Learning How to Pitch to Food Magazines

After a year of writing I sent off my first pitch.

I’ve been writing consistently for over a year on The Greasy Pen, and I’m still trying to figure out how to pitch to food magazines. I’m working on becoming a better writer, and believe me, it isn’t easy, but I’m proud of my progress since my first few posts on here. What areas of your life have you been pushing yourself?

I’m juggling my Substack and a 10-week course from the Cordon Bleu ‘Food Writing for Publication’ which requires me to hand in an assignment every week. Usually the same day I send out this newsletter. For this week, I need to review a restaurant. Yet, I feel like I’m falling behind. I love writing and I love learning how to better my writing. But I don’t find the time to soak in the advice and lessons given from the course.

So I continue writing, reading, editing, drafting, scrapping, re-writing, saving it for another time, and thinking of good and fun stories to write about. It’s time-consuming and it doesn’t pay jack schnitzel. (Or does jack shit sound better?) But I’m not here for the money, I’m here to learn, put in practice, connect with fellow writers, and invest further in my writing skills.

I took this pricey Cordon Bleu course to hone my voice and learn how to pitch to food magazines. Pitching takes courage! It isn’t easy to stand behind an idea you believe in, send it off, and cross your fingers they’ll pay you for it. It still sounds daunting and unbelievable to me. But I’m here trying, almost every day and I love it, not the pitching part but the writing part. I don’t think it would be possible without my best friend, and partner Yolanda — who I can’t wait for her own Substack, Mom on a Mission give her a follow! She inspires me and is also my undercover editor sometimes.

I sent off my first pitch to Eaten magazine. A publication that I’m a big fan of. Again, I bounced ideas off of my partner and she helped me find a very fun angle, regretfully it didn’t get selected for the next edition. I’ll just have to dust myself off and try again, and again — most likely.

For today’s newsletter, I wanted to write about how a TikTok influencer talked about her new favorite ‘peelable’ mango candy from Walgreens, a pharmacy store chain in America. Her video went viral and that candy quickly sold out everywhere in the United States. And to talk about the power of social media surpassing old-school advertisements. Instead, I decided to write a little check-in to myself and see where I’m at.

The “how to pitch to food magazines” is the part I’m still trying to figure out. But in my last course, a great article was shared, written by James Beard award-winning Helen Rosner, the weekly column writer for The New Yorker’s The Food Scene. In that article, her lede sentence is fantastic, “Even if I wanted to go back to Frog Club, I might not be allowed to.” It shows a simple lesson on retaining attention that makes me want to read on. It’s a basic lesson but it might be one of the most important.

Oh, and if you are a food writer check out Vittles mentorship! They are now looking for you as long as you are based in London! Sign up and check it out. And for this post, I had the least amount of time to write as you can see it’s a soup of unorganized thoughts. I’ll make up for it on the next one!

And remember, to be able to write is a privilege just like Anthony Bourdain once said:

“Writing is a privilege and a luxury. Anybody who whines about writer’s block should be forced to clean squid all day.”

And in honor of the great Anthony Bourdain check out his Reddit.

Calamari-ly yours,

The Greasy Pen.