The Pitch

I started building a website for my columns and books. The idea is to send out the emails to newspapers far and near and give them access to examples of my work. My goal is 200 newspapers. That is the number I need to be able to write for a living.
I'm not sure how to go about convincing 200 editors and publisher that they need to run my column weekly but this is the first step. If anyone has idea on how to self promote, I'm all ears.
What follows is the pitch email that I plan to send out within the next day or so. Please have a look and feel free to give me feedback. If you hit the website, bare in mind that I still have some tweaking to do.

What do you get when you cross a redneck and an expensive liberal arts education?
You get stories and columns written from a unique point of view. Words that can put a smile on your face or bring tears to your eyes. Many of the columns will take you for a walk down memory lane.

Clarke Stallworth, former writer and editor at the Birmingham Post Herald:

This sounds high-falutin’, but it’s not. Rick makes pictures, and I see them clear and plain, and the images bind me to his story. He achieved the writer’s double whammy -- he made me laugh out loud and he broke my heart, all in the same column.

Like Homer, like every other born storyteller across the ages, Rick tells a story. I believe he will become our Bubba With a Heart, our Compassionate Goodoboy, writing from his Eden in the Woods near Jasper, Alabama.

Lona Williams, former Lifestyle Editor at the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama writes: “Rick Watson and his Life 101 column have added color to the front page of the Lifestyles section of our small-town daily paper. Every Sunday readers reach for that page first because they enjoy a chuckle and feel a connection to the rural Alabama living that his stories depict.

His writings are natural and relaxed with an emotional depth that captures the reader and brings him back week after week. We left the column out one week by mistake and felt the wrath of disappointed readers who had missed their visit with Rick Watson that Sunday. This column has a following. It will likely find its spot in any newspaper with a suburban or rural coverage.

The reason you are receiving this message is simple, I would like to continue to eat. I have been writing “on the side” for many years. I have a weekly column in the Lifestyle section of The Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, a monthly column in Senior Living, and a monthly column in 280 Living.

I could afford to spend time doing what I love because I had a day gig. I got a letter from my employer this past week saying they will no longer need my services after the end of March 31^st. After thirty-one years, I’ll be on the street.

If I can become successful at self syndication, perhaps my wife and I won’t have to eat dog food to survive. We have five dogs and they don’t like to share. You can help us avoid that fate by picking up my weekly column.

For more information, or to see more glowing recommendations, please contact me at:

rick@homefolkmedia.com or call me at 205-648-9952

Thanks so much for your consideration.

Rick Watson

Will Write for Food

http://homefolkmedia.com