Hi friends! Let’s keep it nice and simple today: Here is the exact pitch I sent to The Atlantic, which resulted in a commission.
I sold it a while back for $400 (after negotiating up from $350, always negotiate!). A few quick things to note:
My absolute floor for journalistic freelance writing is $1/word … except when it’s not. You likely recall the three P’s formula — Pay, Prestige, Passion — and for me, this ticked the boxes for Prestige (it’s The Atlantic, after all) and Passion (a topic near and dear to my heart). So I was fine taking a bath on the rate.
If the structure looks familiar, it’s the exact one I cover in my pitching Zoom workshops (link to a full explanation of it at the bottom).
Got a pitch that sold that you’d to share for possible inclusion in a future newsletter? I’d love to see it! Email me your successful pitch at [email protected].
And now, the pitch:
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