Want to Know Why Nobody is Accepting Your Pitch?

I'll tell you, and you can ask me anything you want this Thursday

Hi friends,

What a frustrating time to be a journalist or publicist, hey? Publications are folding left and right, and most still standing are dramatically reducing or eliminating freelance contributions entirely. Just to get through it all, I need to escape to the woods (the pic above is a group hike I did yesterday at Harriman State Park, about an hour from NYC.)

One of my most-read newsletters last year (with 7,000 views) was about Forbes’ Horrible News that they were ending work with freelancer product reviewers/testers. USA Today also shut down their Reviewed commerce section in fall. And an editor at CNN told me this morning that they’re pausing work with freelancers. And that’s just on the commerce front!

Why? Well, you can ask me all about it at my Ask Me Anything live call this Thursday.

Cassandra

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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. In addition to learning more about WHY these publications are discontinuing their work with freelancers, you’ll also learn WHAT you can do about it, including some creative ways to get your brand/product prime placement in articles.

Because this is an Ask Me ANYTHING, you can ask me about SEO, how to plan an amazing product showcase, press trip, or a successful destination dinner. Have you struggled to get a response from the 40 editors/writers to whom you sent what you thought to be a perfect pitch? You’re welcome to share that on the call and get live feedback. Considering I got about 40 pitches within an hour of announcing my National Geographic pitch call last week (and countless more since then), I can even offer some (anonymous) examples of good and bad pitching.

Date: February 6th, 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 Thursday’s 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

“Great to tune in today — thanks for indulging my questions! It was fascinating learning more about your work and process.”

– Selena Taylor, writer/photographer

Register Now.

I’ll be in Asia all of March, so this is the last Ask Me Anything call I’ll be holding for at least two months. If you want in, here’s how to register: