The Secret of A Perfect Pitch: Pretend You’re A Magazine Editor

You’re an artist, right?

You’re not a magazine editor. But during this read, let’s pretend you are.

Bear with me. There is method in this madness, to quote that Will guy.

When I worked as a magazine editor it was my job to edit a number of different type of stories from articles dealing with music and film, to those covering literature and fine art. I enjoyed the work, although the pace could be hectic. These were monthly publications and we always seemed to be under the gun to get the stories edited and magazine set to go.

The one thing I learned, which many of my writers took issue with, was that writers seldom have the luxury of saying everything they want in any one article. Yes, my writers wanted to be witty, urbane, educational and informative, but, from an editor’s perspective, I also had to keep in mind my space limitations as well as the reader’s interest and the reader’s needs.   The bottom line is, if a magazine doesn’t engage its readers, it won’t be around for long.

So let’s say that’s now your job, what do you do?

Your first and primary job is to connect and engage with your readers, which, at times will mean editing out parts of an article that a writer is (for lack of a better term) married to. You want to serve the magazine and meet your reader’s needs. That in turn will keep the advertisers happy and make it possible for you to hire your writers to do other articles.

So, what does this have to do with PR?

Quite a bit.

Although there’s not a one-to-one correlation, editing a good press release or a media pitch is not that dissimilar to editing a good article. Your job is to inform and educate, as well as to engage and entertain your reader. When writing a magazine article, if your sole focus is on educating and informing, chances are you’re going to come up with a treatise, not an article. And on the PR end if you only focus on giving a laundry list of information you’ll end up with a sales sheet and not an engaging press release with a compelling narrative.

Effective PR is effective storytelling, so don’t even think

Consider the following before starting:

How do you define yourself as an artist?

How do you define your art?

What is your artist’s journey?

Is there an exhibit or event that you can address?

Is your creative process unique or different?

Does your art touch on social or pop culture- oriented issues?

These are all aspects that you can address in your press releases or media pitches. Study the various media outlets and make sure you develop appropriate pitches for the various outlets.

Don’t just tell, show. Share images of your art, or of you creating your art, document your artistic process.

And, first and foremost, keep your readers in mind. In this case your readers aren’t the public but editors, writers and producers. If you’re pitching a TV producer, remember he or she is working in a visual media, be sure and pitch a visual story. If you’re pitching a business-oriented outlet, focus on the business of art, if you’re pitching a fine art publication…. you get the idea.

Shift your mindset.

Think like and editor

And create that perfect media pitch.