How to Pitch an Op-Ed

If you’ve participated in Write the World’s annual Op-Ed Competition – honing your argument with supporting evidence and revising your draft based on feedback from your peers – then you’ve written a polished op-ed suitable for publication in other forms of media like newspapers or magazines. Instead of just letting the piece exist on our platform, we encourage you to “pitch” your op-ed (in other words, send it out) to outside publications.

Why? There are many reasons! The whole objective of the op-ed genre is to hear more voices—more opinions—from the public sphere. As the OpEd Project puts it, this form of writing invites us to “join the important public conversations of our age, to take our equal place as narrators of the world.” A big enough platform, and an op-ed could reach policymakers and generate some real change. On a personal level, to see your work published is validation like no other. A hungry audience is perhaps the most powerful tool for keeping at it: crafting your words into cogent arguments, drafting and re-drafting again and again.

That being said, pitching is hard. Your op-ed might not get accepted; in fact, it likely won’t get accepted. But internalize this fact: that’s true for all writers, no matter how experienced. Part of the discipline that writing demands is to take rejection in stride. In fact, many professional writers set rejection goals each year—with the idea that if you are rejected, say, 100 times, not only will you be honing your craft through such a great output of work, but you’ll also be bound to get some acceptances in there, too! So keep writing until an editor sees your brilliance and puts your ideas in print.

We think you should go for it. And if one publication doesn’t take it, try another. Read on for some tips on how to go about the process.

TIPS FOR PITCHING AN OP-ED

Decide on your target audience. If your op-ed focuses on a specific community issue, then try a local publication with a smaller circulation. If your audience is broader, think national. If your topic falls squarely in a specific interest area—legal, business, entertainment, environment, etc.—then you may look for a more narrow publication that focuses on that issue.
Pitch your op-ed to ONE publication at a time. If you haven’t heard back from the publication in a week, you can send one follow-up email. If you don’t hear back in the next week, or if your pitch isn’t accepted, you can then pitch it elsewhere. If your topic is timely and you want to pitch multiple publications at the same time, that’s okay, but make sure to be honest about that in your pitch.
After you’ve decided on a publication, check their submission guidelines. Here’s a great list of compiled guidelines. These will tell you useful information like word limit, response time, and how to send your pitch.
Keep it current. Tie your piece to a current news item. You can let the editor know that you would like a quick response due to your article’s timely nature. Send your piece with an attention-grabbing opening paragraph, for example: “On Tuesday, the local school board will meet to discuss redistricting. Only one of the plans they have on the table is optimal for our town. Here’s why.”
Write to the future. The other strategy is to write your op-ed, and then release it with a coinciding news item. For example, if you have an opinion on immigration policy, write an op-ed now. Then, wait for Congress to debate the next big bill before you submit it for publication. In many cases, you can write an op-ed which can have many possible opening ideas. This way of working means that you can pitch your article again if it’s not accepted the first time. If, for instance, The New York Times doesn’t pick it up, you can revise, wait for the next major event that coincides, and send it to The Washington Post.
Remember that you offer a unique perspective. Readers want to hear from young people. Don’t be afraid to dream big and pitch huge publications. You might be exactly the voice that the editors were looking for.
Brace for rejection. Most successful writers have more rejections than acceptances. It’s part of the job! Keep reminding yourself of that, and just keep pitching. Be open to revisions between pitches, too, especially if an editor gives you feedback on your pitch.

PUBLICATIONS TO CONSIDER PITCHING

Your local newspaper is a great place to start! Local publications often need more content and are willing to publish new writers. Make sure to check their pitch guidelines.
New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal are well-known for their opinion sections. Note that they’re extremely competitive.
You might also check out: Business Insider, Huffington Post, Medium, Slate, Vox
The OpEd Project has compiled a thorough list of U.S. publications with information on how to pitch each one.

Best of luck with your pitches, and please remember to let us know at hello@writetheworld.org when your piece is published!

**Note: Young writers who publish their work on Write the World retain all ownership rights to their pieces and are allowed to republish that work elsewhere. We request that the writers mention that the piece was originally published on Write the World, but we understand that this is not always possible, which is acceptable by our terms.**