Angela Booth's Fab Freelance Writing Blog

This is the second of two articles in our professional pitching series. The first five tips on pitching are here.

Creativity counts when you’re pitching. As we said in the first article:

Few writers pay sufficient attention to pitching. Think of it this way: pitching is IDEAS. Everyone needs ideas. Your job as a writer, is to be a fountain of ideas.

You need tools and strategies to be creative with pitches, so that you can pitch every single day. Nothing is more important.

If you’re a beginning writer, please realize that every pitch is an audition.

You can pitch a magazine once a month for many months, before the editor picks up the phone and calls you. As the months pass without any response, you can feel that you’re wasting your time. You’re not… keep pitching. People want what they want. They may not want any of the ideas you pitch. However, they will get a sense of the kind of writer you are, and what you can do. Sooner or later, something will come along which is perfect for you, and they’ll ask you to write it.

On with the tips…

6. Give people what they want

As we’ve said: people want what they want. When you’re pitching, watch what the publication or company does. Sign up for their newsletter if they have one. Study their website. Do Google searches for everyone who’s associated with the company. Read their Twitter feed.

You can’t do all of this on the same day, of course. Once you have an idea of what a publication or company MAY want (you can never be sure), pitch an idea or two.

Add the prospect to your “pitch list.”

I like to keep pitches in a spreadsheet. I create a folder for the publication/ company on my computer.

Next, I create a schedule for pitching to this prospect, to send them a pitch once a month. Remember, in a real sense, you’re auditioning.

When you approach pitching as a campaign to get a new client, rather than sending out scattershot pitches to whoever hits your radar screen, you’ll get results. Always.

7. Follow trends (but not too closely)

Keep an eye on trends. For example, when 50 Shades of Grey became the hottest ebook trilogy in publishing last year, many writers jumped on the bandwagon and created clones.

Some writers did very well with this. 50 Shades readers were looking for more of the same kind of experience.

Other writers however, looked at the characters in the 50 Shades books, and wrote “New Adult” fiction. The New Adult fiction category is directly related to 50 Shades – it swept into publishing like a whirlwind, and as USA Today says, these books are “roaring up the best-seller list.”

If you spot a trend, look deeply into it. Get creative. See what YOU can do with it.

8. Review your pitches regularly and repurpose them

You’re sending out many pitches. How many? If you’re a full-time writer, I recommend five a day, if you can.

This means that you’ll end up with a lot of pitches to which no one responded. Use them. Slant the ideas to other companies, and publications. Turn them into something else. One of my oldest friends turns her “old” pitches into short reports and ebooks.

9. Piggyback your pitches to the news

When you’re creating pitches, do a search of Google News. If you can tie a pitch to something in the news, this can make it more appealing.

You won’t always be able to do this, but if you can manage it, it’s a great strategy.

10. Back up your pitches with samples and/ or examples

I’m always advising you to blog because every blog post you write is a writing sample. Your blog(s) inspire trust.

When you pitch, you’re approaching people who’ve never heard of you before. If you audition – send pitches regularly – they’ll take notice. They’ll get to know you. Your blog (include the link in your email signatures) helps them to get to know you even more. If nothing else, regular blogging suggests that you’re a reliable writer. Being reliable is a huge asset.

Good luck with your pitches. Enjoy pitching. It’s huge fun. It will take you anywhere you want to go as a writer.

If you’re a beginning writer, and pitch regularly, you’ll outshine professional writers who are lazy, and expect the world to arrive at their door. How many pitches will you create today?

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This coming week, we’re discussing creativity on the blog, and in the ezine.

If you’re not making the income you could be making, your creativity needs a boost. You’ll find this program useful – Turn Your Creativity Into Cash: Writers’ Creativity Secrets.

Creativity is hugely important when you’re pitching – it’s the difference between success and failure. If you’re a new writer, the concept of “pitching” may be new to you. Here are some definitions. A couple of the definitions you’ll find on that page are relevant, particularly this one… to pitch means: “to try to persuade someone to give you work, a business deal etc.”

Few writers pay sufficient attention to pitching. Think of it this way: pitching is IDEAS. Everyone needs ideas. Your job as a writer, is to be a fountain of ideas.

In my first year as a professional writer, I received a multi-book contract from MacDonald Futura, a major publisher of that time. Here’s why – I got creative and pitched my ideas. I sent out a novel proposal/ pitch a month. A couple of months into that process, I got editorial attention. A couple of months after that, I had my contract.

I’m fond of telling my writing students: if you do enough pitching, you’ll get whatever you want… often more than you ever expected.

My theory: enthusiasm sells YOU

Early in the 1990s, I got excited about computers. I read every magazine I could get my hands on. I read software manuals (which were the size of bricks at the time) from cover to cover.

Then I approached magazines. I wooed them with pitches. Within a few months, I had several regular writing gigs, contributing to magazines.

What’s not to like about someone who obviously LOVES your publication, and keeps sending you ideas? Enthusiasm sells – always. People want to work with people who are enthusiastic, and there’s no better way to show your enthusiasm than by pitching.

Many writers think of pitching solely as a way to sell articles or books. However, pitching is involved in most kinds of writing.

Now let’s look at ten tips to help you to pitch like a pro.

1. Become enthusiastic about your topic

It doesn’t matter what you’re pitching, enthusiasm sells. If you can’t get excited about what you want to pitch, build your enthusiasm first.

Often, your enthusiasm is low because you don’t know enough about the topic. Learn more. Talk to people. I’ve pitched and written about topics I had zero interest in, until I researched the topic enough to become interested in it, and then enthusiastic about it.

2. Create a schedule for your pitches

One idea is nothing. Five ideas get people interested in you, because you’re enthusiastic.

Therefore, when you’re pitching anything create a schedule for your pitches.

3. Start with the pitch (this is a basic marketing strategy)

Over on my “write a book” blog, I recommend that you sell your books/ ebooks while you’re writing them.

You need to pitch your book while you’re writing it. If you’re writing for a traditional publisher, NO ONE wants a completed book. They want ideas – they want you to pitch a book proposal, which is just a bunch of ideas. These ideas often bear little resemblance to the book for which you receive a contract.

Similarly, if you’re writing ebooks you need to pitch your books to readers while you’re writing them.

4. People hire people they know, so pitch

Pitching is auditioning. Some writers resent this. They believe that since they have writing credits, publications and clients should hire them, because they can write.

This is true. I got my first ghostwriting gigs from publishers who published my books. They knew I could write, because they knew my work. When they said “We want a book from _____ (someone or other), but he can’t write. Are you interested in working with him as a ghostwriter?”, I often said “Yes!”

However, you’ve still got to hustle if you’re a full-time writer. If you’re a pro, you can’t wait around for people to stumble across you.

You need to pitch.

5. Pitch every day – get creative

The more you pitch, the better the quality of the gigs you get, and the more gigs you get.

We ran a series of posts on making $500 a day from your writing.

In this article on making $500 a day, I said:

Few writers are natural extraverts. We choose a writing career because we love to work alone. If this sounds like you, you’ll need to shake yourself up and get out of your comfort zone. Become aggressive — contact top-paying publications and business and get highly-paid work.

In other words – pitch.

Initially, pitching may be a challenge, because you’re shy. However, sooner or later, that will wear off, because you do so much pitching. Familiarity will make you comfortable.

Just do it. Sooner or later, it will become easy, and FUN, I promise.

Watch for Part 2 of our article, for more tips on pitching.

This program, Turn Your Creativity Into Cash: Writers’ Creativity Secrets will help you with pitching.

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