Like The Porch’s signature Draft Chat, Pitch Chat is an opportunity to get in-real-time feedback about your pitch letters and queries to editors. Bring your letters—in the format you intend to send them—and we’ll provide professional advice on how to polish them to help sell your nonfiction articles. We’ll look at query structure and content, news hooks, and how you are positioning yourself. Don’t know which magazines or news outlets to pitch? We can help narrow down your prospective audience, too. Be ready to contribute: Your active participation and constructive criticism skills are essential for making Pitch Chat pay off.
Curiosity, journalism skills and luck have allowed Margaret to explore eclectic topics over her writing and editing career, ranging from how chefs can address gentrification to where to find the best doughnut. She’s both an old-timer and a (relative) newcomer to Nashville, having moved back to her college town 15 years ago. She’s the author of a number of travel guidebooks to the region, including Moon Nashville, Moon Memphis, Moon Tennessee, and Moon Nashville to New Orleans Road Trip, which includes the historic Natchez Trace Parkway. She writes for Punch, Nashville Scene, Nashville Lifestyles magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Preservation, Rolling Stone Country, Wine Enthusiast, and many other publications. She particularly likes writing travel stories about easily accessible domestic destinations. When not traveling or writing, Margaret is an avid paddleboarder, co-owns Nashville Paddle Company, and recently completed paddleboarding in all 50 states.
Margaret is so knowledgeable and generous with her expertise. I'm so glad I took her class.
I loved Margaret’s class! She knows so much about travel writing and the freelance business - her expertise was extremely valuable. I feel that I took away a lot of great tips and inspiration to apply to my own career. I appreciate her openness and anecdotes, and her feedback about our pitches was so helpful!
