How to Pitch Stories to Eater Detroit #DetroitFood

Eater Detroit is a restaurant and travel site that provides diners with insight into where they should be eating in the Detroit metro area and greater Michigan. It is part of the Eater network and under the Vox Media umbrella.

What We’re Looking For

At Eater Detroit, we’re mainly focused on publishing travel-related pieces and local guides and maps. We’re always looking for insightful pitches from local reporters with strong taste-making abilities on a range of topics related to dining out in metro Detroit and occasionally other metro areas such as Ann Arbor, Traverse City, or Grand Rapids. We are especially interested in working with those whose voices are often underrepresented in media and those with knowledge of particular food cultures that tend to be overlooked in local and national media landscape.

Eater Detroit accepts pitches on the following:

• Dining and drinking map updates related to neighborhoods, cities, and cuisines in the metro area and in cities around Michigan.

Do’s and Don’ts

Writers preferably have expertise in journalistic reporting as well as a passion for the pitched topic. Because of our limited budget, Eater Detroit is very specific about the pitches we accept, which should be geared towards a broad audience visiting Detroit or looking to find great places to try in their neighborhood. Eater Detroit gives priority to map updates and generally does not accept new maps unless there is a strong editorial argument to create one. For example, a hyper-specific map of corn dogs is unlikely to be accepted, but an update of our map to essential vegetarian restaurants might (unless, of course, corn dogs are a local delicacy).

The site does not accept pitches regarding recipes, or food holidays, nor does it conduct restaurant reviews. Please note that we’re currently assigning stories two months out.

The author should expect to and must be comfortable with being edited in line with Eater’s editorial standards. Generally, we do not assign stories to people who are primarily employed by the restaurant industry.

Reported features on local restaurants, bars, chefs, food trends, etc. are no longer a focus of Eater Detroit but may be of interest to Eater Travel. More details on how to pitch Eater Travel can be found here.

Eater Detroit Is Looking For:

• Local writers to create local guides to Detroit, Michigan
• Local writers to create local guides to neighborhoods, specific styles of restaurants and bars, dishes, and more in the Detroit area
• Writers with strong knowledge of travel destinations around Michigan and the ability to create thoughtful guides

Plan Your Pitch

All map and guide pitches should include a subject matter with a clear angle for why Eater Detroit readers should care (Read: Why the story is relevant to the dining scene in Detroit? Writers are encouraged to read the Eater ethics statement to identify any potential conflicts of interest.

Some stories may not be right for our local audience, but could still potentially be a good fit for our national site. Check out Eater.com’s pitch guidelines for more information.

Send pitches to detroit@eater.com. Please provide a short summary of who you are and your professional writing background. In your pitch, we ask that you clearly explain your angle on the topic and tell us why you’re uniquely positioned to report the story. Please also include links to prior work. For maps, please include a suggested angle and a few locations that you would include.

from Eater Detroit