The “why now” factor behind every strong pitch
If you want coverage for your clients, your pitch needs a reason to exist right now. These three tactics will help you find it.
Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 15+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Book a Flash Consulting session to find a solution for your biggest PR challenges.
Hi friends,
Umm… quick question: Where exactly has April gone? Between taking JetBlue’s inaugural flight to Barcelona in Mint class, hosting a murder mystery party (the first gathering at my new home!), and admiring all the birds and blooms outside my window in the Hudson Valley, this month has completely flown by. Are you feeling it, too?
It feels like a distant memory at this point, but earlier this month, I hosted the Pitch Fix Live—the live, group workshop version of my media pitch critique service. Not only did every participant learn what makes a strong pitch in 2026 and how to find compelling story angles for their clients, they also received a personalized pitch review from yours truly.
Often, when I do these critiques (or go through the 200+ pitches that land in my inbox every day), I notice the same problem over and over again: they lack timeliness. That “why now?” factor simply isn’t there.
Pardon my interruption, but if you’re reading this and thinking, “Wait… do my pitches have this problem too?”—that’s exactly what I help with in The Pitch Fix. I go line-by-line through your pitch and show you what’s working, what’s not, and how to sharpen your angle so it actually makes an impact when you send it to writers and editors. Oh, and the turnaround time is just one business day, so you get feedback fast.
Look, as a freelance writer, this is a mistake I make in my own pitches to editors. It’s easy to get so in the weeds with pitching what makes something, someplace, or someone worth reading about, that we forget about the other equally important question: Why should I care about it right now?
Yet, this is exactly what editors at publications consider before commissioning an idea—so it’s something freelance journalists like me need to see from the PR pros peppering our inboxes with pitches.
The good news is that it’s not as hard as you might think to come up with an answer to the “why now” question and make your pitches more timely. Here are three ways to do just that.