EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of two posts featuring Kim Cross on the successful pitch-and-proposal process that led to her new book, ‘In Light of All Darkness.’ In this post, Cross annotates the proposal that landed her … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of two posts about how the pitching, reporting and editing of a complex story about crime, assumptions and mental health. Today, Storyboard talks with Atavist editor Seyward Darby about essential story elements … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of five posts from the 2022 Power of Narrative conference at Boston University. Read Ellen Barry on first-person narratives, Lizzie Johnson on deadline narratives, Debbie Cenziper on investigative … Read more
Throughout my newspaper career, some of the best writing I ever read could be found in contest entry letters. Those brag pages also could carry some wince-worthy writing, especially, it seemed, when they were written by the same reporter … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Read an interview with ProPublica’s editors about how to submit a successful pitch to the Local Reporting Network. When writing his style of investigative stories, Max Blau considers narrative first. His signature pieces are … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tomorrow we feature an interview with Max Blau, a local reporter who made a successful pitch to ProPublica, and an annotation of the pitch. Blau is now a staff reporter for ProPublica based in Atlanta. Freelancers and … Read more
Of what we’ve unscientifically defined as the seven fatal flaws of story pitches, this one probably seems the most lame. Of course, your idea is interesting; you wouldn’t be pitching it if it weren’t. (Unless, of course, you’re … Read more
Question to a successful writer (newspapers, magazines, book) who now does contract editing for top mastheads: What are your expectations for a clips search when a writer pitches a story? Answer: That they did one. After we stopped laughing, … Read more
Clean copy — no typos, proper grammar, consistency of style, correct spelling — probably should be the first rule of effective pitching. Lapses in the so-called little things can undermine confidence in the big things, like thoroughness of reporting … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This installment of our occasional series The Pitch, we annotate a successful project pitch for funding from the International Women’s Media Foundation. Read an interview with the IWMF program manager … Read more
