Summer Craft Intensive: Isle McElroy

Out of stock

Description

Editor's Note

First Impressions: On Pitching Essays to Magazines with Isle McElroy
Sunday, June 25
10:00 AM – 1:oo PM PST/ 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Online

For writers accustomed to submitting to literary journals, pitching essays to magazines often requires a massive shift in technique. Many of the rules of submitting to journals—only send completed work, don’t over explain your piece in the cover letter, let the writing speak for itself—don’t apply when writing a pitch. The pitch needs to grab an editor’s attention in the first paragraph; it needs to present an entire piece in only a couple of sentences. Making this shift can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. In this intensive workshop, we will work on writing our own pitches, moving from the initial spark of an idea to outlining an opening email to editors. We will discuss strategies for finding the right editors for a piece, how to shape pitches for time-sensitive news stories, when to follow up, tips for conducting interviews, and how to determine your rates.

Disclaimer: This class will focus largely on the pitching process. Though we will briefly discuss journalistic ethics, this workshop is not recommended for writers looking to learn more about the reporting and research required for longer reported pieces.

BIO: Isle McElroy is a nonbinary writer based in Brooklyn. Their debut novel, The Atmospherians, was named a NY Times Editors’ Choice. Their second novel, People Collide, is forthcoming from HarperVia. Other writing appears in The NY Times, NYT Magazine, The Guardian, The Cut, Vulture, GQ, Vogue, The Atlantic, Tin House, and elsewhere.