Pitch to Us

The World of Chinese is constantly looking for new writers who have great ideas, a compelling voice, and a love for human-centered storytelling about China. You don’t need to have a journalism degree or been previously published to pitch to us, but you should have fresh ideas, good writing skills in English, and a willingness to work together with our editors to shape your pitch into a full-fledged story.

Pitches not addressed to a specific editor can be emailed to editor@theworldofchinese.com

What is a pitch?

A pitch is not a story that has already been written, nor is it just a brainstorm, but somewhere in between: It’s your chance to convince our editors that you have an idea for a story that will be of value to our readers, and that you’re the right person to write it.

I have a pitch. Now what?

Great! Email editor@theworldofchinese.com or any of our editors individually.

Tips for a Great Pitch

• Address these questions: What is the story about? Why should our readers care about it? How might you go about reporting or researching it? If you have any special qualifications that make you well-suited to this story, such as a previous publication on this topic or access to a particular source, please mention those as well.

• Keep it concise. If you can’t answer the above questions in 150 words or less, it could be that your pitch is still too broad.

• Before you pitch, take a look at the existing content on our website, and search some key words from your story idea to see what we’ve previously published on the topic. Be prepared to explain what fresh angle or unique take you can bring to a topic, if we or other platforms have covered it before.

• Pitch answers not questions. For example, do not pitch “What are Gen Z migrant workers doing today?” Instead, go talk to some people or do some reading first, so you can include some answers in your pitch, like, “Gen Z migrant workers prefer gig-based jobs over factory work, and here are some implications for China’s job-hunting culture.”

• Make sure to find a “conflict” to build your story around. A conflict isn’t always a dramatic confrontation, but can be broadly defined as anything that’s unusual, contrary to expectations, or inspires multiple perspectives or debates.

• Don’t make your pitch too big or too small. You’ll usually have to be able to tell your story in 1,500 words or less, and you probably won’t be able to devote months to researching it. At the same time, a simple description of happenings, or a pitch entirely based on your own experiences or those of your friends, won’t be enough to fill a 1,500-word story, so you’ll have to connect your ideas to the bigger picture

• Avoid generalizations or “East versus West” cliches. China is a diverse place, and our readers hail from all over the world, including China itself, so they all have different perspectives on the culture here.

• Don’t be discouraged if your pitch comes back to you with requests for revision, or if it’s something we’ve already written about before. If our editors are interested in your pitch, they might ask questions that are meant to help you refine your ideas and make them fresh.