Asha Dore’s article in The Guardian. Screenshot captured Aug. 28, 2025
What does a successful pitch look like? In an increasingly crowded freelance market where pitches are routinely ghosted and budgets for contributing writers — if not entire staffs — are increasingly slashed, the answer can feel elusive.
Asha Dore. Photo by Gritchelle Fallegson
The truth is, there’s no single secret that guarantees your pitch will land. In my experience, getting a “yes” from an editor is often a mix of good timing, the right connection and, of course, a captivating idea you’re uniquely equipped to write.
Some of my winners have been just a few breezy sentences, others have been many paragraphs with multiple interviews. Some writers begin with their credentials, others launch right into their suggested headline. You might endure weeks of back and forth before a green light — or receive a contract the same day.
So in this new series, I’m asking fellow freelance journalists to share the exact pitch that yielded an assignment and to talk us through why they think it worked. We’ll go behind the scenes of a shiny byline to learn how and where it all began.
First, I talked to Asha Dore, a journalist and illustrator in Seattle, about the origins of “My daughter’s health was a mystery. The answer was on the other side of the world.” The first-person reported feature was published in the Guardian last month after Dore pitched it to an editor she’d met briefly during a virtual panel.
Here’s Asha’s pitch:
Dear [editor],
You were great in Sue’s class, and I hope you’ll consider my reported personal essay, “How Social Media Moms Discovered a Rare Genetic Disorder.”
My daughter was born with bent knees, bent elbows, and “rocker bottom feet,” but even after extensive genetic testing in the NICU of a respected Children’s hospital, nobody had answers. It took me two months searching the internet for pictures of babies like her to find an old medical atlas and subsequently connect with Shriners in Philadelphia — which hosted the only clinic in the country with evidence-based treatment for this Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (commonly called AMC) — an umbrella diagnosis for babies born with multiple joint contractures or bones that are stuck straight or stuck bent.
The parents, usually mothers, who sat in the waiting room from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. on clinic days became close, fast, and eventually started a social media group. Over five years, a few of us started to notice very specific symptoms in our kids. Eventually, me and three other moms connected with doctors and a geneticist and identified the rare genetic disorder that connects us all.
In this article, I’d tell the story of my own experience while featuring the two major players (and mothers) who pushed for genetic testing in Delaware and Dubai. I’ll talk to two doctors about how they use parent-collected data to help treat kids with this subtype of AMC. I’ll also connect with the geneticist who identified the gene and another researcher who leverages information from social media to identify rare disorders.
Every doctor and researcher I’ve spoken with has emphasized the value and power of the seemingly anecdotal data collection from parents. As we learn more about how our kids respond to treatment, we can help prevent unnecessary and problematic surgeries and increase awareness around rare disorders — and trust of parents’ knowledge and reports.
Thank you for considering this piece. I have recent clips in The Cut, The Today Show, and Slate
Warmly,
Asha Dore
www.ashadore.net
Where did this idea come from?
I’d wanted to write about my experience with my daughter — and what it taught me about medical crowdsourcing and research on rare and orphan conditions — for years. But the recent and pervasive cuts to medical research funding in the U.S. inspired me to focus on this story this year.
Why did you think the Guardian was the right home?
I like the reach and tone of health and wellness features at The Guardian. I also met the editor I pitched on a panel hosted by Susan Shapiro, which provided insight into the kind of pitches the editor was looking for and made me realize my story may be a good fit for the publication.
How long did it take you to develop the pitch and have it accepted?
Prior to sending it out, I workshopped the pitch with my colleagues who are journalists and writers. I had tried the New York Times features department, and the truly lovely editor there rejected the pitch because that section does not allow journalists to write personal/reported essays. After pitching to The Guardian, I followed up after two weeks. I exclusively pitch to one publication at a time.
Beyond the idea itself, why do you think the pitch was successful?
I try to imagine pitches for reported personal essays like mini articles, starting with a clear image and an overview of the “story” of the article. I try to end with experts I have connected with or plan to, with an emphasis on why the story is important. I think this pitch contains all those things. I did years of pre-reporting, in addition to my lived experience. I imagine that was also helpful.
What did you learn in the reporting or writing process that you hadn’t anticipated from the pitch alone?
The thing that surprised me the most was the information I got from one of my sources, a geneticist, about how many common (often life-threatening) conditions are easy to treat now almost entirely due to rare disease research.
The world of genetics and rare disease research is so vast and important for everyday conditions as well as our most vulnerable populations. The recent cuts to this research are really terrible, especially for people with neurological disorders and childhood cancer, as many hopeful clinical trials have disappeared in the last six months.
What other pitching advice do you have for fellow freelance journalists?
I often think that freelancing in journalism is like auditioning for actors, and the most challenging part is when editors don’t respond. It’s hard to “trust the process” during those quiet periods. But the great thing is, we are in charge of our own professionalism and what that process looks like for us. I’ve worked as an editor, so I know rejection isn’t personal. It’s an opportunity to make a potential connection with a different editor or venue.