New Column: Behind the Pitch

Learn to pitch like a journalist or a publicist—with confidence—in my new monthly column

Introducing my new monthly column designed to help you get essays published, land media placement for your books/products/expertise, and feel confident while writing the damn email.

Monthly Topics Include:

• Media Placement - Learn how to get quoted as an expert on your topic or get an essay/article published

• Podcast Placement - Review my pitch templates to become a podcast guest

• Store Placement - Learn how to pitch a physical product (books, card decks, food and beverage, etc.…) to bookstores and specialty stores

• The Whole Confidence Thing - Mental health and ADHD-informed tips to boost the confidence needed to write the damn pitch. I’ll also share healthy coping skills for rejection, imposter syndrome, and more.

• Much more details below

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My entire professional life is about pitching. Every day, often several times a day, I’m either pitching an essay I want to write or trying to land media coverage for my book or my drink or getting a client on TV or placing my card deck on a gift guide or pitching non-alc bottle shops to carry my NA spirit.

I also read countless pitches from people who want to be on my podcast and publicists who want me to feature the products/people they’re paid to promote.

Dealing with this many pitches means I’m often rejected and ignored. I even reject/ignore other people’s pitches. Finding the confidence to pitch my work and then handle rejection are superpowers I’ve harnessed over my last 9+ years working in media and publishing.

That’s why I’m implementing a paid column in this newsletter called Behind the Pitch Every month, I’ll go behind the scenes of my pitching process (including screenshots of my pitches!) while sharing tangible tips to deal with the emotional side of putting yourself out there. My column will look like this and this.

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OK, But How Much $?

Full access to Behind the Pitch is $7 per month or $70 per year.

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Why Me? Why Now?

I ask my students and 1:1 clients to answer two questions about pitching their work, whether it’s a book, product, or their expertise: Why me? Why now?

Each line of your pitch must answer why your idea/product/expertise is necessary right now as concisely as possible.

So, let me get super meta and use this formula to hopefully get you to become a paid subscriber…

Why Me: I’m a journalist and author with 9+ years of media and publishing experience. I’ve studied liquid courage to the point of obsession, which is also to say I’ve studied insecurity and confidence to the point of obsession. I even wrote a book about it. I’m also a scrappy entrepreneur with a business degree. My approach to self-promotion is a delicate balance of delusion, believing in myself, and pitching even though I know rejection is a realistic possibility.

Why Now: You’re sick of doomscrolling, feeling jealous when you see your friends get book deals or bylines or media placement, but you either can’t afford a publicist, or your imposter syndrome whispers mean things like who are you to pitch an essay?!?! Or maybe it’s a mix of both. Either way, you’re ready to learn how to (A) pitch yourself without the cringe and (B) feel more confident about promoting your hard work.

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Behind the Pitch Monthly Topics Include:

• See screenshots of my accepted pitches, learn my pitching strategy line by line

• See screenshots of my rejected pitches, learn how I’d tweak them today, and how I turned those ideas into something else

• How to get quoted as an expert on your topic

• How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest

• How to pitch an essay or reported piece to an editor

• How to find an editor’s email address

• How to (respectively) slide into an editor or journalist’s DMs

• How to get media placement for products (food and beverage, books, card decks, etc…)

• How to pitch a store to sell a physical product (food and beverage, books, card decks, etc.…)

• How to write a concise subject line that editors and shop owners will open

• Read pitches that I’ve accepted and learn why I accepted them

• A mix of new media (podcasts, social media, newsletters/blogs) and traditional media (newspapers, magazines, TV, radio)

• Mental health and ADHD-informed tips to boost the confidence needed to write the damn pitch. I’ll also share healthy coping skills for rejection, imposter syndrome, and more.

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XO,

Tawny