"Successful pitches are all about right idea, right time, right writer"
How to pitch delicious. magazine's editorial director, Laura Rowe
Hello! How are you doing this morning? I’m so excited for my first editor interview with Laura Rowe, editorial director at delicious. magazine. She’s got some great insights to share, and news of changes to the pitching process at delicious.
Tell us more about your role at delicious.
I joined delicious. as editorial director back in June and, it’s official, I love it. In practical terms it means I shape the brand strategy and lead across all the places you see delicious. content – so that’s our monthly magazine, website, social media, newsletter, events and other brand extensions (watch this space).
Our motto is to be the food community that helps you be a better cook. I’m constantly learning from the best chefs and cooks, and I eat very, very well. We have a test kitchen and studio kitchen (for filming) at the London office, so there are constantly things to be snaffled professionally tested.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether something is commissioned or written in-house. Do you have specific sections or regular features that you always commission out?
We have an in-house team of food producers who create the majority of our recipe content, but we absolutely look for experts and interesting chefs and food writers to write recipes for us, too. When it comes to features, most are written by external writers, so there are lots of opportunities throughout the year. We do have regular slots with regular writers, but there’s always space for new contributors we haven’t worked with before.
How does the commissioning process usually work?
We’re always looking for new and established, passionate and powerful voices within food to share across our channels and we’ve recently changed our commissioning process to make this easier.