Re: show me your most recent work

Nov 20, 2020

Welcome to the fourth edition of Missed Pitches, a home for rejected ideas.

Writers! What’s the most recent work you’ve had published? I’d like to feature your published stories in my super Twitter thread that I started here.

If you are a writer who has a rejected idea and have not yet submitted to this newsletter, use this Google Form to have your idea featured here. Follow on Twitter at @MissedPitches. Read the previous edition here. // rungomez

How to write a Christmas ghost story (by Emma Field, field.emma@gmail.com)
Why 2020 is the year for normalizing mental health (by Modupeh Jahamaliah, mo@modupeh.com)
Meet the Dolly Parton of darkness and the fashion empire you’ve never heard about (by Ilise S. Carter, theladyaye@gmail.com)
They sell beer and they bail out BLM protesters out of jail (by Bailey Berg, bailey.r.berg@gmail.com)
The last investigative reporter (by Avani Desai Kalra, avanidkalra@gmail.com)
Freelance opportunities
Writing jobs
Writing contests

NOTE: The following rejected story pitches have been lightly edited for space and clarity.

How to write a Christmas ghost story (by Emma Field, field.emma@gmail.com)

I’m pitching a piece about how to write a ghost story, based on my own experience of attempting this tricky, seasonal genre. In the spirit of the peculiarly British tradition of Christmas ghost stories, I’d like to encourage readers to have a go at writing their own ghost story to read to their family on Christmas Eve. It’s an unusual counterpoint to the commercialized cheer that flourishes at this time of year, without a hint of bah-humbug.

The piece would cover: a brief history of ghost stories; my research and endless reading of ghost stories (a sure-fire way to give yourself nightmares, I can tell you now); my experience of writing a ghost story for the first time; advice and feedback from a published ghost story author, who has already agreed to be involved; my family’s response to the tale.

Why 2020 is the year for normalizing mental health (by Modupeh Jahamaliah, mo@modupeh.com)

With protests, pandemic and election combining to stress everyone out, we need mental health days to step back and catch our breath more than ever. Saying that doesn’t make you weak, unprofessional, or unstable. Unfortunately, we've normalized the pandemic rather than change our behavior around mental health.

In this 1200-word health and wellness feature rooted in my experience as a Black woman, I'll make the case for normalizing mental health days, talking to experts like Shani Tran, a therapist who uses her TikTok platform for mental health education. I'll discuss how mental health days fit into our personal lives in addition to work and school, and how to make the best of them.

Meet the Dolly Parton of darkness and the fashion empire you’ve never heard about (by Ilise S. Carter, theladyaye@gmail.com)

With several best-selling lines of dresses, purses, leggings, beauty, fragrances, and accessories; iconic horror hostess Elvira has found a new life beyond b-movies. Encompassing way more than her own signature black gown, her designs are wearable, body positive, and capture the rarified (and lucrative) space between fashion and fandom. For this article, I'd like to talk to Elvira herself and the designers she works with on their inspiration and the reaction from their fans.

They sell beer and they bail out BLM protesters out of jail (by Bailey Berg, bailey.r.berg@gmail.com)

When Lady Justice Brewing was founded in 2015, the three owners had two goals: to make stellar beer and to give 100 percent of their profits to Colorado organizations that help women and girls.

Since then their beer sales have benefited over 40 organizations, ranging from Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network (which offers legal help for immigrants in Colorado) to Love146 (a human rights group working to end child trafficking) to Women's Wilderness (who aim to cultivate environmental stewardship in girls through outdoor immersions). Recently they've focused on donating to big 2020 issues, including coronavirus relief efforts and Black Lives Matter protester bail funds.

The news peg is that they JUST opened a new taproom this summer, which only adds to their ability to help their community. I'd be thrilled to do a profile on them, talking about what drives them and how they're able to get support in a beer saturated market like Denver.

The last investigative reporter (by Avani Desai Kalra, avanidkalra@gmail.com)

I’ve spent much of the last month working on a profile of Gary Marx, one of the Chicago Tribune’s most well-regarded investigative reporters. Marx suspects his thirty-one years at the Tribune are close to an end now that Alden Global Capital, a New York based hedge fund, has become Tribune Publishing’s largest shareholder.

Marx’s reporting career launched at just nineteen years old, when he took a year off of college to hitchhike through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Marx has since lived and reported all over Africa, been expelled from Cuba for reporting on their human rights record, covered armed conflicts in three continents, been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist three times, and tackled single-fatherhood after his wife, radio journalist Cecilia Vaisman, lost her battle to breast cancer in 2016.

Marx arrived at the Tribune in 1989, excited to accept his dream job as a foreign correspondent in the midst of what he referred to as “the glory days” of the paper. Now, Marx reports a lack of copy editors and fact checkers, and a rotating cast of characters in leadership positions. His own work and reporting process has changed significantly.

My profile is a walk through Marx’s fascinating reporting career that demonstrates how reporting, writing, and editing at the Tribune has changed for the worse in the past three decades.

Freelance Opportunities

via @Jonathan_Smth (Nov 10): Hi I am always looking for pitches on all things climate/sustainability/activism/the future, and the ways those things intersect with culture. If you like to write about those things drop me a line at jonathan.smith@team.mic.com

via @moderntime (Nov 17): Hi freelance writers! I'm always looking for pitches on Hawaii, ideally with a Bay Area hook (though not required). $150-$200 per story. Email in bio. | fiona.lee@sfgate.com

via @TheFrisc (Nov 18): Are you a writer? Are you into #SF? Thanks to our amazing reader support, we pay writers at The Frisc. Click for details, DMs open https://thefrisc.com/got-pitches-for-the-frisc-heres-a-faq-for-prospective-writers-1fd27761a08c

via @paisleygilmour (Nov 19): looking to commission a journalist who has experienced a codependent friendship. lgbtq+ writers preferred for this one but i will consider other pitches. pls email me with details and links to your relevant published work at paisley.gilmour@hearst.co.uk

via @hatttiegladwell (Nov 19): Really looking for some male mental health writers for January content on @TBreakdownMag - surprisingly haven’t received many at all! Please do pitch me - hattie@the-breakdown.co.uk