In this unmissable masterclass, top print editors and successful freelance journalists share their tips about what editors do and do not want to see in freelance pitches. 

Aimed at both experienced and inexperienced freelancers, you will learn exactly what you should be including in your pitches and how you can sharpen them up.

This masterclass includes the advice (and contact details) of top commissioning editors at the Observer, Sunday Times magazine, The Telegraph, Good Housekeeping, The Guardian and The Mail on Sunday, among others.

It also includes real life examples of successful pitches, and advice from editors about everything from ‘what to put in the subject line’ and ‘the best  time of day’ to pitch to tips about what makes a good pitch stand out and what you should never put in a pitch.

You will leave feeling a lot more confident about how to write excellent pitches that present your ideas in the best possible way.

The session host is Donna Ferguson, a multiple award winning freelance journalist who is on the committee of Women in Journalism. Donna is a regular freelance writer for The Guardian and the Observer, writing for a plethora of different sections, including Observer magazine and the newsdesk.

She has won eight awards for her work as a freelance journalist and been shortlisted for 29 others, including most recently freelance journalist of the year 2023 at the inaugural Freelance Journalism awards.

She decided to go freelance ten years ago, after having a baby, and says that getting pregnant was the “best career move she ever made”, thanks to everything she has since achieved as a freelancer. She has never had a staff job on a national and started out with very few contacts, cold pitching all the editors that she now regularly writes for.