The quality of the pitches you receive is almost entirely determined by the quality of the request you write. A vague or poorly structured request will attract a high volume of off-target responses that waste your time. A clear, specific, well-written request will attract a smaller and far more useful pool of qualified sources.
This article covers the principles behind writing requests that work, applied to the two fields that matter most: the query description and the requirements.
Start with Specificity #
The most common mistake in journalist source requests is being too broad. “Seeking marketing experts” could apply to millions of people. “Seeking heads of performance marketing at e-commerce brands with more than 50 employees who have navigated iOS 14 attribution challenges firsthand” narrows the field to the people who can actually help you.
Specificity serves two purposes. It filters out sources who are not a good fit before they waste time submitting a pitch. And it signals to well-qualified sources that you know what you are looking for, which makes them more likely to take your request seriously and invest time in a strong response.
Writing Your Query Description #
The query description is your opportunity to give sources enough context to understand your story and decide whether they are a genuine fit. It does not need to be long, but it does need to be clear.
Explain the story you are working on. Sources respond better when they understand the context. You do not need to reveal every angle, but a sentence or two about the piece you are writing and what it is trying to accomplish gives sources a way to tailor their response to what you actually need.
State exactly what you are looking for. Are you looking for a firsthand account? A contrarian perspective? Data or statistics? A specific type of experience? Be direct about what kind of contribution will be most useful. If you want a quote, say so. If you want someone to go on record with a specific claim, make that clear.
Give sources a sense of how their contribution will be used. Will they be quoted directly? Will their experience be described in narrative form? Will they receive a byline or a link? This helps sources decide whether the format suits them and sets accurate expectations before they invest time in a response.
Keep it readable. A wall of text discourages engagement. Use short paragraphs and plain language. If your description is running long, ask yourself whether every sentence is earning its place.
Writing Your Requirements #
The requirements field is where you filter. Use it to define who is and is not qualified to respond, as specifically as you reasonably can.
Good requirements are:
- Role-specific. “C-suite executives” or “founders who have raised a Series A” is more useful than “business leaders.”
- Experience-specific. “Must have direct experience managing a team through a company acquisition” filters for firsthand knowledge rather than secondhand opinion.
- Outcome-specific where relevant. If you need someone who has achieved a particular result, say so. “Companies that have grown email lists to 100,000 subscribers or more” is a concrete, verifiable criterion.
Avoid requirements that are so restrictive that they eliminate everyone, or so vague that they eliminate no one. The goal is to make it easy for qualified sources to self-select in and easy for unqualified sources to self-select out, without you having to read through dozens of pitches to figure out who actually fits.
The Anonymous Option #
If you check the Anonymous Opportunity box, your name and publication will not be visible on the public listing of your request. This is worth considering when:
- You are working on a sensitive or competitive story and do not want to signal your angle publicly
- Your publication prefers not to have its sourcing activity visible to competitors
- You are gauging interest in a topic before committing to a full piece
Keep in mind that anonymity can slightly reduce response volume, since some sources prefer to know who they are pitching before investing time in a response. If your topic is strong and your query is well-written, this effect is usually minimal.
A Note on Deadlines #
Your deadline communicates urgency and helps sources prioritize. Set it as accurately as you can. A deadline that is significantly earlier than your actual editorial deadline creates unnecessary pressure and may cause good sources to pass because they do not have time to respond thoughtfully. A deadline that is much later than necessary reduces the sense of urgency that motivates timely, high-quality responses.
As a general guide, giving sources between two and five business days tends to produce the best balance of response volume and response quality for most types of requests.