How to pitch to Dazed Digital

At Dazed Digital, we’re all about championing the voices of talented new writers and we’re always keen to receive pitches from people who are brimming with exciting ideas. But we understand that the pitching process can feel quite alien if you’re unfamiliar with how it all works – which is why we’ve decided to compile this handy guide.

If you’re keen to pitch us, but don’t know what topics we’re interested in, who to pitch, or how to write a good pitch email – keep reading!

WHAT WE PUBLISH

Dazed Digital is “where pop culture meets the underground”. We pride ourselves on publishing high-quality reported features, irreverent opinion pieces, in-depth explainers, Q&As with exciting people, and cultural criticism for our audience of engaged, creative and discerning young people from all around the world.

We have a range of different sections, including fashion, beauty, art and photography, film and TV, music, and life and culture, the latter of which encompasses everything from politics and activism to science and tech. We never do “content for content’s sake” – we always want to add something new to the conversation, and it’s important to keep this in mind when pitching and deciding what your ‘angle’ is.

To give you some examples of the kind of things we publish: there’s this piece on microdosing mushrooms, which centres around a hot talking point among young people, while also offering readers harm reduction-focused information from an expert. Or this interview with Sam Fender. Or this piece on ketamine chic, which not only identifies a new, emerging trend but also digs into what it says about our society and culture. Or this feature, which pulls apart the problems with the single positivity movement and ‘dump him feminism’.

Ultimately, the best way of getting a sense of what we publish is by reading the site. This is also important to ensure you’re not pitching us something we’ve already covered.

THE EMAIL

The subject line should follow a simple and straightforward format each time: “PITCH: Your Headline Idea Here”. That way it won’t get lost in an editor’s inbox. If you haven’t worked with the editor you’re pitching before, it’s also a good idea to introduce yourself and attach some examples of your writing. We won’t expect you to have a million different bylines – some links to a blog or pieces from a student publication will suffice!

Try to keep the pitch as concise as possible – around 300 words max. Editors’ inboxes are constantly overflowing, so keep in mind that most won’t have time to read a dense, ten-paragraph email. If you’re struggling to keep things brief, it’s possible you haven’t refined your idea enough.

You should be able to succinctly put across all the necessary information: what’s the story? Why does it matter? Why now? And why is it a good fit for Dazed? If you’re pitching a reported feature, it’s also important to outline who you’re planning to speak to for the piece (case studies? experts?), as well as demonstrate that you’ve done some pre-reporting by including statistics and evidence to back your claims up.

Two other important things to consider are access and assets. Are you pitching an interview with someone? If so, have you confirmed access to them? Are you pitching a feature on an exhibition or book? If so, have you included the press images that we’ll be able to use to illustrate the piece?

Make sure to proofread your email, too. Everyone makes typos, but if your email is poorly written with loads of spelling and grammar mistakes, an editor might be hesitant to commission the 1,000-word feature you want to write.

Feel free to follow up if an editor hasn’t got back to you, but if your idea isn’t particularly time-specific, please don’t chase after just 24 hours. Waiting for a response is tough but it’s part of the process, unfortunately!

And, finally, please don’t send over a finished article completely out of the blue – 99.9 per cent of the time, we won’t take it.

REJECTION

It’s disheartening to have your ideas rejected when you put so much time and effort into pitching. But unfortunately, even the best and most talented writers get rejections sometimes. Trust me – it gets much easier to deal with over time. Try to remember that it isn’t personal, nor is it a reflection of your abilities as a writer.

There are so many reasons why your piece might have been turned down, too. It might be because an editor has a limited budget, or has already got a similar piece in the works, or that your idea wasn’t right for Dazed specifically. A rejection doesn’t necessarily mean your idea wasn’t ‘good’. It sounds cliché, but really: don’t give up!

EDITORS

If you feel ready to pitch, our emails are listed below. Good luck!

Deputy Editor: serena.smith@dazedmedia.com (for anything hooked to news, politics, and general life and culture)

Fashion Features Director: emma.davidson@dazedmedia.com (for all fashion pitches)

Beauty Editor: alex.peters@dazedmedia.com (for all beauty pitches)

Art and Photography Editor: emily.dinsdale@dazedmedia.com (for all art and photography pitches)

Features Editor: gunseli.yalcinkaya@dazedmedia.com (particularly for music, tech, or anything weird and internet related)