How To Pitch & Submit

October 14-25, 2019
$300. Enroll here. 

This online course focuses on developing, pitching and submitting articles, op-eds and essays.  While the course is open to anyone, the impetus behind it is to help academics and grad students reach wider audiences and improve the gender disparity in bylines. The course has led to many people drafting, submitting and selling their first pitch during the two week course itself (and then selling  many more pitches afterwards), and has also helped many established freelancers challenge break into new markets, including The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, LitHub, Washington Post, McSweeneys, Atlas Obscura, Smithsonian, The Wall Street Journal, ScientificAmerican.com, Guernica, Mental Floss, Tablet, The Awl, and many other outlets. We include several Q & As with editors about pitching, submitting, and the freelance/editor relationship as well.

The course offers additional long-term benefits that some argue outweigh the benefits of the course itself :

1.) access to a private FB group where ‘alums’ of these courses (over 200 now) share resources and information, offer to read drafts, provide market suggestions and  editor info, as well as brag about clips, and form offline friendships;

2.) access to a continually updated market database with information about rates and editor contacts,

There are no set meeting times. Material will be posted on a private blog, and you can read, comment and post when it is convenient for you. The materials stay live for 6 weeks after the course ends to accommodate those who end up with less time than anticipated during the course itself.

What We Will Do:

–post daily. Topics include sample pitches that sold, editorial back-and-forths on queries and op-eds, researching markets, how to find ideas, advice on how to make and manage money and more.

–offer you individual feedback on pitches and drafts

–share with you a database of publications, including editor contact information, pay rates and comments from those who have worked with the publication.

– Participate in Q&As with editors. For the September course, you will be able to ask questions of Ian Bogost (The Atlantic), Brian Wolly (Smithsonianmag.com), and Nicole Flatow (CityLab)

–create a community between all the participants to encourage discussion, provide feedback on each other’s work and foster horizontal loyalty.

What You Will Do:

–To get the most out of the course, you will share your work with the group. Show us your pitches-in-progress, tell us about your ideas for op-eds and ask us questions. We also recommend that you set yourself a goal for the course, such as sending out two new pitches or finishing some of the half-baked pitches in your drafts folder. However, none of the above is required. You are welcome to lurk.

–Comment on what others post (or lurk).

Go here to read testimonials from previous participants.

Have more questions?

Check out our FAQ page. Or send them by filling out of the form below. 

Ready to sign up?

Who We Are:

Anne Trubek is the founder of Belt Publishing and Belt Magazine. She is the editor of the forthcoming Voices From The Rust Belt(Picador 2018), the author of The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting (Bloomsbury 2016) and A Skeptic’s Guide To Writers’ Houses (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and numerous other publications. Prior to founding Belt she was Associate Professor of English at Oberlin College.

 

Fine print:
*Please note that we cannot offer refunds. If you sign up and can’t take the course after all, we’d be happy to save you a slot in a future class.
**If there are fewer than 5 people signed up by the Thursday before the course begins, the class may be canceled and funds returned.

Questions?