TIME Magazine's World's Greatest Places - Pitch Call Behind the Scenes

And hello from Asia!

Hi friends,

Greetings from Bangkok, where I just flew in from Bhutan and am waiting for my flight to Bali. I just spent 15 days in Bhutan, including an 11-day hiking trip. Mornings were spent hiking, afternoons were spent visiting temples and monasteries, and evenings were spent working two articles for National Geographic (that’s four so far this spring).

For the next two weeks, I’ll be on vacation in Indonesia. Unfortunately, I have to set aside a couple of days to work on some confirmed assignments, but I’ll mostly be hiking, biking, sleeping, and reading the 5 books I packed (yes, five books, which I know will put me over the strict luggage weight restrictions on domestic flights in Indonesia!)

Before I unplug for a bit, I wanted to follow up on a big announcement and what you can learn from it.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Cassandra

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TIME’s World’s Greatest Places

As you may have seen in my LinkedIn post last week, I contributed to one of TIME’s 100 World’s Greatest Places 2025. Woohoo! I received so many well wishes and inquiries about it that I wanted to break down the process.

As I said in my recent post on Why You Weren’t Included in My Pitch Call, it’s impossible for me to sift through the hundreds of emails I receive for every every pitch call I send out (which is all unpaid time), so I created a private pitch call list that I am increasingly relying on. This list contains a handful of publicists, brands, and destinations that I’ve worked closely with and that I know will only send me their best pitches. I also usually rotate in one or two new people each time to spice things up.

So, when TIME Magazine asked me to submit pitches for their 2025 World’s Greatest Places issue in the fall (which appears both in digital and print), I knew I’d be going the private pitch call route. Why? Because I’ve written several of these in the past, including this piece on Madeira, which became one of my favorite destinations in the world after two press trips there, and this piece on Kyushu, Japan, which I hadn’t visited myself but was pitched by a publicist who I had worked with closely before and who I trusted.

Having pitched WGP over numerous years and written several pieces, I learned two things:

1. TIME WGP entries are a TON of work for very little pay (like, I spent 6 hours on a single entry that paid $150 - before taxes).

2. There was no way that I would blast out a pitch call request since I knew I’d get hundreds and hundreds of responses.

This is a prestige pub byline, not a money-maker, so I couldn’t afford to spend 20 unpaid hours sifting through endless streams of pitches.

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The TIME Pitching Process

I already knew of a few destinations that I wanted to pitch to TIME, but I also sent a private pitch call to about a dozen select publicists encouraging them to pitch me. I sent hyper-detailed instructions about what would be a good fit, and these publicists then sent back 2-3 destinations they thought could work. I reviewed them all and chose the ones that I thought had the best chance of being selected. I submitted a total of 7 pitches to TIME for consideration and one was chosen.

The Winning TIME Magazine Pitch

I am thrilled that Vinai restaurant in Minneapolis, owned by Hmong chef Yia Vang, was chosen. As a native Midwesterner, I love seeing the Midwest highlighted, and I was also excited to help elevate an extraordinary culture and cuisine that don’t get nearly enough credit.

I always include the Meet Minneapolis rep, Kristin Montag, in my private pitch calls because she’s a joy to work with, she works hard, and she gets me the answers I need quickly. When I visited MSP last fall, she even drove me around herself one afternoon to show me some city highlights that I was interested in.

Kristen has also been on every single Ask Me Anything live Q&A call I’ve ever held, which means I always know what’s going on in her neck of the woods. It’s a lot easier to listen to her tell me directly on a video call what’s new and exciting in a destination than to sift through hundreds of press releases and cut-and-paste PR pitches. Joining these live calls matters and doing so helps you stand out from the crowd. Can’t afford to join live calls with all 300 journalists you follow on Substack? I don’t blame you! As I shared in my post on Choosing Depth Over Distraction, it often makes more sense to invest in relationships with 3 writers than to mass pitch 300. Choose wisely, and I’m fine if I’m not chosen. Do what makes the most sense for you, your brand, your destinations, and your clients.

I’ll be traveling (then attending a conference) through the first week of April so I’ll be holding my next Ask Me Anything live Q&A on the first day back at my desk. Am I crazy? Perhaps. I’d be happy to talk more then about pitching, relationship building, and anything else you want to discuss. More info below.

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April 4th Ask Me Anything Live Q&A

These Ask Me Anything live Q&A sessions are, arguably, the most valuable benefit of having a paid subscription to my newsletter, so I’m going to be holding more of these so you get a great bang for your buck.

Date: Friday, April 4th, 10 am PST/1:00 pm ET

Pricing:

FREE with a paid subscription (which is only $9 for the month, or $70 for the year). If you prefer to buy a ticket outside the Substack platform, it only costs $20 per ticket or $15/person for agencies with multiple attendees (email me if you want to go this route).

RSVP at the link below the paywall, and you’ll receive a link to the April 5th Zoom call. You can also drop questions in the RSVP form.

Wondering what these calls are like? Here’s what previous attendees have to say:

“I appreciate Cassandra’s time and the opportunity to hear directly what she’s looking for and get her feedback. I think it’s invaluable for us get have this access and get to know the writer and other publicists better.”

- Kristen Montag, Senior PR & communication manager, Meet Minneapolis

“I joined my first AMA with Cassandra today and loved the intimate feel and engaging discussion on a variety of topics. I took away a lot from the conversation – not only Cassandra’s insights but also hearing from fellow publicists. This definitely felt more productive to me than the larger group calls. No shade on them, they have value too, but this almost felt like a workshop or deskside. I am looking forward to the next one.

- Jennifer Sweeney, Principal, Jennifer Sweeney Communications

Register Now.

Here’s the link to register, where you can also let me know exactly what you want to discuss on the call: