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Shwanika Narayan is the Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor at The San Francisco Chronicle.
In this episode, Shwanika shares her insights on crafting attention-grabbing subject lines and tailoring pitches to resonate with The San Francisco Chronicle's local audience, offering real-world examples from her work.
Follow Shwanika on LinkedIn and X.
Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:
Editor's Perspective on Pitches
[0:02:55] BB: Oh, I like that. Way to shift over. Now, one thing we cover on here is that, editors
are different than reporters, not in the function of they don't all write stories. Typically, most do.
But how would you distinguish your role more as an editor versus a reporter now, especially
since you've been on both sides?
[0:03:15] SN: Right. Now, as an editor, I am assigning coverage. I'm planning out our editorial
calendar way in advance. So, we're just not looking at week by week. We're looking month out,
we're looking at big projects, ambitious things we want to tackle this year. So, that's really a lot
of sort of the strategy, the planning, that all goes into being part of like an editor and running a
team. As a reporter, it was more of like, "Okay. I am – this is my beat, this is what I'm writing
about. What's happening? What can I break? Am I noticing trends?" It's more really – it's a little
bit more solitary, and that you are mostly just reporting and writing. Whereas, editing is a little bit
more collaborative and you're managing.
[0:03:56] BB: So, let's now take it to your inbox. How is it and how do you manage it. Everyone
has a managing way, or some don't, and just let it ride forever. So, you tell us.
[0:04:06] SN: I mean, I start, it's the first thing I do every morning when I sign on. I go through
my emails. There's hundreds of emails. Like as an editor, I average about 200 to 250 a day, and
not all of them are pitches. I'm also, I would say, at least 75 of those. So, what is that? I don't
even know the percentage, but –
[0:04:25] BB: A fourth, yes.
[0:04:26] SN: Yes, a quarter, a quarter of those. A quarter of those are pitches. So, I'm also
subscribed to a lot of the arts newsletters to sort of make sure that I'm plugged in into what's
happening with other publications and writing about what we may have missed and what we
have going on. I do find myself finding a little bit more time responding to emails as an editor
compared to when I was a reporter. So, that has been interesting. I feel like it's not necessarily
because I have more time. I just think I'm beholden a little bit more to reply to people. So, that's
the switch.
[0:05:00] BB: Okay, good distinction with that. Have you noticed by the way that people are still
unfortunately sending you business pitches?
[0:05:07] SN: All the time, which is fine. I will just go ahead and forward it to the person who
would be interested in it.
[0:05:11] BB: Oh, that's gracious.
[0:05:14] SN: But, yes. I really don't – if you do it more than once, then yes, I will just not
respond or even forward it to you. But I will – the first time it comes to me, I'll say, "Hey, I have
made the switch. This is what I do now. It's not my coverage area anymore, but I will forward
this." And most of the times, I do CC the reporter or the editor as well, and then, they can take it
from there.
[0:05:31] BB: Oh, that's so generous. That's so generous.
are different than reporters, not in the function of they don't all write stories. Typically, most do.
But how would you distinguish your role more as an editor versus a reporter now, especially
since you've been on both sides?
[0:03:15] SN: Right. Now, as an editor, I am assigning coverage. I'm planning out our editorial
calendar way in advance. So, we're just not looking at week by week. We're looking month out,
we're looking at big projects, ambitious things we want to tackle this year. So, that's really a lot
of sort of the strategy, the planning, that all goes into being part of like an editor and running a
team. As a reporter, it was more of like, "Okay. I am – this is my beat, this is what I'm writing
about. What's happening? What can I break? Am I noticing trends?" It's more really – it's a little
bit more solitary, and that you are mostly just reporting and writing. Whereas, editing is a little bit
more collaborative and you're managing.
[0:03:56] BB: So, let's now take it to your inbox. How is it and how do you manage it. Everyone
has a managing way, or some don't, and just let it ride forever. So, you tell us.
[0:04:06] SN: I mean, I start, it's the first thing I do every morning when I sign on. I go through
my emails. There's hundreds of emails. Like as an editor, I average about 200 to 250 a day, and
not all of them are pitches. I'm also, I would say, at least 75 of those. So, what is that? I don't
even know the percentage, but –
[0:04:25] BB: A fourth, yes.
[0:04:26] SN: Yes, a quarter, a quarter of those. A quarter of those are pitches. So, I'm also
subscribed to a lot of the arts newsletters to sort of make sure that I'm plugged in into what's
happening with other publications and writing about what we may have missed and what we
have going on. I do find myself finding a little bit more time responding to emails as an editor
compared to when I was a reporter. So, that has been interesting. I feel like it's not necessarily
because I have more time. I just think I'm beholden a little bit more to reply to people. So, that's
the switch.
[0:05:00] BB: Okay, good distinction with that. Have you noticed by the way that people are still
unfortunately sending you business pitches?
[0:05:07] SN: All the time, which is fine. I will just go ahead and forward it to the person who
would be interested in it.
[0:05:11] BB: Oh, that's gracious.
[0:05:14] SN: But, yes. I really don't – if you do it more than once, then yes, I will just not
respond or even forward it to you. But I will – the first time it comes to me, I'll say, "Hey, I have
made the switch. This is what I do now. It's not my coverage area anymore, but I will forward
this." And most of the times, I do CC the reporter or the editor as well, and then, they can take it
from there.
[0:05:31] BB: Oh, that's so generous. That's so generous.
Turning Data into Stories
[0:06:37] BB: I mean, this kind of sounds obvious, and for a lot of the reporters or editors, it is
not. But I would imagine, it's like, is it happening in San Francisco? Is it in the Metro? Like it has
to be, is that not a mandatory component of it?
[0:06:48] SN: Absolutely. So, I'll give you an example. Back when I started here in 2019, when I
started here, Yelp, for example, they came up with a new economic measurement called the
Yelp Economic Average. And it was just basically the state of small businesses in America.
[0:07:03] BB: That's very creative.
[0:07:04] SN: And that's great. Well, they have really great data on small businesses. So like,
they did this thing for the media that piqued my interest. The subject line did not work for me,
but it still piqued my interest. I asked them if they could cut data for the nine County Bay Area,
and if we could glean trends from that. In 2019, you know, years before that, I wrote – I re-tell, it
was one of my beats, and all I wrote about were bankruptcies and sky-high rents, and just how
retail as an industry was struggling. But with this data, we found out that furniture stores, for
some strange reason were, were really thriving in San Francisco. So, that became a story. I'm
not going to write about Yelp's economic average. I will use that data set in the story, but my
story is about, why are furniture stores thriving in San Francisco?
[0:07:52] BB: Yes. I'm so glad you referenced that, because so often, and this is at least for
folks we've worked with in the tech world, you've got some interesting data. Now, it's not about,
"Oh, this is our data and write about our data." That's not it. It's more so, "What is the use case
of it and where's the application?" So someone like you is like, "Of course, you can reference
back and say this is provided by," but that's hardly the story. It's really in the data and what it's
showing you. That's interesting too. Why were furniture stories thriving?
[0:08:19] SN: Yes. So, I had a couple of retail analysts weigh in on this as well, so they could
provide me with the answers. And they said, well, furniture stores are really big purchases for
people. So, they want to try out the couches, they want to try out the dining room set.
[0:08:33] BB: Yes, you want to sit on it.
[0:08:35] SN: So, they just kind of naturally lend themselves more to storefronts that last longer.
I mean, and again, this was all pre pandemic things have changed. I haven't covered that beat
for a while. But yes, this was sort of like the one thing that stood out.
not. But I would imagine, it's like, is it happening in San Francisco? Is it in the Metro? Like it has
to be, is that not a mandatory component of it?
[0:06:48] SN: Absolutely. So, I'll give you an example. Back when I started here in 2019, when I
started here, Yelp, for example, they came up with a new economic measurement called the
Yelp Economic Average. And it was just basically the state of small businesses in America.
[0:07:03] BB: That's very creative.
[0:07:04] SN: And that's great. Well, they have really great data on small businesses. So like,
they did this thing for the media that piqued my interest. The subject line did not work for me,
but it still piqued my interest. I asked them if they could cut data for the nine County Bay Area,
and if we could glean trends from that. In 2019, you know, years before that, I wrote – I re-tell, it
was one of my beats, and all I wrote about were bankruptcies and sky-high rents, and just how
retail as an industry was struggling. But with this data, we found out that furniture stores, for
some strange reason were, were really thriving in San Francisco. So, that became a story. I'm
not going to write about Yelp's economic average. I will use that data set in the story, but my
story is about, why are furniture stores thriving in San Francisco?
[0:07:52] BB: Yes. I'm so glad you referenced that, because so often, and this is at least for
folks we've worked with in the tech world, you've got some interesting data. Now, it's not about,
"Oh, this is our data and write about our data." That's not it. It's more so, "What is the use case
of it and where's the application?" So someone like you is like, "Of course, you can reference
back and say this is provided by," but that's hardly the story. It's really in the data and what it's
showing you. That's interesting too. Why were furniture stories thriving?
[0:08:19] SN: Yes. So, I had a couple of retail analysts weigh in on this as well, so they could
provide me with the answers. And they said, well, furniture stores are really big purchases for
people. So, they want to try out the couches, they want to try out the dining room set.
[0:08:33] BB: Yes, you want to sit on it.
[0:08:35] SN: So, they just kind of naturally lend themselves more to storefronts that last longer.
I mean, and again, this was all pre pandemic things have changed. I haven't covered that beat
for a while. But yes, this was sort of like the one thing that stood out.
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Publicist Must-Dos and Shwanika's Pet Peeves
[0:10:40] BB: Is there anything that you absolutely would love publicists to do more? "Please,"
like, "Please, this is my list here. Here we go." Yes, tell me.
[0:10:48] SN: Absolutely. So, with the local publicists, I love meeting up with them.
[0:10:53] BB: Oh, you do? Okay.
[0:10:54] SN: I actually do. I think it's very helpful. It was very helpful for me as a business
reporter and even as an arts editor now, I am meeting with the book publicist. I am meeting with
theater folks. I'm meeting with the classical music leadership folks. Part of that is to sort of
establish a professional relationship, and also have people understand the kinds of stories that
we are looking for, but also understand what they have coming up, so we can be a little bit more
better prepared if news breaks, and I like hopping on the phone. Sometimes, I'll like, news will
break, news will break, or I will have a story go out, and literally, I'll get a pitch from a publicist
saying, "Oh, you just heard about this. Here's a person who can comment." It's like, "I'm not
going to update my story and include your person in this story that I spent weeks reporting and
is already published. But I can give this person in mind for the next thing that might be relevant
for this particular topic.
[0:11:50] BB: Can we pause on that for a second? This happens so often on here. And
publicist, I just want to convey, when the story is out, you cannot be asking, "Oh, would you
change that story and just insert my client into the piece? There's nothing new, just –" But I bet
what happens is, the client saw it. They're like, "Why the hell was I not in that piece? Go email
them." I'm thinking it's like, predatory client relations where that the client is dictating and saying,
"You have to do that." But then, that to me is a bad client. Man, I, that's my only guess. I don't
know. It's not good.
[0:12:24] SN: Yes. Going on that, even if it's a story, if you're the publicist that I've worked with
on this specific story, also understand that your pitch is really it. How I take it from there is – the
story is going to be – and this is the thing, the story will become where the reporting takes it. So,
what you pitch can lead to a very different outcome. So, one example, when Yelp pitched me,
they wanted a story about the Yelp economic average, whatever index that they had. Sure, they
might have gotten that at maybe some more business-focused publications, some trade mags.
But that's not what I got, right? Like, I sort of wanted more of the human interest, more of the
localized take that would be relevant to our readers.
So, just understand that whatever you pitch, is that it? That's the only control you have. Is there
email, your intro email to the reporter or the editor? And then, it's really up to the press as to
how they take it from there.
[0:13:19] BB: Wow. Okay, sources. Now, you said you'd like to meet with publicists. You like
local publicists, but are there any like sources that you particularly like? I'm like, I'm kind of
struggling to think of what would necessarily be a source for you with arts and entertainment,
but you tell us.
[0:13:34] SN: Sure. I mean, we have artists reaching out to us all the time. We have theater
folks who want to chat, and these are not the leadership, but like the actual artist who want to
talk about just sort of the state of the industry in San Francisco where there's such a high cost of
living. So, there's all these other issues that are going on. Yeas. So, it's primary sources. Like,
yes, we're dealing with the institutions, we're talking to the heads of departments, and we're
getting those voices, but we also want to talk to the people that is their livelihood. So, getting
everyone involved is like the best-case scenario.
[0:14:09] BB: Okay. So, artists, welcome, directly. Great. Is there a process that you are either
religiously going after or you consistently use as editor in terms of the story approval? Because
people want to know a little bit on like story approval process. It's not just not necessarily, "Hey, I
sent a pitch of the reporter" and they're like, "Cool, let me write about it tomorrow," and it just is
suddenly up. Sometimes that happens, but usually, there's of course a process. Did I tell the
boss? Did I talk to the editor? Did we meet at the morning meeting? Da da da da da. So, how
does it work over there for you all?
[0:14:40] SN: Absolutely. It needs to be timely, it needs to have that newsworthy element, and it
also needs to be relevant to our readers. By that, I mean, it needs to be – include San Francisco
or the barrier in some way. So, for example, there's tons and tons of books that get released
every week. Which ones am I covering? Which ones am I freelancing out to our book critics or
our book reviewers?
[0:15:02] BB: But every week? Every week, there's tons?
[0:15:05] SN: Oh, yes. There's hundreds of book releases every week across the country.
[0:15:09] BB: I mean, I knew across the country, but I'm like, "In San Francisco?" Okay. What
would you say? What's the sector for San Francisco, would you say?
[0:15:16] SN: Right. For our books coverage, for example, for our books coverage, we would
like the author ideally to be based in San Francisco, because we do like to have staff shot
photos. We'd like our, whoever is interviewing them to sort of meet up in person. So, it's relevant
because it's a Bay Area author. Maybe the story is set in San Francisco, so that's another way
to get into the book part if they're not based here locally. Or, if they have an author events
coming up that's local. Though, that isn't like the most ideal criteria. The first two is what I would
prefer more. Is the author local?
[0:15:50] BB: Yes, got it. Okay. I wanted to clarify that. Okay. That's very helpful. Is there
anything you feel maybe folks don't know as much in just the process? I'm talking folks, as in
publicists, that you wish more publicists would know in terms of how you run your process.
Rapid Fire Pitching Preferences
[0:16:54] BB: Yes, we do need to stop doing that. Okay. I do have a short list of prep questions
to go through. They're like super fire questions. Are you ready, rapid-fire questions?
[0:17:06] SN: Okay.
[0:17:06] BB: Let's hit it, let's hit it. Video or phone interview?
[0:17:10] SN: Phone if it's breaking news. If it's more sort of like in-depth analysis pieces, we
like video, especially if we can't meet up, so that way we get some color as well.
[0:17:19] BB: Okay. Bullet points or paragraphs in pitches? Now, you said bullets earlier.
[0:17:22] SN: Yes, bullet points all the way.
[0:17:24] BB: Short or long pitches?
[0:17:26] SN: Short, succinct pitches that have all the Internet information, two or three
paragraphs. Think about it that way.
[0:17:32] BB: Images attached or Dropbox zip file?
[0:17:36] SN: Dropbox file that also has a document for captions and credits.
[0:17:40] BB: Oh, I haven't heard that before. Okay.
[0:17:43] SN: We get photos all the time, and I'm like, "Who are these people?"
[0:17:46] BB: And then, you're like, "Who do I credit to?" Yes, yes, yes.
[0:17:49] SN: Also, who's the photographer? We need that information.
[0:17:52] BB: Yes, okay. That's a good little tip. Okay. Email or a DM somewhere like on X or
wherever we're doing things now?
[0:18:02] SN: I personally don't like pitches in social media, especially on LinkedIn. Try and
email. Our emails are actually pretty easy to find.
[0:18:08] BB: Yes. By the way, have you been seeing more on LinkedIn? Cause that seems to
be the hot place now for everybody.
[0:18:13] SN: Yes. Oh my gosh.
[0:18:15] BB: I don't know why. I don't know why. It's just – well, I do know why. We just talked
to someone from LinkedIn today. They just have resources galore, and they're pumping in lots
of money into LinkedIn. So, everyone's at LinkedIn. Anyway, we covered direct or creative
subject lines-ish, but you had mentioned a little bit like, as the headline. You want to read it as
the headline. Do you want to clarify that?
[0:18:36] SN: Yes. I think direct subject lines are always great. It gives me an insight as to what
your email is probably going to be about. But if there's some kind of distinction that you can be
creative with, and tell me why it's important to me specifically, and to our readers, that is what
would sort of do it.
[0:18:54] BB: Okay, good. Time that you usually read pitches, you said at the beginning of the
day in the morning.
[0:18:59] SN: Yes.
[0:19:00] BB: All the time?
[0:19:00] SN: All the time. Yes, I start off my day reading emails, but it's an all-day long kind of
thing.
[0:19:05] BB: It's an all-day long thing, yes. And we also covered sources.
to go through. They're like super fire questions. Are you ready, rapid-fire questions?
[0:17:06] SN: Okay.
[0:17:06] BB: Let's hit it, let's hit it. Video or phone interview?
[0:17:10] SN: Phone if it's breaking news. If it's more sort of like in-depth analysis pieces, we
like video, especially if we can't meet up, so that way we get some color as well.
[0:17:19] BB: Okay. Bullet points or paragraphs in pitches? Now, you said bullets earlier.
[0:17:22] SN: Yes, bullet points all the way.
[0:17:24] BB: Short or long pitches?
[0:17:26] SN: Short, succinct pitches that have all the Internet information, two or three
paragraphs. Think about it that way.
[0:17:32] BB: Images attached or Dropbox zip file?
[0:17:36] SN: Dropbox file that also has a document for captions and credits.
[0:17:40] BB: Oh, I haven't heard that before. Okay.
[0:17:43] SN: We get photos all the time, and I'm like, "Who are these people?"
[0:17:46] BB: And then, you're like, "Who do I credit to?" Yes, yes, yes.
[0:17:49] SN: Also, who's the photographer? We need that information.
[0:17:52] BB: Yes, okay. That's a good little tip. Okay. Email or a DM somewhere like on X or
wherever we're doing things now?
[0:18:02] SN: I personally don't like pitches in social media, especially on LinkedIn. Try and
email. Our emails are actually pretty easy to find.
[0:18:08] BB: Yes. By the way, have you been seeing more on LinkedIn? Cause that seems to
be the hot place now for everybody.
[0:18:13] SN: Yes. Oh my gosh.
[0:18:15] BB: I don't know why. I don't know why. It's just – well, I do know why. We just talked
to someone from LinkedIn today. They just have resources galore, and they're pumping in lots
of money into LinkedIn. So, everyone's at LinkedIn. Anyway, we covered direct or creative
subject lines-ish, but you had mentioned a little bit like, as the headline. You want to read it as
the headline. Do you want to clarify that?
[0:18:36] SN: Yes. I think direct subject lines are always great. It gives me an insight as to what
your email is probably going to be about. But if there's some kind of distinction that you can be
creative with, and tell me why it's important to me specifically, and to our readers, that is what
would sort of do it.
[0:18:54] BB: Okay, good. Time that you usually read pitches, you said at the beginning of the
day in the morning.
[0:18:59] SN: Yes.
[0:19:00] BB: All the time?
[0:19:00] SN: All the time. Yes, I start off my day reading emails, but it's an all-day long kind of
thing.
[0:19:05] BB: It's an all-day long thing, yes. And we also covered sources.
________
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