Depending on your writing style and experience, pitching can feel as challenging, if not more challenging, than writing the piece itself! Here’s a brief guide to help take some of the mystery out of pitching The Curator, and we hope it serves you as you pitch elsewhere as well.
Pitch Structure
There are three main things you want to communicate in your pitch as concretely, succinctly, and clearly as possible:
Thesis
Your thesis will answer a two-part question: what do you want to talk about, and what do you want to say about it?
It’s important that you don’t just tell us what you want to talk about—meaning, don’t just give us a topic. Instead, we need to understand what it is that you have to say about that topic.
For example, “I’d like to write about the virtual tour of the gardens at Monticello” would only be half of a thesis.
A complete thesis might be, “The virtual tours of Monticello’s gardens give us a mediated glimpse into a place of beauty and brutality—screens and centuries separating us from the stories of slaves who tilled the soil we now navigate via Google Street View. While the online experience may allow for mere browsing, the ground sprouts with memory and meaning that asks us to pause and ponder.”
You don’t have to show your whole hand. Leaving questions unanswered and piquing curiosity is part of the magic of a good pitch. But provide enough of an angle or argument that we can begin to see how the moving parts of your concept may come together in a nuanced, cohesive way. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you have a 3-5 sentence paragraph that serves as an outline, or sketch, that will serve as a framework for your essay. Use your pitch to show us that you can write compelling sentences and paragraphs.
Who Are You?
Share a bit about yourself. What’s your background? What would you like us to know about why you should write this essay?
If you have relevant clips (journalist-speak for links to pieces you’ve written), go ahead and link to a few. (If not, that’s okay!)
Why Curator?
You could have pitched your idea to a range of sites, so tell us why you choose us! What makes your piece a Curator piece?
FAQs
Do you have any sample pitches I could read?
We do! Here are a few Curator pitches and their resulting pieces. Feel free to use these pitches as templates, but remember to let us see your personality and unique ideas in your pitch.
Surrendering a Shoebox by Abby Perry
Defiance & Melancholy: Talking with The Lone Bellow’s Zach Williams about “Time’s Always Leaving” by John Hawbaker
What should the subject line be for my pitch?
It’s always good to start with “Freelance Pitch:” to separate your pitch from public relations pitches. Then, give us a tight summary of your concept. For the thesis sample above, the subject line may be “Freelance Pitch: Virtual Tours of Monticello’s Slave-Kept Gardens Invite Us to Till Our Own Soil” or “Freelance Pitch: Monticello’s Gardens and Mediated Grappling.”
Can’t I just send along a completed essay?
We would rather help you shape your piece into a Curator-esque work, so we prefer pitches. If you have an essay burning a hole in your Google Drive, go ahead and send it on over. But we encourage you to start with a pitch.
What is the Curator looking for?
Read our submission guidelines in depth. To understand what we’re all about, it would also be helpful for you to read at least three pieces published on our site to help you craft a more effective pitch.
Where do I send my prose pitch?
editor@curatormagazine.com
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