My no 1 trick for getting a journalist to write about you
This week’s is going to be fairly short but, by no means, does that make it any less important than any other newsletter I’ve sent.
It’s about the number one thing that can often cinch you a feature with a particular magazine or journalist and is even something that has secured me a commission more than once.
Intrigued?
Well, the trick is, to answer this one simple question with your pitch:
Why now?
A lot of the time, a journalist will have to justify to their editor WHY a certain pitch they’re interested in needs to be written now. It’s the element of a pitch that adds a sense of urgency, that gets an editor to give the green light.
And why is that, you might be asking?
Because magazines, newspapers et al have a responsibility to deliver current and relevant stories, so even if a story is evergreen (ie. it will stay relevant regardless of when it was written) they often want to hook it to something that is relevant right now so that people feel compelled to read it. They want something that provides context for the story.
Ways to answer the "why now?" question in your pitch?
Whatever your story is about, there are certain things you can use to answer that all-important ‘why now?’ question. I’ve detailed these below.
News hooks: where you ‘hang’ the story of something that’s being talked about in the news, such as a recent change in government or a zeitgeist new trend (always take a look in the ‘Hot Topics This Week’ section for inspiration).
New statistics or research: some new stats or findings relevant to your field recently? Are they interesting and relevant to human nature? They make a great ‘why now?’ answer.
Social media trends: Trends on TikTok are a huge pull for magazines with a younger audience in particular, but trends on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter can also be used to provide a backdrop for your pitch.
Celebrity trends: Has a celebrity done or talked about something relevant to your industry recently? Maybe you’re a nutritionist and there’s been some controversy about a strict diet an actor went on to get into role. Whatever it is, magazines love a celebrity hook as, if it’s a popular household name that their audience loves, they know the story will get read.
So, before you fire off that pitch, ask yourself: have I added that hook that’s going to answer the ‘why now?’ question? Have I given this magazine/ newspaper a reason to write this story right now?
