Marcus Wratten, Pink News
- Entertainment reporter: has been in role for a year and a bit. Before that freelancing at different
places, I news, pink news, etc. - Covering all elements of entertainment – news, features and interviews.
- How we cover books?
Very small team covering a broad spectrum of the entertainment world. Book
coverage is limited. Books are my favourite part of entertainment, keen to cover as much as I can.
Books can be hard to cut through with our audiences. So we are particular with how we cover and
what we cover. - What is Pink News looking for?
Majority of book coverage comes in roundups and listicles and
occasional interviews. Roundups are less about the story and more about how we anchor the book
to world and things happening, eg. Pride in June or February LGBTQ+ history month
Eg. Like books with an interesting backstory, tells our readers something new about LBGTQ+ history
Eg. On international women's day, we did a roundup of hotly anticipated books by queer women.
Look at the calendar to see relevant ‘days’ which can fit book coverage. Eg. first trans history week in
May, asexual awareness week, etc.
Aside from awareness days, holiday dates are also good. Did Halloween interview with queer crime
thriller, tied to Halloween, which worked well.
Autumn did 11 books to spark queer joy to get you through cold months. - Interviews
I love speaking to authors and want to do more. Our audience like positive stories.
Coming out story or parenting / families, especially trans community. Anything joyful to tie to trans
does really well. Eg. Last year we did a memoir about a trans woman who transitioned as a senior
lawyer. Something to empower and brighten someone’s day!
Super interested to speak to authors who have interesting backstory, fiction or non-fiction. Their
own coming out journey or own experiences surviving adversity – these stories can make a good
interview.
There could be something else we can tie book to, eg a tv show or a cult fandom or gone viral on a
subsection of the internet could interest us. - Exclusive extracts
We’ve done a few in the last year. Recently, a memoir about all queer
entertainment and media that had inspired the author to thrive. Extracts are a great timesaving way
to get news out there. - Pink does not do reviews
Too many books! Small team, lots of books!
Hard academic books or too commercial aren’t for me.
I’m available on email. A month ahead of book release is a good time. I’m spending most of day
reporting so can be slow on emails. Try and tie your pitch to something happening in the world. - Review copies
If it’s for a listicle or roundup PDF is wonderful. Hard copies for an interview (on request). - YA/Childrens
We would cover. It depends on the angle. If it’s tied to parenting or if it’s got a super empowering message we’d be more inclined to cover. Please do send pitches. - We don’t do social giveaways
However it might be of interest, can pass on to socials team. - International
A sizable portion of readers are US based so we do work on a US timeline. - Second format
Do fewer reviews in second format. But can do interviews after publication if it works for the time.
Katie Grant and Olivia Scott, producers on Homo Sapiens Podcast
(included slides)
- UKs largest LGBTQ+ podcast. Going since 2017.
- Format wise – an interview. Comes out once a week every Thursday.
- Our mantra is we talk about the world from LGBTQ+ perspective. Interview format.
- Can be a big guest – trailblazer icon – or talk about what is topical in the community that week. Comparison is Woman’s Hour, topical and big guests
Eg. January covered health and fitness, Andrew Scott, body confidence, Dry January, sex and
relationships dilemmas with Cody Rigsby, Jack Rooke - We would like any material relevant to LGBTQ+ non-fiction or novels
- Have bonus episode once a month called ‘Culture Club’ – good for books. Shorter 20 min episode.
- We cover latest books and music, tv trends. Eg. James Greenwood, Otamere Guobadia.
- Have authors on main episodes as well, eg. Harris Reed (Fluid). Depends on book and author
- Record on zoom and in studio. We prefer to do more in-person. Studio in Southwark. Records take
an hour or so. - We record/film chat and clip the best bits to put on socials. Building our tiktok which is doing well.
Looking to build social following more. - We can put links to books in episode description, good plug opportunity
- Other opportunities – we can do branded episodes if you have marketing budget. Worked with
audible on their branded books. Worked with Alex Bertie, youtuber, created an authentic episode on
the book which is representative to the community. Working with the brief from the publishers. - We also like to tie episodes into topical events happening with the community, coming out day,
trans day visibility, pride. Important when you’re pitching to tie things and themes which are
important to the community – eg. Parenting, intersectionality between clothing and queerness. - Think about angles and stories which would make publication relevant to every day lives.
- Lead times – as much lead time as possible. We like to tailor our schedule to what is coming up. If
there is a shorter lead time we can make it work. - Try and pre-plan schedule. Currently working on Feb/March and planning until April.
- Shorter turnaround can work if we have space.
- Email pitches to Olivia (Katie is leaving)
- Could include clips from audiobooks.
- YA/Childrens
we’ve covered Heartstopper and Ollie Pike (who writes LBGTQ+ children’s books) for a wider conversation about how to change access to books in schools and create a more inclusive environment for children - International
Have strong listenership in US, Canada, Australia. Lots of American talent. Have worked with US publicists as well. - Second format
Flexible on covering second format, for big campaigns can revisit opportunities
Roxy Bourdillon, DIVA Magazine
(she/Her) writer and journalist. Editor-in-chief.
- Going since 1994! World’s leading title for LGBTQIA women and non-binary people.
2024 is our 30 th birthday! Shouting about a lot. - First launched we put lesbians centre stage and now we have become a voice for the whole
community. Super intersectional and trans inclusive. - Run everything from celeb interviews to urgent investigations on issues concerning our community
- Personal essays about identity, sex and relationships
- Lots of books coverage.
- Big celebs and activists and influencers
- How we cover books in print
Book reviews in every issue of magazine. Three main reviews and box
out with a listicle on a specific theme. Kinds of books – like a mix of genres, queer fiction and non-
fiction, essays, humour, memoir, some young adult, poetry. Sometimes feature children’s books –
more likely to be featured in context of the author writing a piece or part of a larger feature on
inclusive resources for your kids.
Our readership
Varied ages of readers. 12/13 to readers in their 80s. broad cross-section.
Roxy writes most of book content and is best contact for print. - For editorials on books in printed magazine – run extracts (works as standalone feature), interviews
with authors (eg. Samantha Shannon), or features written by an author (eg. ‘is it time to reclaim the
greedy bisexual’ linked to themes in her novel) Also run short opinion pieces from authors as well
(eg. Lizzie Huxley-Jones) – funny/thoughtful first person pieces. - Cover stories tied to books – with an author with a big profile. Celeb memoir. Eg. Lucy Spraggan.
- Online
Lots of traffic on the website.
Dedicated book section under culture tab.
Articles on website include listicles and roundups of new books, opinion pieces by authors.
Book news if relevant to our readers, eg. Rebel Wilson releasing her memoir
Features inspired by books we love, eg. Who to play Evelyn Hugo in adaption? - Rosy as editor interested in covering
for or about or by queer women or non-binary, big standalone
features, funny or opinionated or passionate author, powerful non-fiction works well for editorial
features
Contact Roxy for pitches in print - If you pitch to me
Make my job as easy as possible. Explain why perfect for our audience. Timely
hook. Is author open to being interviewed or writing a piece, include pitches for this. Or an extract
which would include a standalone piece. - I like to receive info – a catalogue of releases but pick out what will appeal to our readers
- Like PDF proofs and hard copies when I’ve requested them
- Online contact dept editor Nic
- Lead times
For print we work 3-4 months in advance, so wiggle room within that.
Online we can be more flexible, can get something up in a few weeks
We are an indie magazine, we’re a small team with podcasts, print, online, events. Only a few people
on the team. Need less time consuming ways for team to feature more books. - Have done giveaways on social, on occasion. Signed book giveaways. Tied into editorial in magazine
giveaways work best. - International
We’re based in UK but read internationally. Have lots of readers in English speaking places, America,
Canada and Australia. And within Europe. Definitely do international coverage and feature lot of
American celebs - Second format
Yes can cover books in second format – more likely to cover opinion piece or extract