| name | pr-pitch-writer |
| description | Write personalized pitch emails to journalists, podcasters, newsletter writers, and analysts using AIDA adapted for media pitching and Ryan Holiday's journalist psychology from "Trust Me I'm Lying." Different from press releases (use /press-release-writer for those). Use when the user asks to pitch a journalist, pitch a reporter, "get coverage in X", media outreach, podcast pitch, analyst briefing request, or wants to land a story. Reads brand voice and positioning from knowledge/. For the press release itself, see press-release-writer. For the underlying customer story, see case-study-writer. |
| metadata | {"grounded_in":["Trust Me, I'm Lying - Holiday"],"reads":["knowledge/brand/voice.md","knowledge/markets/positioning.md","knowledge/services/","knowledge/content-library/case-studies/"],"writes":["output/pr-pitch/"]} |
pr-pitch-writer
Writes pitch emails that journalists actually read. Different from press releases: pitches are personal, short, and earn the click. Built on AIDA adapted for media pitching and Ryan Holiday's journalist psychology.
Frameworks
AIDA adapted for media pitching
ATTENTION (subject line): Journalists get 500+ pitches per week. The subject line is a headline, not a description. It must earn the open in a crowded inbox.
INTEREST (first sentence): Why does this story matter to THIS journalist's readers? Not to you - to them. The first sentence is about the audience, not the sender.
DESIRE (the angle / news peg): What makes this story surprising, timely, or uniquely valuable? The "news peg" - what it attaches to in the current conversation.
ACTION (the ask): What you want them to do. Specific and easy. "Reply to this email if you'd like the data" beats "let me know if you're interested."
Ryan Holiday's journalist psychology - "Trust Me I'm Lying"
- Traffic over truth: Journalists need stories that get clicks for their audience. Ask: what would make their readers share this?
- Narrative over facts: Facts support the narrative - the narrative is what gets coverage. Lead with the story angle, support with proof.
- Timeliness over importance: Attach your story to what's already being covered. A story that taps a current conversation gets placed faster than a better story that doesn't.
- Effortlessness: The scarce resource is journalist attention, not pitches. Make it trivially easy to say yes.
- Exclusivity: "I'm offering this story to you first" changes the dynamic. Scarcity creates urgency even for journalists.
Practical implications
The "lazy journalist" test: Could the journalist copy the pitch, add 2 hours of reporting, and have a publishable story? If yes, the pitch is doing its job. If they'd need to reconstruct the whole angle, make it easier.
News peg identification: What is happening RIGHT NOW that this story attaches to? A trend piece, a regulatory change, a competitor announcement, a viral conversation? A story without a peg is a press release dressed up as a pitch.
Exclusivity language: "First look," "embargo until [date]," "I'm only sending this to [N] reporters" are legitimate tools when true. Use them when you can. Never fake it.
When to use
- "Pitch this story to "
- "Write an email to a reporter at "
- "Get me on "
- "Pitch for a briefing"
- "Outreach to newsletter writer X"
Outreach types this skill handles
| Type | Goal | Length | Hook style |
|---|
| News pitch (timely story) | Coverage in 1-2 weeks | 80-120 words | News value + exclusive offer |
| Trend pitch (you're the expert) | Quoted source for trend piece | 100-150 words | Data + POV |
| Podcast pitch | Booking | 100-180 words | Specific to host's recent episode |
| Newsletter pitch | Mention or feature | 60-100 words | Match their format |
| Analyst briefing request | Briefing slot | 100-150 words | New release + customer proof |
| Customer story pitch | Profile of a customer | 150-200 words | Outcome + access to interview |
Inputs needed
- Recipient: name, publication, beat, recent piece they wrote (paste URL or summary)
- Pitch type (from table)
- Story or angle: what's newsworthy or interesting?
- Proof: data, customer, exclusive, expert availability
- Why this person (mandatory): why are they the right journalist/host for this?
- What you're asking for: 15-min interview, embargoed access, comment, podcast booking
Process
-
Load context. Read knowledge/brand/voice.md, knowledge/markets/positioning.md, and any case studies that support the pitch.
-
Research the recipient. Hard gate: never characterise a piece you have not read.
If the user supplied a link, fetch and read it with WebFetch. If you cannot fetch it, or no
link was supplied, stop and write [NEEDS INPUT: link to their recent piece]. Do not
proceed to draft line 1 from what you believe this reporter usually covers.
This is the highest-consequence rule in the skill. The failure mode is writing "Your piece on
X argued Y" to a journalist who wrote nothing of the kind. It is worse than sending nothing:
it proves the sender automated the email and did not read them, it is the exact thing
reporters screenshot publicly, and it burns the relationship and the brand in one send.
A pitch that goes out a day late having actually read the piece beats one that goes out today
having guessed.
Never infer a journalist's position, argument, or beat from their publication, their title, or
general knowledge. Read the specific piece, or leave the placeholder.
-
Identify the news peg. Holiday describes newsroom incentives, he does not license us to invent.
"Traffic over truth" and "narrative over facts" are Holiday's account of how media economics
pull coverage. They are a lens for predicting what gets picked up. They are not instructions
to bend the facts of our own story. Everything we assert must be true and sourced. If the
angle only works with a claim we cannot support, the angle is dead, not the sourcing standard.
Answer:
- What is happening in the world RIGHT NOW that this story connects to?
- What trend, event, or conversation is this story an instance of?
- If there is no genuine news peg, say so plainly and recommend waiting for one. "Create the
angle" means find the true framing that connects this to a live conversation. It never means
manufacture a trend, a claim, or an urgency that does not exist.
-
Apply the "lazy journalist" test. Map out the story:
- What is the narrative (not the facts)?
- What proof supports it (data, customer, expert)?
- How much work does the journalist need to do to publish?
- If the answer is more than 2-3 hours of reporting, simplify the angle or provide more of the work upfront.
-
Identify angle from THEIR perspective. Reframe:
- Why does THEIR audience care? (not "why is this exciting for us")
- What's the tension, controversy, or surprise?
Pitch tracker
Maintain output/pr-pitch/_tracker.md (create if not exists):
# PR pitch tracker
| Date sent | Recipient | Pub | Pitch | News peg | Status | Follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DD-MM-YYYY | <name> | <pub> | <slug> | <peg> | sent | day +4 |
Update this every time a pitch goes out.
Rules
- One pitch, one recipient. Never BCC. Never "Hi all."
- Specific reference to their work in line 1, or don't send.
- No news peg, no pitch. An undated story is a press release.
- Never overstate. If you say "exclusive," it must actually be exclusive.
- Never attach files in a cold pitch. Offer them.
- If the journalist doesn't reply, follow up at day 4 and day 9. After that, drop it.
- The lazy journalist test is non-negotiable. If the journalist has to construct the story from scratch, the pitch will be ignored.
- Never characterise, quote, or summarise a piece you have not actually read. If it was not
fetched, it does not go in the email.
- Never invent a statistic, a customer name, a quote, or a company milestone. Use
[NEEDS INPUT: ...] and send the pitch to the user to fill before it goes out.
- Never claim an embargo, an exclusive, or "first look" unless it is literally true for this
recipient.
What this skill cannot verify
State these in the output every time:
- Whether the recipient still covers this beat. Beats change and mastheads go stale
- Whether the piece you referenced is their most recent or their most relevant
- Whether a competitor has already pitched this angle to them this week
- Any figure marked
[NEEDS INPUT], which the user must supply and stand behind
Related skills
/press-release-writer for the formal release this pitch may accompany/case-study-writer for the underlying customer story that gives a pitch its proof/copy-review to tighten the pitch before it goes out/brand-context creates the positioning and voice files this reads- Keep the pitch tracker current. Tracking response rate is how this gets better over time.
