Erika W. Smith

Freelance journalists work very differently than staff writers and editors — I've been in both roles in my career. For staff roles, you typically have one editor you can pitch a story to; if they say yes, you're in, and if they say no, you're out. Freelancers can spend months pitching dozens of different editors until someone says yes, dealing with being left on read or "maybe, I'll have to see about budget in a few months" — or they get a yes, and then the editor is laid off midway through edits. This means that it can take longer for a freelance journalist to place a story than a staff editor, though they often have more freedom in how they can cover it.

I'm looking for supporting information to tell a story I'm ideating and writing, rather than a story crafted by a brand/PR. When I get pitches that are basically a story or an outline for one, I typically pass on them, in part because I know they won't be unique to the publication I'm writing for.

How good the data is. If it's a survey or study, the sample size is important. If it's a trend, including more than one or two examples. If it's about something going viral, including stats about how often it's been viewed.

Right now, I'm covering a pretty big grab bag of topics in the lifestyle sphere (pretty typical as a freelancer, I think!). For Cosmo and Elle, I'm writing pretty frequently about astrology. I'm covering the news of the day for theSkimm. I'm doing some occasional beauty writing for publications like Vogue and Allure. And I'm covering travel for Islands.

If there are any strings, disclose them immediately. If you need guaranteed coverage for a press trip, say so when pitching (and understand that for many, this will be a dealbreaker). If you will only offer interviews/samples/press trips/etc. if they're going to be pitched to particular publications or within a certain timeframe, say so. When this information comes out further along in the process, it wastes both our time.