About us

Pitchwhiz is a site for journalists and other editorial professionals looking to either sell or buy stories, photography, or other editorial products and skills. It was conceived and created by James Durston, a journalist of 20 years with experience as both a freelance writer and commissioning editor.

Having spent several years as a professional writer and editor at Euromoney, Crier Media and William-Reed, James left the UK to move to India, where he got his first taste of life as a freelancer. That led to his first freelance travel commissions, which helped him land a job as an editor at CNN Travel in Hong Kong, where he commissioned dozens of stories each month.

After setting up a blog to help other freelance travel writers pitch effectively, James noticed a gap for a product that connected freelance writers in need of work with editors, publications and organisations that needed content. A few years later Pitchwhiz was born.

Pitchwhiz now has nearly 10,000 freelancers and editors in its database, and is growing every day. Every week dozens of story requests are posted or made available through the site for freelancers to respond to. Every week dozens of story ideas are offered by freelancers for editors to browse and buy.

“I wanted to create a platform where there was a sense of community, and more importantly a sense of real value,” says James.

“Everything we do at Pitchwhiz is designed to be really, genuinely useful and valuable to our members, which means real jobs, with proper fees, and features that I know through my own experience are what freelancers and editors need to do their jobs well. If people don’t find us useful, then we’ve failed. But so far we’re succeeding.”

Pitchwhiz is free to use.