Please, Please Do Your Homework Before Pitching

Please, Please Do Your Homework Before Pitching Frequently I receive emails from prospective writers asking what I seek for FundsforWriters. Some go as far as to ask what I pay, how I pay, and how quickly I pay without so much as a hint to what they propose to write. While I know cultures change from country to country, even state to state, the fact is its rather presumptuous to ask how youre going to get paid before you demonstrate youre a writer. If you wish to pitch a magazine, website, newsletter, anthology or prospective client, please do the following first: 1) Read up all you can on the entity before you make a connection. If its a magazine, study the ads, the old articles, and the masthead to see how many articles are usually written in-staff versus freelance. And if they have guidelines, 2) Have a website or blog that demonstrates who you are and what you are capable of doing. 3) Know what youd like to pitch to the publication after understanding what they need. When you pitch, do NOT say the following: 1) You are a new writer seeking to break in. 2) You want to know how and when youll get paid. 3) You want the editor to tell you what to write. 4) You cannot find the guidelines. 5) You are retired, a student, a stay-at-home mom, disabled, a PhD candidate, etc. unless that has everything to do with what you are pitching. Its all about the article and your experience in writing THAT article, not your lifes history or ID. When you pitch, the editor absolutely wants the following: 1) A memo to them personally, not the team, or the editor, or to whom it may concern. 2) A pitch for a story that matches the publication perfectly. 3) Enough