How to get started pitching to publications

by Fiona likes to blog | Jul 14, 2021 | Freelance, WRITING

‘How to pitch to publications’ is a juicy topic. It can also feel overwhelming to even begin typing out the first pitch email to an editor when you’re just starting out. But – great news: you don’t have to have done a degree in journalism or have even gone to university to become a published writer.

I would know.My degree was in music, I worked for years in hospitality, and now I’m a freelance writer. I’ve been published for national publications such as Grazia, Metro, Reader’s Digest and The iPaper hundreds of times. And all it took was passion and practice.

For years, writing was my hobby. One day, I responded to a call-out on Twitter from an editor looking for pitches. I just decided to bloody well go for it, and my pitch got accepted. So, I kind of got published by accident.From then, I honed my skill as a writer and pitcher – and today, I’m typing away to answer your frequent FAQs on exactly how to pitch to publications, drawing on my now extensive experience over the many years I’ve been doing this.

Before we crack on with your questions, you should head over to my resources page and download the pitching checklist. It’s great to have on hand when you’re crafting every single pitch. Also, I offer 1-1 mentoring calls as well, where I can run over pitches with you, answer your specific questions in detail and have a good old chinwag about the freelance writer life.

Where do you even start with pitching?!

Well, this is a biggie. From my experience, the best place to start is as simple as this: the writing. Don’t start by thinking about making money; don’t start by thinking of that byline. Start by practising to become a better writer. If you haven’t got a blog, start one. Start writing articles you’d like to see published; write about the topics you’re interested in as if you’ve already been commissioned by your favourite editor.

Next, read – LOTS. Look at magazines, digital articles, newspapers. Analyse journalists’ intros, where they decide to put in quotes, what the word count of pieces typically are, how they’ve crafted the headline and narrowed down that razor-sharp angle. Another great thing to do is look at what’s trending, or analyse current headlines, and then decide what your stance would be on the subject. How would you write about that? Then write about it for your blog.

It’s a whole lot of preparation before you get to the pitching stage – but that’s good. The last thing you want is to send a great idea, get commissioned and then panic because you haven’t had enough time to hone your own writing. And learning how to press ‘publish’ on your own work eliminates that imposter-fuelled fear of seeing your work out there in the world. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to pitch.

LISTEN TO MY PODCAST EPISODE ALL ABOUT PITCHING TO PUBLICATIONS

What do you include in that first email to an editor?

If you’re cold pitching, you do need to introduce who you are – but it’s not as important as you might think it is. Editors get pitches from writers they’ve never worked with all the time, so that’s okay.

Make sure your email exudes quiet confidence: you need to show them you deserve to be in their inbox. Never send an email just introducing yourself and asking if they’re looking for stories: that’s a big no no. Editors are very, very busy people and they won’t have time to deal with that kind of request. You’ve got to give them something they want. Which is a great story idea.

The first time you pitch, you’ve got to make sure you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about your idea. Do some research; find some case studies. When you pitch to an editor, they’ve got the choice of choosing you (who they don’t know from Adam), a staffer that already works at the publication, or another freelancer they’ve worked with before. The others have an advantage over you, and they’re definitely looking like the most risk-free options for the editor, so you’ve got to make sure you can prove why you’re the person to write the piece.

If you have lived experience of the topic you’re pitching, show that. If you don’t have personal experience, do thorough research and make it clear you already have some killer stats or case studies the editor might not have easy, instant access to.

How do you choose which publications to pitch to?

If you pitch to publications you already read, you’re in a great position because you know the kinds of articles they want. However, the disadvantage is you might be a little too close to the subject matter. If you’re, say, the target reader of Cosmopolitan Magazine, chances are the kind of articles you’ll want to pitch have already been covered by the popular title lots and lots of times before. There aren’t really any new stories, always just new angles. And often, with massive titles, every angle has already been covered.

If you decide to cast your net wider and pitch to niche publications, this can be great, because you have a chance to really get deep into your subject matter. I regularly write for Happiful Magazine, the mental health publication, and whilst I adore writing for them, you have to think long and hard about your angle, because every single article in the 12 issues a year is about mental health. A lot of ground has been covered. You basically have to find a niche way to write about a niche subject. Makes sense. But once you get in the groove, this can be the most fun and rewarding work.

If you want to write an article for a publication you don’t personally read, you often find you can tweak the kind of topics you’re interested in to work them for a new audience. For example, I wrote a piece on death positivity, a topic regularly covered by publications with younger audiences such as Refinery29, but for Reader’s Digest, whose target audience is over 50s. Whilst this conversation was being somewhat normalised amongst younger generations, the over 50s were new to it. Rethink your angles and you’ll be surprised with the material you can get.

What are some great pitch email tips?

Estimate the word count of your piece, and let an editor know in your pitch email. Literally go onto the publication’s website, copy and paste an article into Word, and see how many words it is. Then ensure you stick to the same format yourself – it’ll make you look like you know exactly what you’re doing (even if you don’t feel that way at the time!)
Make sure the publication hasn’t already covered the angle you want to write. There’s no bigger faux pas than pitching something that’s already been covered.
Follow your go-to editors on Twitter. Get a feel for their personality; for the kinds of articles they like to commission.
Why not try pegging your articles to a certain awareness day or holiday? If it’s trending, editors want to get it out there, quick. Whether that be Mental Health Awareness Week, or Valentine’s Day, or a news story everyone’s talking about, ensuring your pitch is timely makes it irresistible for the commissioning editor.

Well, I told you it was going to be juicy! If you want to find out more about how to pitch to publications book a 1-1 mentoring session with me and we can have a good old chat.

3 ways to build a regular writing habit

by Fiona likes to blog | Jul 1, 2021 | WRITING

It’s a question I get asked at the end of pretty much every workshop I run: “What’s the key to building a regular writing habit?” It seems like a pretty common issue among the writer community – consistent writing practice. After listening to world-renowned authors on writing podcasts talk about their struggles with this too, I realised it isn’t just those of us who are new to writing either!

And I have learned over the years that there’s only a few things that help me stick to writing regularly. I’m going to share them with you so that you don’t have to spend hours berating yourself for not keeping up with the mad routine you’ve set yourself up with.

Read on to find out my 3 steps that keep my writing practice on track.

What are the benefits of having a regular writing habit?

I bet you’ve heard this numerous times from the likes of literary legends such as Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Gilbert and Chimamanda Ngozie Adiche…but the way to get something written—and to improve— is to write regularly. Take it from me, your writing motivation will never be constant—so your routine really needs to be!

Developing a regular writing habit will support you in feeling in control of your writing process. You might know that I have anxiety issues, so having a daily journaling session keeps me grounded while also giving me a sense of accomplishment. Your practice might not be journaling, it might be a little challenge you set yourself (a daily haiku or 5 lines of your book – whatever!) but having a little ritual is so beneficial!

And when you’ve got a regular writing habit you’re less likely to get hit by writer’s block. Because you’re writing. Every day! It might not be direct writing on your specific project, but you’ll never be “stuck”.

So how can I do that exactly?

It’s not necessarily about giving yourself strict guidelines. For me, it’s all about recognising what works and what doesn’t work. What I love and what I hate. For example, I am not really a morning person, so it’d be a daft idea for me to decide that 6am is the time I set aside for regular writing sessions. For you, though, it might be the perfect time! No writer is the same.

I’ve developed a few steps that help me stick to my regular writing habits and will share them with you now!

Step 1: Keep it simple

The key to building a regular writing habit is EASE! Make it as simple and easy to keep up as possible. Try not to overcomplicate your regular writing practice. It’s exactly what it says it is: practice. And just like a stage rehearsal or a practice training run, it’s going to be a bit messy. But it’s not for anyone else, so switch off that perfectionist nonsense right now!

Simplify your writing practice so that you ease into these habits. Sit in the same comfy spot to write and try to maintain a level of “tidy”. Don’t over plan, stick to the basics. Block out a set amount of uninterrupted time and go for it. If you’re doing an early morning session, have everything laid out ready the night before—pen, notebook, water—and get those pages written! Don’t forget to check out my resources page to get access to free writing prompts.

Step 2: Realistic expectations

A mistake writers make (including myself!) is setting your own expectations too high. “Today I’m going to write the first 6 chapters of my book!” Or “I’m going to get up at 5am and write for 3 hours”. These aren’t helpful and when we don’t achieve them, we tend to feel down. Have minimal expectations of yourself and don’t set a really high word count target for yourself. The simple act of a daily or regular writing practice is enough to keep you moving and motivated.

If you haven’t yet tried morning pages, give it a go. This low expectation method is especially useful for developing your solid writing habit. It seems to work for so many other writers, why not try it too? Basically, you write three pages each morning—by hand if you can or on your device if not. It’s for your eyes only, so it doesn’t have to be pretty—JUST WRITE!

You can use journal prompts to support this practice if you struggle, and this also takes off the pressure of the dreaded BLANK PAGE. But by giving yourself something to write every single day, you’re essentially giving your creative muscles a stretch and warm-up. You’ve prepped for all the fab stuff brewing to flow!

Watch this if you want more inspo on building a regular writing habit.

Step 3: Get some accountability

We all know that creative people, like me and you, are the kings and queens of procrastination. Tell me you haven’t lost hours of your writing time down Internet rabbit holes, doing chores instead, or suddenly finding time to call your aunt about that thing…?! And it’s not about deadlines because actually I find that those make my procrastination worse. So we need to have someone to report to, someone to hold us accountable, or we will never do anything!

Whether that’s a friend or a book coach, a local writing group or a coworking buddy on the internet, it helps to have someone asking you how it is going. You can tell them your targets for the week or month and ask them to check in with you on the reg. And if you’re looking for some accountability and additional support, check out my online writing courses.

Hopefully these tips will help you with building a regular writing habit so that you can achieve your writing goals!

Good luck and don’t forget that you can join in the community chat over on Instagram where me and other creatives hang out and discuss our writing dilemmas! Share your tips for creating a regular writing routine below, your ideas might make someone’s day or even fuel their creative fire to get writing! Go go go!

Out of Office shortlisted in the Business Book Awards 2021

by Fiona likes to blog | Mar 5, 2021 | Freelance, WRITING

I’m pretty chuffed to announce I’ve been shortlisted for an award (!!) for my book, Out of Office: Ditch the 9-5 and Be Your Own Boss – can I get a whoop whoop?

Taking place at a fancy virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday 25th May, The Business Book Awards 2021 celebrates thought-leadership in business. The very fact I’m shortlisted as a thought-leader is enough to quite literally rock my world, and to have Out of Office recognised as an industry-approved guide for freelancers to help you navigate the highs and lows of quitting the office for good means so much.

I’m nominated alongside some stellar books in the ‘Start up/Scale up’ category, and you can find Out of Office sitting comfortably alongside the likes of Boss It: Control Your Time, Your Income and Your Life by Carl Reader and Investor Ready: The guide for start-ups on getting investors to say YES by Julie Barber. Quite the bookshelf, if I do say so myself.

The Business Book Awards 2021 celebrates the industry-leading tomes that inspire the business world each year. Recognising books that have shaped understanding on all aspects of the business world – to name but a few: sales & marketing; HR & management; diversity, inclusion & equality; change & sustainability – it’s an honour to be amongst such wonderful company.

Joining me (in my pjs, on Zoom, most likely) and the nominated authors on the fancy awards evening in May will be an incredible judging panel that includes leaders in business and the most in-the-know in publishing. Head Judge, Alison Jones, is the founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing and author of This Book Means Business. She has 25 years of experience in the publishing and business industries, and has joined forces with a roster of other incredible leaders in the business world to judge yours truly. It’s set to be an exciting night.

See you at the virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday 25th May 2021!

Fancy writing your own business book? Listen to this episode of the Out of Office podcast.

Learning to take the path of least resistance

by Fiona likes to blog | Feb 24, 2021 | BODY POSITIVITY, Freelance, WRITING

I’ve always been a fan of military-style workouts. Burpees, squat jumps, tuck jumps and something called a gorilla crawl (don’t ask) have been my movement of choice. But my osteopath recently suggested I focus on yoga and pilates instead, something that could help manage the chronic back pain I’ve lived with for over 15 years.

Now, I’m not against pilates and yoga. I’ve done them both on and off throughout the years, but in my head the distinction is clear. Pilates and yoga are nice. They’re enjoyable. But my brain likes to tell me that they’re not ‘real exercise’.

Sometimes I complete a full 60-minute workout and sometimes (like yesterday) I quit after a few minutes because the instructor tells me I need to contact my inner smile

When I think about fitness as a concept, I think about the fittest version of myself. It was about five years ago and I was hammering 8-10 fitness classes a week, often doing 2-3 back to back in order to really feel the burn. I wanted nothing more than to be what society deems as ‘healthy’. After years of consuming magazines, imagery and TV shows that depicted exercise as something to bear through gritted teeth, I nodded aggressively in agreement when the class instructor yelled NO PAIN NO GAIN!

What I can see now is that I’ve learned to associate pain with optimum physical health. Let me say that again:

I associate pain with optimum physical health.

How mad is that? So in trying to mend my injured back I chose the most painful way to move my body and doubled down on it. When I was told to do something I actually enjoy (yoga and pilates) I scoffed at it. Because I thought, how can something you enjoy be good for your health?

I’m just a person trying to move through the world in a way that feels as painless as possible. So why shouldn’t I access the tools that feel good? It feels nice to do yoga. It feels right. It feels easy. Fighting pain with pain just doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

If that was true I’d be eating McFlurries for breakfast (that statement is another rabbit hole, because why do I associate delicious tasting food with guilt and overindulgence? The diet industry)

Anyway, I listened to my osteopath and I’ve quit doing all the army-style workouts and over the last few days I’ve been doing yoga. Nice, boring, gentle yoga. Sometimes I complete a full 60-minute workout and sometimes (like yesterday) I quit after a few minutes because the instructor tells me I need to contact my inner smile. I enjoy yoga but I’m not quite there yet.

The point is, if I wanted to compete in a competitive sporting event or dramatically change my body then yes, I’d have to implement an intensive exercise regime to see results and yes it would be challenging and uncomfortable and painful at times. I highly doubt McFlurries would be part of the plan.

But I’m not a professional athlete.

I’m just a person trying to move through the world in a way that feels as painless as possible. So why shouldn’t I access the tools that feel good? It feels nice to do yoga. It feels right. It feels easy. Fighting pain with pain just doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

So my question to you is, what do you enjoy doing? And what resistance do you feel when you consider making time for it?

I get so many DMs from people who say they love to write, that they dream of starting a blog or writing a book one day. But when it comes to sitting down to do the writing, their brain tells them they don’t deserve it. That they couldn’t possible indulge in something that feels pleasurable….

So instead they torture themselves by wasting time scrolling on social media (the digital version of an angry fitness instructor screaming in your face, telling you that you’re unworthy) and they never allow themselves to step away and enjoy the thing they love the most; writing.

Are you ready to take the path of least resistance?

Learn more about my writing courses here.

How to plan and outline a non-fiction book

by Fiona likes to blog | Feb 17, 2021 | WRITING

So you want to write a non-fiction book? Amazing! I’ve personally written two myself and am in the middle of planning my third, so now feels like the perfect time to let you in on the process I used to plan and write my non-fiction books so that you can try it out for yourself.

Non-fiction covers a lot of bases including memoir, self-help, true crime, how-to and history. Whatever type of non-fiction book you want to write, this guide will offer a step by step process that will get you closer to your writing goal

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Be curious

Both of my non-fiction books are very different. One is a mental health memoir and the other is a how-to guide for freelancers called Out of Office, but both began with a sense of curiosity. I think writing should come from creativity, first and foremost, so I don’t advise that you to plan your book writing process based on trends or trying to fill a gap in the market.

Instead, challenge yourself to dream up an idea for a book that you would simply love to write. Because the reality is that it can take anywhere between six and twelve months to write a non-fiction book and it requires a lot of focus, so above all you should make sure that you enjoy the process as much as possible.

There are a lot of books out in the world, and as little as 1% of them will end up becoming bestsellers so your book might not become an overnight success, but you should still aim to feel proud of what you’ve written.

Open your mind to new ideas for your book by consuming new topics in the form of books, podcasts, magazines, newspaper articles, movies and documentaries. Keep a notepad handy at all times to make a note of any ideas that come to mind, and enjoy this exploratory phase of writing. I also find it helpful to journal on a daily basis as this allows me to organise my thoughts and free write about anything that’s on my mind. You’ll be surprised at how many brainwaves you have when you’re journaling about nothing in particular.

Brainstorm

Once you’ve spent a few weeks (or months) mulling over your idea, set aside a day to get everything out on the page. First of all, get a large piece of paper and write down all your thoughts about the book you’re considering writing. I find doing this with pen and paper is much more effective than writing out words into a document. Try creating a mind map based on a few of the larger topics and gradually noting down any threads attached to each one.

For example when I was brainstorming my book Out of Office one of the main topics was mental health. The threads attached to that were words like social media, taking time off, isolation, money worries, etc. Once you’ve done this for several topics you’ll start to see just how much information you have to work with, how they link together and how it will form the structure of your book.

Research

If you feel ready to start structuring your non-fiction book then you can move onto the next step. However, if you feel like there are a few gaps in your knowledge or some interesting threads you’d like to follow a little further then now is a good time to do some research.

Dig deeper into the content you consumed at the ‘be curious’ stage. Look at the bibliographies in the books you read, read newspaper articles and biographies on the people who interest you the most. For non-fiction books, I love using the Blinkist app to get a general overview of the key ideas of the books I’m interested in before I read the full book. Audiobooks are another great way to deepen your understanding of a particular subject area, before you settle on a book idea.

Pick a structure

The structure for your non-fiction book will depend on the type of book you want to write. In my mental health memoir, I open the story at a dramatic low point which took place in my late twenties, a sort of prologue which sets the tension early on. After that, I use a fairly standard chronological structure that follows my childhood through to the present day. In Out of Office, I structured the book to follow the typical journey of someone who wants to go freelance. I start by explaining what freelancing is, lay out the pros and cons and then offer practical advice on how to get started, grow and develop over time.

Your book might offer a step by step process to solve a specific problem. In which case, you should aim to write the book in a way that makes this as easy as possible for the reader to follow. For example, you’ll probably need to explain some of the concepts early on in the book to allow the reader to understand and implement the advice you give later in the book.

Organise

I like to organise my ideas visually, and this is how I’ve planned all of the non-fiction books I’ve written. Take a look at the mindmap you’ve created and cross out anything that is no longer relevant.

Now, get a stack of post it notes and copy a single word or idea onto each note and stick them on a blank wall. You’ll end up with lots and lots of sticky notes, but now you can rearrange them into a loose structure. Group similar topics together, then rearrange them into an order that makes sense for the reader. For example, when planning Out of Office, it made sense to talk through basics like how to raise an invoice before more advanced chapters such as how to raise your prices.

You might find that some topics are actually themes and crop up several times throughout the book. That’s OK, just write a few more notes and stick them in wherever you need them.

For example, in my mental health memoir I knew I wanted to talk about my love for writing as a child, then contrast that with my lack of creativity as an adult. Similarly, in Out of Office, isolation is something I write about in multiple chapters of the book as it makes sense to talk about the widespread issue in the beginning and then offer advice to manage it later in the book.

Draft an outline

For me, the whole point of this process is to create a book outline that will then act as a guideline to write the book. If you’re creating a book proposal to send out to agents or publishers then you’ll need an outline as part of that, but even if you’re self-publishing you’re going to need some sort of plan in place before you sit down to write. Using the post it notes you rearranged earlier, you should now see the basis of your outline. Remember to include a short introduction, then divide the book into sections, then headings, then subheadings. It’s OK if you’re not 100% sure of the chapters and their exact order. You can only plan so much and a lot of the answers you’re looking for will become clear through the process of writing the book.

Now you should have a loose plan for your non-fiction book. If you’d like more support on actually writing your book, you might be interested in my Find Your Voice course which teaches you techniques on how to hone your writing style and write from personal experience.

Further reading:

How to Write Non-Fiction by Joanna Penn https://uk.bookshop.org/a/4750/9781912105779

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up by Lee Gutkind https://uk.bookshop.org/a/4750/9780738215549

Depression in a Digital Age by Fiona Thomas https://uk.bookshop.org/a/4750/9781912478507