How to pitch The Spectator World

The Spectator is relatively new to this side of the Atlantic — and so we’re always on the lookout for talented, entertaining and incisive new writers to contribute to our pages.

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The Spectator was established in 1828 and is the best-written and most influential magazine in Britain. We came to America because we felt that the media landscape was missing something — a publication filled with ideas and wit that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

We’re not looking for writers or pitches pushing a party or ideological line. Our allegiance is to interesting stories, clarity of thought, elegance of expression and independence of opinion. We do not strive for impartiality — our motto is “firm, but unfair” — but for originality and style.

The pitch

First, take a look at our website and our magazine to get a sense of the kind of stories we do. Bear in mind that we’re always eager to break new ground and expand the areas we cover.

Send us your idea in an email that’s concise and to the point. We want to know why your potential story is interesting and why other people might find it interesting.

Your pitch should include:

• A single-sentence summary of the story
• A short paragraph laying out the idea
• A sense of what the story will deliver for readers. What makes it original? Does it break news? Does it move the conversation forward on a given subject? Or is it simply a rip-roaring (and untold) yarn? (That’s fine too)
• A brief summary of who you’ll talk to and how the story will come together
• Links to your bio and previous work

The story can be for either the magazine or the website — we can make a determination of where it might fit, if we’re interested.

What we’re looking for

Broadly speaking, the magazine and website are divided into three sections: front of the book, culture and life.

Front of the book

This is where you’ll find stories on US politics and policy, international affairs, business, economics, tech, religion, science or any number of newsy topics that affect our world.

We’re looking for:

• Reported features, essays and stories. We want to know about political movements or weird subcultures popping up, behind-the-scenes looks at people or organizations driving the news, unreported trends and untold stories
• Profiles and interviews. We want to know about up-and-coming politicians or political operatives, entrepreneurs building interesting businesses, controversial figures the wider world hasn’t heard about yet, and people poised to make big moves. They can be A-listers or nobodies. They just need to be interesting. These can be short glimpses (under 1,000 words) or longer deep-dives
• Gossip. Have an interesting bit of news that might be worth mentioning? We want to know about it. These can either be bylined or unbylined
• Diaries. These are looks back at your week or month, usually from a prominent person or someone in the news — or otherwise someone with an interesting story to tell

Culture

This section covers books, TV, film, art, the stage and anything shaping the culture of America and the world.

We’re looking for:

• Reported features and essays from the world of arts and culture
• Profiles and interviews. Usually pegged to a release, we want to cover the people shaping our culture, from directors and musicians to authors and artists and everyone in between
• Reviews. While reviews are often assigned or handled in-house, we’re always looking to bring on new freelance reviewers, predominantly for film, TV and streaming

Life

This section covers travel, style, food and drink, health, home, property and real estate, sports, the outdoors and cars.

What we’re looking for:

• Travel stories. We want to know how to spend a weekend in Boise or Copenhagen, the best places for Thai food in Reykjavik and how to drink your way around Sonoma. The more experience-driven, the better
• Trends. We want to know about the latest happenings in style, restaurants, food or cars
• Property. Have a trend piece on everyone moving to a new city? A tour of an interesting new hotel? You can find them here
• Profiles and interviews. We want to know about interesting people in the food industry, new designers, stylists, rising-star athletes, influencers or tastemakers

 

What we’re not looking for

• Fiction
• Poetry
• Academic essays. There are plenty of journals for these — The Spectator is not one of them
• Anything over 10,000 words

 

Who to pitch

Send your pitch to editor@thespectator.com and we’ll direct it to the right section.