Get in The Groove: Pitch us!
Hey there potential contributor! Right there in that brain of yours we bet you have a great story to tell our readers, and we want to hear all about it. Part of our mission here at The Groove is to help bring new and exciting voices into the slipstream of city discourse, and that could be you.
We work with all kinds of writers, from people who’ve appeared in The New York Times to people who have never written a blog post before in their lives. We can help coach your writing, but what we can never replace is your unique perspective and your view of the city.
What makes a good Groove story?
New York Groove stories are helpful and fun. That covers a lot of things but the spectrum of “helpful and fun” is our driving ethos. We run stories that help people understand, navigate, enjoy, change, grow, strengthen or demystify this city, and stories that make people feel like they have the power to affect change and improve lives. Don’t just tell us about a problem, show us the people who are doing something about it, and the ways readers can get involved if they want to help too. We’re patriots of New York City and are here to defend it. We favor optimism about its future over pessimism about its present.
For example, our best stories report on things people need to know immediately, explain simmering tensions, show how New Yorkers can jump on a popular trend, describe where to find good eats (and where to get good eats in a place you weren’t expecting), explore how to travel around easier, lay out how to join a new community, break news that affects people’s lives in some way, show you how to help in small ways for major crises and tell how to save a life. We love burgeoning labor movements and anything that shows people trying to make the city a little more liveable.
If you’ve got a smart way to answer a big question, if you’ve got a story on an overlooked or underappreciated slice of city life or if you’ve got a guide for people to get more involved around here, email us and let’s get into it!
What makes a successful New York Groove pitch?
Ideally, your pitch should include:
- The topic or issue you want to cover, why it’s timely now and why you’re the person to cover it.
- Why this is helpful and relevant to Groove readers (and to New Yorkers at large).
- Who would you like to interview? What data would you like to dig up? What questions do you want answered?
Here are some pitches that became a story:
I had an idea for a future NY Groove piece. I'd like to write about the best places to go thrifting within the New York City area for furniture, linens, and housewares.
I'd want to focus more on the affordable side of longtime antique shops and furniture stores in the outerboroughs in than the over-curated, twee boutiques in wealthy neighborhoods. I'd also have some context about the importance of shopping sustainably at a time when even $3,000 designer couches are falling apart after six months of use.
Could be a good fit for early spring but not sure how far out you plan your issues. Lmk
what you think!
That pitch got turned into this story.
Here’s another:
I have a piece about subway bathrooms, public bathrooms more generally, and disabled activists who would prefer wheelchair-accessible restrooms but want, for the love of goodness, any bathrooms open to stop their hard-won elevators from becoming up-and-down toilets.
It would include information on finding public bathrooms, city bills to quadruple the number available, and some archival digging I did that showed the subway had over 1,600 bathrooms that survived the 1930s anti-homosexual-trist scrutiny.
We went back and forth on this a few times for more details, like this:
Could you talk more about what the specific focus of the story could be? because we wouldn't want it to be too broad on this topic: The angle of the disabled activists who want bathrooms not for their own use but to stop smelling piss in the elevator all the time is really interesting. The issue of MTA bathrooms in general is a little broad, and has been covered a lot — and the MTA is actually reopening a lot of bathrooms in the system. But bathroom justice is an issue people have really cared about lately. So if this could be about bringing another voice into that conversation, let us know the specifics in another paragraph or so.
Response:
I interviewed a few disabled activists about this and attended a hearing where they protested for the completion of elevator promises. They lay out the point clearly - they don't want to wheel through feces and then wheel through their homes. One said "If you can't trust an elevator to be clean, it may as well be dirty." This is on the heels of their lawsuits for the elevators themselves.
That turned into this story.
And one more:
One thing I'm thinking could be "groove-like" for the season would be chatting with a handful of NYC ghost tour guides.
I wouldn't say they'd be reviews of the tours—since they all cost like $50+ a piece or so during this time of year—but more about what the guides feel the city, or specific neighborhood they're doing them in, adds to the atmosphere needed to conduct a good spooky walking tour. What's the most annoying part? What's their favorite ghost story? How do they keep the script from getting stale? That kind of thing. Any other questions you have too.
That became this story.
Ok, how do I pitch?
Email us! Tips@nygroove.nyc with “pitch” somewhere in the subject line. We respond to every pitch but do get busy, so if you haven’t heard a response from us in a few days, feel free to send a reminder.
Your pitch should have a clear story structure and goal in mind, with some evidence to back up why the story needs to be done, what sources/info it can include and what action items we can leave readers with. You do not need to do a ton of pre-reporting just to pitch us, but you should have a firm idea of where the story will go.
How do we work with freelance pitches?
We’re still a small operation so we’re being transparent about our processes. We have budgeted room for about two freelance stories a month, though we are flexible with that when needed. We set deadlines well in advance of publication so we have time to work with you on copy and edits. Usually, one of the three of us on the editorial team (Tim, Dave and Virginia) will respond and take a first edit and be your point person. We wrap up all edits each week by Wednesday evening before we send our newsletter Thursday mornings. Our standard rate is $250, but that can change depending on the story.
We accept other forms of content pitches too: video storytelling, photography, ideas for events. If you've got a good idea that could help make someone a better New Yorker, reach out and let's Groove!