Pitch Your Story
1. Keep Your Outline Concise
Your proposed outline should be around 200-300 words. Make sure to include a description of your article’s argument, details to bring the subject to life (such as a title, subtitles, links, sketches, etc.), and why it’s an important topic for our region.
2. Tell Us Who Is Your Target Audience
Dive into who your piece is targeted to and what they will take away from reading it.
For example, the piece helps advocate or speak on issues concerning the local LGBTQIA+ or migrant communities.
3. Share With Us Why You Are the Best Person to Write this Piece:
Tell us who you are. Are you a student at STC or UTRGV studying your specific topic? An activist from a local organization? Or just someone who has an important story to tell? Include links to 2-3 writing samples and details of your expertise (any published or unpublished works, such as school essays, are accepted).
Note: If you do not have any writing samples, do not worry. You don’t need to have any writing experience to write a piece. Instead, tell us why you are passionate about writing your article.
4. Submit Your Pitch:
Finalize your pitch outline – it can be written or an audio recording of your voice. Send materials via email to pitches@truchargv.com with the subject line PITCH_YOUR NAME.
We accept pitches from people who live or grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and the Northern Mexican side of the border region, including: Reynosa, Matamoros, etc. No prior writing experience is needed to pitch!
Immigration, reproductive justice, LGBTQ issues, climate justice, regional arts and culture, racial justice, and more. Take a look at our most recent articles.
We pay our writers at a specific rate per word according to the type of format that they submit to us:
Longform Feature Article — An in-depth investigative piece or a well-researched essay digging into a subject. Up to 1,500 words max at a rate of $0.50 per word.
Op-Ed — Do you have a strong opinion on a social issue and the research to back it up? Up to 800 words max at a rate of $0.30 per word.
News Blurbs — Short pieces describing a current event, such as a demonstration or protest, quick and high impact. Up to 300 words at a rate of $0.30 per word.
Art — Including digital art, comics, and visual art; we’re open to whatever is thrown at us. The base pay is currently being finalized based on funding, but we are open to negotiating a rate with you.
We do not accept any articles or writing aimed to market or sell products. We do not hire people to write press releases, listicles, or product reviews. Any pitches sent to us on behalf of a company or nameless member of your team will be rejected.
We publish stories for our community (Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, and Cameron County), which include: the working class, artists, dreamers, organizers, family, and neighbors. Our untold stories of the RGV should be shared with the world.
Once your outline gets the green light, we ask that:
Creating great content is a two-way process. Trucha will be sure to:
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