Better pitches, better bylines.

Welcome to The Pitching Hour.  

The Pitching Hour is a weekly live alchemical workshop where a coven of creatives gather to master pitching, publishing, and the practical aspects of freelance life. 

Participants get feedback from peers and from me, time to practice specific skills like crafting ledes and nut grafs, and more. 

Sign me up!

What’s the magic behind The Pitching Hour?

Genres are like spells: they have specific ingredients. Just like a witch wouldn’t want any eye of newt for that love potion, nor does a person who pitches want a weak nut graf for the story idea they’re sending to The New York Times.

Increasingly, editors want to see the fundamental parts of an article or essay in the pitch. Hed. Dek. Lede. Nut graf. Pull quote.

In The Pitching Hour, we break down the pitch into its component parts and parse out the secrets to crafting them.

Plus, the more you master the conventions, the more you can play around with them—and sometimes even break them.

And when you add in a community of fellow spell crafters? That’s when it gets FUN. 

What happens in The Pitching Hour?

Here’s a sample of what you’ll gain when you sign up:

  • A deep, grimoire-like knowledge of the key aspects of a pitch

  • Practice crafting those components and feedback from peers and myself

  • Familiarity with multiple pitching genres, including a letter of introduction and query letters

  • A supportive, fun community

Want more? Sign up for the higher tiers and receive:

  • Access to a weekly co-working session that starts with a 2-minute focus to make the most of your session

  • A monthly coaching session with me

THE PITCHING HOUR

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THE PITCHING HOUR *

Ready to make some magic together?

sign me up

Which pitching hour is right for you?

Choose from three tiers that offer different levels of support.

The Pitching Hour — Apprentice The Pitching Hour — Apprentice
The Pitching Hour — Apprentice
$50.00 every month

Craft better pitches to land your dream bylines in this weekly live session.

The Pitching Hour — Spell Caster The Pitching Hour — Spell Caster
The Pitching Hour — Spell Caster
$75.00 every month

Craft better pitches to land your dream bylines in weekly live sessions and join fellow Pitching Hour spell casters every week for a group co-working session.

The Pitching Hour — Sorcerer The Pitching Hour — Sorcerer
Sale
The Pitching Hour — Sorcerer
$110.00 every month $150.00 every month

Craft better pitches to land your dream bylines in weekly live sessions, join fellow Pitching Hour spell casters every week for a group co-working session, and get one-on-one individualized coaching once a month.

 

Hi, I’m Sara.

I’m a former academic turned independent journalist, editor, and storyteller.

I’ve written on everything from personal finance to K-pop, hurricane recovery to pet custody.

I also run The Pitching Hour, a weekly community for writers who want more and better bylines.

Learn more about me
Writer-and-Editor-Sara-Murphy-PhD-About-2.png
 

  • "Sara took in a lot of info on an unknown topic quickly, and wrote an elegant article that we did not change at all. [She] took time to understand our publication so we didn’t have to rewrite for style. Plus all the basics like grammar and punctuation were great, and [she is a] super nice person!”

    —Teresa

    HEALING VOICES MAGAZINE

  • “Sara is an excellent writer who pays close attention to details and technical requirements for professional writing assignments. Her impeccable work is always submitted on time and I never need to edit or revise anything she completes independently. Her research skills made her a valuable asset to our team this year and we look forward to working with her on future projects.”

    —Kimberly Frith, Owner

    ALTO SUSTAINABILITY

  • “Sara has been a great help for my teaching statement and diversity statement. She listened to what I needed and were able to make it better than I expected! I would without doubt recommend her to anyone who needs statements for faculty positions or industry jobs!!!”

    —Runjing Lu, PhD Candidate in Economics

    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The Pitching Hour is every Wednesday at Noon PT/ 3pm ET/ 8pm GMT for 60 minutes.

    If you can't make it live, some sessions will be recorded, so you can follow along at the time that works for you.

    Those in the Spell Caster and Sorcerer tiers also have access to weekly co-working sessions on Fridays at 8am PT/ 11am ET/ 4pm GMT.

  • Absolutely. The Pitching Hour teaches you the fundamentals of writing successful pitches. This program is perfect for people just getting into freelance publication, including: journalists no longer on staff, creatives eager to publish, and more.

  • Absolutely! Pitching is hard, and it’s much more fun to learn how to sharpen our skills together in community.