

How to break into The California Sunday Magazine

In just over three years of existence, The California Sunday Magazine has emerged as one of the best magazines in the country. The San Francisco-based publication has been a finalist for…
February 20, 2018
Katia Savchuk
Annotation Tuesday: Elizabeth Weil and “The Curse of the Bahia Emerald”

Annotation Tuesday: Elizabeth Weil and “The Curse of the Bahia Emerald”

Elizabeth Weil, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and Outside, says she doesn’t write about “super important” things. But her warm and captivating voice has animated every…
January 9, 2018
Katia Savchuk
A veteran freelancer on pitching The New York Times Magazine and more

A veteran freelancer on pitching The New York Times Magazine and more

Reporter (and editor) Paul Tullis has been on both sides of the pitching process; here, he annotates his "Into the Wildfires" proposal
December 19, 2017
Katia Savchuk
Matthew Pearl and "Into the Shadows" (Filed under: You can't make this stuff up)

Matthew Pearl and “Into the Shadows” (Filed under: You can’t make this stuff up)

Matthew Pearl is a sucker for underdog stories, origin stories and untold stories. Those all came together when the author of best-selling historical fiction thrillers such as “The Dante Club” and…
November 28, 2017
Julia Shipley
How to get the attention of a senior editor at Smithsonian Magazine

How to get the attention of a senior editor at Smithsonian Magazine

Jennie Rothenberg Gritz says of story pitches she accepts: "There has to be something surprising and narratively interesting there."
November 14, 2017
Katia Savchuk