a guide to the Missed Pitches newsletter
Welcome to the 18th edition of the Missed Pitches newsletter.
Welcome to another edition of Missed Pitches.
As many of you already know, this newsletter is a space where rejected story ideas get a chance to be seen and recognized. The ultimate goal is to get these rejected ideas a proper home.
Some of you have asked me what criteria I use to pick and feature rejected ideas in this newsletter. Here’s a few things I like seeing:
Unpublished pitches: I like pitches that have not yet been published. I have a harder time giving publicity to story ideas that have already been published somewhere.
Short and sweet: I like pitches that are between 200 and 400 words. The sweet spot is 300.
Clear and pointed: I like pitches that are clear and well-articulated, particularly those that state exactly what the story is about and why it’s worth pursuing.
No anonymous authors: I’ll publish pitches that are attached to a real name and a real person; no pseudonyms.
Again, I can’t thank you enough for all of your submissions to this newsletter. Without your rejected pitches, this project couldn’t be possible. And a regular reminder for you: If you have any rejected pitches that you’d like to volunteer for this newsletter, send it over using this Google Form.
Questions? Suggestions?
Give me a follow on Twitter at @MissedPitches for updates and shout-outs. Support this newsletter; buy me a cup of coffee! Read the previous edition here. // rungomez
Contents:
A history of Lego police (by Holly Genovese)
I am obsessed with making lists (by Gaia Lamperti)
What it was like to be a single mother in 1950s Arizona (by Anthony Pignataro)
Yes, ghost stories help me relax (by Sarah Rosenthal)
How prison reality TV shape our views of the penal system (by Danielle Harvey)
Editorial contacts
Best of freelance Twitter
Freelance opportunities
Writing jobs
NOTE: The following rejected story pitches have been lightly edited for space and clarity.
A history of Lego police (by Holly Genovese, holly.genovese@gmail.com)
I am writing to you with a pitch on lego police sets, liberalism, and ways in which individualism and policing are normalized for young children. In the midst of recent demands for police reform and defunding, Lego announced that it would temporarily pause advertising for its police themed sets and donate to social justice causes.
Though many activists were disappointed in this very temporary commitment to activism, it fits in line with the kind of liberalism that Lego has always represented. Both Executive Chairman of the Lego Group, as well as the CEO of Lego, are former employees of McKinsey, that controversial consulting firm that both former presidential candidate Pete Buttieg and Chelsea Clinton worked for.
I am interested in exploring the ways in which Lego police (and prison) toys have worked to reinforce ideas about “good” and “bad” cops for young children, emphasizing a kind of individualism championed in liberal politics.
I am obsessed with making lists (by Gaia Lamperti, gaia.lamperti96@gmail.com)
I’ve always been a list person, from simple to-do’s to favorite restaurants to wish reads, compiling lists makes me feel more productive, focused, and in control. However, with time, I realized my desire for organization went too far. Obsessive list making is called “glazomania” and is mentioned as one of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
My glazomania showed itself more clearly when I started working as a freelance creative, using more and more organizational tools to shape up and track my productivity. I constantly rely on software and apps to schedule, prioritize, and categorize everything from files to tasks, projects, resources and, subsequently, my life outside work too. Sadly enough, I now plan daily activities with my boyfriend on Notion, track my meditation sessions on Excel sheets, and organize recipes in folders on Evernote.
With mental health difficulties (and particularly OCD) affecting many people working in the creative and tech industries, I’d like to look at how the use of organizational tools, while improving time-managing and productivity, might also aggravate pre-existing controlling obsessions, perfectionism frustrations, and anxieties of meeting standards.
What it was like to be a single mother in 1950s Arizona (by Anthony Pignataro, anthony.pignataro@gmail.com)
I’d like to pitch a personal essay that explores my grandmother’s ethnicity. I grew up thinking she was white, and while she identified as a white person, she was actually a Latina, who had completely submerged her ethnicity.
While I don’t know why she did this (she died in 2010 at the age off 99, long before I smartened up and realized what was going on), I was able to use archival research to piece together her life in segregated Arizona and Southern California, which I can put together with other details I remember from my youth, like the fact that she used to give retired General John J. Pershing (of WWI fame) manicures as part of her job working in a salon in 1930s Tucson.
The essay would explore both the life of a mostly single mother raising two children in 1950s America and the politics of assimilation for Mexican Americans in the first half of the 20th century.
Yes, ghost stories help me relax (by Sarah Rosenthal, smrosie717@gmail.com)
I’d like to pitch a long-form, braided essay exploring anxiety through the ghost story trope in literature and cultural myths. Why do I, as someone who suffers from panic disorder, take comfort in ghost stories? What can they teach me, and other people diagnosed with anxiety, about ourselves?
Structured by five brief moments of supernatural/uncanny experiences of my own, the essay ends with me deciding that what makes ghost stories soothing is they give us the feeling that our fear, trauma, panic, and worry can outlive us. Our ghosts might carry our wounds for us long after we are gone, making our anxiety today far less lonely.
How prison reality TV shape our views of the penal system (by Danielle Harvey, danielle.harvey@protonmail.com)
I’d like to pitch an essay about reality TV depictions of prison. 60 Days In, a true crime reality show that airs on A&E, wants to offer its viewers a realistic look at what life in jail is like. To do this, the show sends volunteers who have not been prosecuted or charged with a crime undercover to serve time in county jail. Upon arrival, each participant is assigned a mission they must carry out for the warden. These missions have included: finding out how drugs are getting in and figuring out how gangs operate within the jail.
While the show inhabits many techniques of other reality shows, 60 Days In has real-life consequences. Participants are reinforcing reforms and making jails harsher by providing information that leads to raids, shakedowns, and lockdowns. As they work alongside the warden, volunteers are also subjected to the brutality of the prison system. During the show’s six seasons, volunteers have engaged in physical altercations with other inmates, and one participant spent a month in solitary confinement. Studies have shown that witnessing and participating in violence in prisons and jails may lead to higher risks of PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
I’d like to write an essay examining how 60 Days In and other reality shows similar to it reinforce the inherent power imbalance in jails and prisons. These shows constantly align with those in power, rather than holding them accountable and discussing the harmful effects of prison while amplifying the stories of those incarcerated. As defunding the police and prison abolition have become serious policy topics, I believe it’s important to examine how we can empathize with people who are incarcerated through the media we consume and foster real change, rather than exposing more people to the harms of the prison system.
Editorial Contacts
TechCrunch - Pitch about startups in Miami and Brazil, and health tech globally to Marcella McCarthy at marcella@marcellamccarthy.com
Outside Magazine (Pitch Guide) - Pitch story ideas on culture to Sophie Murguia at smurguia@outsideim.com
Daily Dot - Pitch story ideas on technology and politics and the internet to David Covucci at dcovucci@thedailydot.com
Vox - Pitch stories related to video games and internet subcultures/communities to Patricia Hernandez at patricia.hernandez@voxmedia.com
The Phoenix - Pitch stories about the environment and climate change to Eric Holthaus at writeforthephoenix@gmail.com
Best of Freelance Twitter
NOTE: This space is dedicated to featuring one worthy Twitter account that provides an invaluable service to the freelance community.
⚡️ Follow Sophie Cross at @FullyThoughtOut because she Kickstarted her own publication called Freelancer Magazine which focuses on the freelancer life.
Freelance Opportunities
via @piavela_ (April 1): #CallForPitches HelloGiggles is working on a package for Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month and I'm collecting beauty pitches. I'm accepting interviews, personal essays, and reactions toward viral trends (ex: fox eyes). Rates will be between $120 - $200 depending on the piece. Please email me at pia.velasco@meredith.com with a proposed headline and 3-4 sentences about what the story will be and who you'll interview for it in case the piece requires experts.
via @murielvega (March 30):Hi! @NewStoryCharity is looking for freelance marketing copywriters + content writers. If you're interested, drop your portfolio below + I'll share it. PAID. No rates yet as it will be on a per project basis.
via @tristandross (April 1): I am now the Global Wellness and Mental Health Editor for @PalantirTech with a focus on stories about activism, social movements and people doing amazing things. Pitch me at: tristan.cross@palantirinformantline.com
via @Woodsy1069 (March 31): Who wants to write a boxing story for @NYFights? Message me, pitch away, if it’s a good idea I will run it
via @ByKellyCohen (March 31): haven't done this lately, so a reminder that can drop me fun, interesting, intense or outside-the-box story ideas/pitches at any time!!! DMs open, or kelly.cohen@espn.com
Writing Jobs
The Arizona Daily Star is hiring a Food and Restaurant Writer - Arizona
Mongabay is hiring a Staff Writer - Southeast Asia
Wisconsin Department of Tourism is hiring a Content Marketing Writer - Wisconsin
Ripley PR is hiring a PR and Digital Content Writer - Tennessee
Procket is hiring a Freelance Podcast Content Writer - Remote