Hey everyone! Waypoint is currently accepting freelance pitches, and we often get questions tweeted/DM’d to us asking for tips & tricks on pitching us stories. @austin_walker has updated our About page with just that! Click here for general Waypoint info and pitch tips! I’ve also pasted the tips below!
What We’re Looking For
- Reported articles on interesting communities, emerging scenes, and under-covered trends.
- Timely, thoughtful and well informed takes. We’re not interested in running op-eds that relitigate old arguments.
- Personal essays on the effect a specific game has had on your life.
- Focused retrospectives on a game or trend that has new relevance.
- Immersive, voice-y first person reporting from live events.
- Crossover esports coverage centered on the human stories behind the competition, or that can energetically explain recent esports events to a wider audience without alienating insiders.
- Exciting and intriguing profiles on game developers, communities, professional players, etc.
What We’re Not Looking For
- Traditional reviews, previews, technical breakdowns, or news stories
- Column ideas.
- Encyclopedic retrospectives without a central argument.
- Speculative reporting and op-eds that have no basis in hands-on experience or reporting.
- Articles we’ve read elsewhere: Always check to make sure you aren’t pitching an article that has already been written. It happens more often than you might think.
- General offers to write: We want developed pitches, not just offers to write for us.
Some Additional Helpful Tips
Waypoint is informed writing for a wide audience. Good pitches will refrain from being too niche without dumbing down the content for mass appeal.
Be realistic: If you aren’t confident in your ability to secure an interview, don’t pitch a profile. If you can’t meet the required deadline, don’t say that you can.
How to Pitch to Waypoint
Email a developed pitch to Waypoint@VICE.com, explaining your story’s core idea, format, length, and expected turnaround time. Link relevant writing samples, include a potential headline and dek, and indicate whether or not you have secured any interviews you intend to pursue for the piece. Please note: Waypoint receives an overwhelming number of pitches every week. Unfortunately, that means that we cannot reply to every pitch that we receive.
Thanks everyone!
