Pitch clinic week 8

I am reviewing pitches sent by freelancers. As a reminder, if you want to send one my way to get feedback, please email jessica dot reed at theguardian dot com with the subject PITCH CLINIC. Or write it here on Medium and tag it #PITCHCLINIC. Your submission will remain anonymous.

Pitch #8

Hi,

[Your Colleague] suggested that I send you this pitch for the [redacted] section.

Only 3 percent of all books published in the U.S. and U.K. are translations, possibly depriving us of the world’s best literature.

For the first time in its history, the Man Booker International Prize will be awarded to a single work of fiction translated to English. Will this new prize spur publishers to publish more translations?

I will interview reps for the Man Booker Prize, publishers committed to publishing translations (such as Open Letter, Europa Editions and Dalkey Archive) and independent booksellers about whether the prize can move us beyond 3 percent.

Timing for the piece can coincide with the Man Booker International Prize winner announcement on May 16 (the shortlist for the prize was announced on April 14).

If this sounds like a good fit for [your section], I would love to write it. I’ve written for national, regional and local publications for the past 10 years including Poynter.org and Quill (the magazine of the Society for Professional Journalists). You can read clips on my website (REDACTED) and recent posts about books on my blog (REDACTED).

Thank you.

PITCH GRADE: B-

What I liked about this pitch: I didn’t know the Man Booker was a translation.

What I didn’t like about this pitch: First off — I would pass on this because it would be an arts&culture piece, not a feature for me.

Aside from that — it’s hard to formulate this without sounding like an ignoramus uninterested in high culture, but the subject is just too dry, and too niche. It’s hard enough to make people care about high arts in general (traffic numbers tend to say people would rather read about pop culture), if you want to write about translation AND the publishing industry, by god, you better make it sexy.

As it is, I’m just not sure I could make my readers care enough to read an entire feature about it. Perhaps if the piece could explain what exactly happens when a country is being deprived of international literature… And even then, I’m not sure.

If I am brutally honest, while I will (and do) sometimes commission pieces won’t get a lot of traffic (just because I think they’re good), I don’t feel this one is captivating enough for a global, non-literature crazy audience. It’s too niche.

Would I publish: No. But you know what? Perhaps our books section would. Or specialists sites (Lithub, which is awesome?)might as well.