Pitches wanted (long reads, features) | $1.50 to $2 per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: COSMOPOLITAN

Nicole Pasulka, Senior Features Editor at Cosmopolitan, is looking for pitches:

I'm always accepting pitches for features at Cosmo. Some guidelines:

1) Story. The biggest reason I turn down a pitch is because it focuses on a topic or an idea rather than a story. Stories have narrative action and memorable characters. They tell me very specifically about something that happened to actual people. They have plots.

2) Surprise! So maybe you’ve got a narrative with good characters, but does the story play out basically the way I’d expect it to? This is so hard, because there are a lot things we *should* know about, but the way to make those issues or stories appeal to a broad audience....is to tell people something unexpected and surprising. In this vein, if it’s a story we’ve seen many times before or something that we’ve covered a lot, it’s probably not going to work for us.

3) Audience! Our target audience is women under 35. That’s a huge and diverse group of people, but there are things that just don't matter to them. I know this is tricky, and if you’ve got something that meets the other two criteria, shoot your shot, absolutely!

4) For the most part, we don’t publish personal essays, op-eds, or trend stories in the features section. Those do have a place at Cosmo, but I’m not the right editor for those pitches.

Some features have a first-person perspective, but those typically contain lots of original reporting and narrative. Ask yourself–does my piece have a narrative and characters, or is it an exploration of a “topic” or “idea”? If it’s the latter, it’s not right for us.

Would you consider international pitches? My understanding is…it depends. If you have a good story pitch, feel free to send it and if it works for us we can try and figure out a contract. Just keep in mind, the story needs to appeal to a mostly US readership.

CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

• Questions/submissions: nicole.pasulka@hearst.com
• Website: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Cosmopolitan is a media brand for young women packed with fresh and fundamental intel about what millennials truly care about. It aims to deliver content that is interesting, fearlessly authentic, and unapologetically honest. More information here.
• Read through its selection of recent stories/articles, categorized into: Long Reads, Print Magazine
• Review the submission guidelines here. Note that these are the publication's general guidelines to help you refine your pitch. You must still follow the editor's specific instructions above.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.
• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a paragraph highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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