55 - Pitching a feature

This morning, I got another feature commissioned. An editor had some extra cash in his freelance budget for February and wanted to pass that sweet sweet moolah onto me, in exchange for video game-themed words. So I had to pitch.

Pitching a feature is a horrible, horrible experience. I’m utterly amazed that the guests on Dragon’s Den can describe their idea without pooing their pants and breaking into an oceanic flop sweat, when I get the shakes before sending an email to an editor.

I mean, what a stupid idea. You really think I’d pay you for that. You have to be joking. Those are the voices in my head, not actual editors of course - they’re generally very nice and they’ll commission the feature or reject it politely. Website editors usually don’t sneer.

So you send in your feature, a little description of what you want to discuss, some possible interview candidates and some goals you hope to achieve with the piece, and the editor likes it. He makes some changes, sure, but he sends you off to do some preliminary research and get back to him with a very rough overview.

Phew, you frigging well did it. You weren’t laughed out of the room. The metaphorical room, symbolised by an email conversation, that is. You weren’t rejected or ignored, you’ve done it. Hell yeah.

So you research. You hit Wikipedia and websites. You throw out calls to journo friends for ideas, avenues and angles you might have missed. You explore, you write down notes and you make a database of people you’ll email.

Emailing people for interviews is a tough cookie, and another bout of confidence-shredding, flop-sweating electronic mails. Obviously, it depends on who you’re talking to - small, indie developers are always happy to help, while Gabe Newell probably isn’t going to comment on your “y is Left 4 Dead 2 coming out so sune?” opinion-piece-cum-feature for Gameshit.com. The bastard, sat in his diamond throne, totally not making Episode 3.

And then you… well, this is where I am right now. I mean, I’ve done features before so I know what happens, but let’s leave it here for now. I’m still researching, emailing and waiting on responses. I’ll let you know the rest of the story in the future.

Here’s a tip I only just learnt: give interviewees an idea of your deadline. They don’t know if you’re publishing next month or tomorrow. Two people have already written back with a “so uh… when do you want this?”, and now I feel silly. It also pays to stagger your emails a bit; learn from the person you just chatted to, so by email six you’re an absolute machine.

Enjoy your night. I’m having pancakes.