Pitching for Publication

online

Pitching for Publication

w/ Oscar Schwartz

In this course, Oscar Schwartz—a freelance writer with bylines in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The Monthly, among other Australian and international publications—will teach you how to turn an idea into a compelling pitch for publication.

Wednesday 25 May – Wednesday 8 June 2022 (3 weeks)
6.30-8.30 pm

Online

$295 / $250 alumni

This is a past course.

Where do ideas come from? How do you sell them to editors? How does a pitch develop into a story?

Pitching for Publication will offer practical lessons for aspiring and current freelancers. You will be taught the art of pitching: how pitching is an opportunity to get a start on reporting and research; discover your key questions and angles; and get a clear sense of the direction the story is heading.

In class, we will go over successful pitches and discuss pitch call outs from various editors. Time will be given in class to develop an idea into a pitch ready to be sent out to editors.

Writers you'll be working with:

Oscar Schwartz

Oscar Schwartz is a writer from Melbourne, Australia. His award-winning longform journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, and The Monthly. His debut poetry collection, The Honeymoon Stage, was shortlisted for the 2018 Queensland Literary Prize for Poetry.

Course outline

Session 1:

What is a pitch-worthy idea?
Where do you find them?
How do you establish an idea-generating practice?

Session 2:

How do you start to build out an idea through research and reporting?
How do you know when you have enough material?
How do you structure and write the pitch?

Session 3:

How do you pitch to the right editor?
How do you respond and follow up with editors?
How do you start transforming the pitch into the story?

How to Book

This is a past course.