Hasta La Ideas

Fortune.com Reach: 55M

Fortune Magazine Subscribers: 676K+

Background: Fortune has been in circulation since 1930 and has a long tradition of covering the world of business—from in-depth profiles of business leaders to the popular Fortune 500 list of the world’s top performing companies. “[Industrial life] was clearly a force changing American life at the time when we were founded,” says Andrew Nusca, digital editor. “We don’t exist to glorify executives and businesses independently… we’re quite critical with our journalism. But we do believe that business can be a force for good.

Fortune’s target readership includes everyone from recent graduates who are just starting their careers to C-suite executives; and Fortune sets itself apart from other business media by focusing on power—specifically, “who’s got it, who’s lost it, who wants it,” says Nusca.

What to pitch: Fortune has a healthy number of staff writers, but they like to augment their coverage with new freelance voices. Most of Fortune’s freelancers have been writing for the publication for years, but newbies can get their feet in the door by pitching to the following sections:

The Briefing section is a collection of short business-related news items. Word count: 20-100.

The Focus section is comprised of four sub sections: Tech, Invest, Venture and Passions.

Tech articles must have a tech angle, but stories need not be about so-called tech companies. Editors see technology as the future of every industry, so they’re interested in running stories about people, companies, and trends in a mix of industries: retail, energy, transportation, business services, etc…

All Invest stories must have an investment angle. Editors run traditional investing stories (where to put your money), as well as articles about trends (e.g. changes in corporate reporting rules and the recent effects of the economy on second homes).

Venture is the place to pitch articles about entrepreneurship, and Passions is all about the finer things in life (e.g. fine wines, fast cars, beautiful hotels). The pitch angles can vary from reported pieces and profiles to Q&A stories and trend pieces. Word count: 450-1200 ea.

Freelancers can pitch to the Feature well, but editors have one major rule: “It must be a good yarn,” says Nusca. “We want great stories.” He notes that Fortune’s bread and butter is the corporation as an entity. Extraordinary startups are valid feature subjects from time to time, but stories tend to go big when the companies are big, too—if not the industry as a whole. Features are dedicated to the most important people, companies, and industry trends of our time, says Nusca, so they need to have a big impact.

Word count: 3,000-4,000.

What not to pitch: The Last Bite section is covered in house.

Online opportunities:  Fortune.com covers a variety of topics, including design, energy, autos, entertainment, finance, health, leadership, luxury and tech.

Word count: 450-1200.

What publicists should pitch, and when: Editors look to publicists to provide access to authors, celebrities, etc… who are relevant to the Fortune audience. There’s no need to pitch story ideas. Lead time is 2 months (print); 2 weeks (online)

Percentage of freelance content published: Print: 30-40%; Online: 70%

Percentage of freelance pitches accepted: 25%

Recent freelance stories pitched and published: How to Get a Job in the Cannabis Industry capitalized on spiking interest in the topic and was pitched by a long-time contributing writer who specializes in workplace issues. And Streaming Could Change the Video Game Business Forever was pitched by a writer who is well sourced in the video game industry. He noticed a shifting industry business model and pitched this trend story, which helped our readers stay abreast of change, says Nusca.

“Power to the Peeps—From Humble Easter Treat to Big Peep” is a good example of seemingly lighter annual holiday content, which nonetheless highlights the big business involved in the viral emergence of Peeps as a heavyweight brand.

Etiquette: When crafting your pitch, please make sure you have a clear sense of why the pitch is important for Fortune, and why the editors should run the story now. And please remember that editors are interested in receiving pitches about stories not topics.

Nusca prefers that potential freelancers first reach out to inquire about his current editorial needs. Since the majority of freelance writing does not come from cold pitching, he believes that “it’s better to get on the same page about what you can do and how we can work you into our needs.”

Fortune doesn’t have a separate editorial staff for print and online, so they do not have section editors. Therefore, when you pitch, please make sure you reach out to the editors that cover that specific topic.

Lead time: 2 months (print); 2 weeks (online)

Pay rate: Print rate is generally $2/word, but it varies by editor and section. Online is generally .50-$1/word.
Payment schedule: 30 days once invoice is received
Kill fee: 25% but can vary
Rights purchased: All rights

Contact info:
Fortune
225 Liberty St.
New York, NY 10080
Fortune.com

Twitter: @FortuneMagazine

Facebook: facebook.com/FortuneMagazine

Email:
FirstName.LastName@Fortune.com

Direct pitches to:

• Please send pitches for lists to Scott DeCarlo.
• Please send pitches for features to Verne Kopytoff, Steve Mollman, and Indrani Sen.