Pitch Perfect: How to Get Your Brand or Story Noticed by National Media

Are you a freelance writer, PR professional or entrepreneur eager to know what it takes to get your brand or story idea noticed by a national media outlet?

What subject lines stand out? What story ideas resonate? How long, short, detailed or vague should your pitch be? How much do connections matter? Can you really make a living as a freelance journalist?

Learn it all from New York Writing Room coach Anna Medaris, a journalist with 15 years of experience writing and editing for publications including the Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Women's Health, Cosmopolitan, Everyday Health and others.

But Anna didn't climb a traditional journalism ladder to get there. In fact, she started her career with no journalism degree or writing clips, and few connections.

In her first post-college job, she sat in a medical school communications department writing for the internal site — at first, for no pay. But on the side, she fanatically pitched ideas to the Washington Post. Within another few years, she had five WaPo bylines, a regular column at the Muse and a journalism master's degree.

Since then, Anna has served as a writer and editor for a psychology trade magazine, a health correspondent at Insider and a senior health editor at U.S. News & World Report. She currently freelances for publications nationwide, coaches writers through the New York Writing Room, and moderates professional panels. She's appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America and dozens of local TV and radio stations. Throughout it all, she's vetted countless pitches from PR professionals, entrepreneurs, writers, family members and friends to truly understand what works, and what doesn't.

Join this virtual workshop on April 16 to get a look behind the scenes of what writers and editors' daily life (and inbox) actually looks like, candid advice on how to sell yourself and your idea or to simply introduce yourself because one thing she thinks has never changed is the power of human connections.

Get Your Pitch Reviewed:

Send in a pitch you're working on by April 14, and Anna will provide feedback on it during the workshop. Attendees can email pitches to [email protected].

Tickets:

Early bird tickets are $45 until March 16.

General admission is $55.

Packages: Sign up with a colleague or friend and get $10 off!

Bonus: A ttendees will receive 20% off a personal coaching session with Anna.

This workshop is recorded, and attendees will receive a video recap.

Tickets are nonrefundable. A Zoom link will be emailed the day of the workshop. Registration ends April 16 at 12:30 p.m. EST.

More About Anna Medaris

Anna Medaris is a health and lifestyle journalist with over a dozen years of experience writing features, narratives, explainers, profiles, research summaries and news hits for national print and digital publications, including The Washington Post, Insider, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and U.S. News & World Report.

Before going freelance full-time in 2023, Anna was a health correspondent at Insider, where for four years she covered mental health, reproductive health, medical misdiagnoses and more. She served as the team’s go-to features and analysis writer, making arguments against White Claw and for getting outside during early COVID.

Anna launched her career as an unpaid intern in a university medical center's communication department, obsessively pitching the Washington Post her own stories on the side. Persistence paid off: She landed pieces on body positivity and gluten-free athletes before both terms were mainstream, though her favorite was about a family-friendly, gender-inclusive pole-dancing competition.

Anna later became a writer and editor for the American Psychological Association's monthly print magazine, Monitor on Psychology, and earned her master’s in interactive journalism from American University along the way. She then moved to U.S. News & World Report, where she stayed nearly five years covering everything from whether you should put the piece of paper over your toilet seat (no) to a heart-wrenching series on miscarriage.

Anna has also freelanced sex and relationship stories for Women's Health, detailed her own breakup for Cosmo and written about the secrets of skinny beer drinkers as one of the Muse's first columnists. She appeared on the Today Show in 2016 and has been a regular guest on numerous national and local news stations since.

Anna is a proud alum of the University of Michigan, where she studied psychology and gender and health, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2009. She's an amateur triathlete and local stein-holding champion who lives with her husband and basset hound in Brooklyn. Watch a video featuring Coach Anna!

Anna is available for one-on-one coaching on journalistic writing, cover letters, website copy, professional bios and story pitching at .

About The New York Writing Room

The New York Writing Room is a virtual writing community. Whether you’re working on the next Great American novel or a resume, we have professional coaches to help with all your writing needs. We also host virtual book talks, writing workshops, and more. The New York Writing Room is the sister chapter of The Detroit Writing Room in downtown Detroit. Check out newyorkwritingroom.com for coaching, workshops, memberships and more.

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