Help Me Pass it Forward
And something for you too!
My first career, before writing, was teaching. Honestly, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I loved the kids in my classes but with 36 of them and only one of me I often felt helpless. They came with so many issues, behavior problems, and learning differences.
Teachers are expected to be educators, parents, entertainers, therapists, social workers… it’s a lot.
And there’s a lot of teachers struggling in classrooms right now.
I want to ask a favor. Will you help me give our teachers a boost by reading their work? We have a number of teachers on Medium working hard at two jobs: teacher and writer. My friend Joe Donan is one of them. Another is Ryan Fan.
It won’t cost you anything except a few minutes of your time and I know it would mean a lot.
Here’s Joe’s latest beautiful story:
I Made Reading My Safe Haven
Here’s Ryan’s:
The Most Famous Self-Help Author in America
Let’s give our teachers a lift. They need it right now.
Thank you, writing fam. I really appreciate it.
Now something for you:
A lot of people ask me how to word their pitch email when sending an article to an editor. There’s no perfect way, but there are wrong ones:
Sending your draft without saying anything else.
Not checking their publications guidelines for pitches.
Sending it with a comment that oversells “Here’s my article. It will be a perfect fit for your publications.”
Not spell checking your pitch.
Here’s the exact email I used for a recent pitch. Feel free to copy the format for your own pitches.
Hi (insert Name of Editor),
I have an article I think would be a good fit for (Insert name of pub), titled "What Happened to The Great American Peanut Butter and Mayo Sandwich?" (I know it sounds yuck but stay with me!)
I love peanut butter and mayo sandwiches, but I've learned recently they are quite a divisive food with roots in the depression era.
Depression era foods have made a comeback in 2020, with the unemployment increase and lockdowns and so I've delved into one of them: the article covers the history of the peanut butter/mayo sandwich from the Great Depression to it's gradual disappearance in the late 60's.
The article includes an interview with a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who spoke with her 91 year old mother for the article. Her mother was raised in the depression era eating peanut butter and mayo sandwiches.
I'm happy to make any changes if there's an angle you would prefer. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Here’s the draft link (Insert link or whole article depending on guidelines)
Kelly Eden
Good luck with your pitching!
Kelly