Hello friends! Today I’ve got a bit of a follow-up to Tuesday’s Q&A newsletter, with another excellent question from a reader that comes up all the time and can be a little knotty. So let’s get straight to it.
(And like I said Tuesday, if you’ve got a question about freelancing or the wider world of journalism, please send it my way and I may feature it in a future Q&A newsletter! The more specific the better, so let’s see ’em. Email me at [email protected] or fill out this form with your question(s).)
How much do I need to know about my sources before pitching?
When might you need to secure sources (or even conduct interviews) before pitching, vs. just noting the “types” of sources you‘d want to include or who you plan to reach out to? How many sources should you typically include for different types/lengths of articles? What kind of details/updates on the piece should you offer the sources (if any)?
Great questions all! But, as with most things when it comes to freelance journalism, the answer to most of these questions is: It depends on the story. But I’ll do my best to offer some concrete guidance.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Freelancing With Tim to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
Start trialA subscription gets you:
- Get the standard 4 free newsletters per month plus 4 additional paid-only newsletters every month
- Access to the full FWT archive, including all past paid posts and select Zoom workshops
- 50% off registration to all workshops, 33% off one-on-one coaching sessions, and invites to subscriber-only events