# Evaluate a freelance pitch and decide whether to commission it

A quick editorial assessment of a pitch: news value, fit, feasibility, and risks, plus a commission or decline reply to send.

- Topic: Thinking & Decisions
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Sales, Analyze, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/evaluate-a-freelance-pitch-and-decide-whether-to-commission-it

## Prompt

```text
Help me decide whether to commission a freelance pitch.

**The pitch:** [PASTE IT]
**My publication and section:** [NAME OR TYPE, audience, tone, what we typically run]
**What we have run recently on this topic:** [RECENT STORIES, or "nothing"]
**Budget and rate:** [OUR RATE OR BUDGET for this kind of piece]
**Deadline needs:** [when we would want to run it]

Assess the pitch on:
1. News value or timeliness: why now, and why our readers.
2. Originality: is there a new fact, access, angle, or voice, or is this already widely covered?
3. Fit with our section, format, and length.
4. Feasibility: does the writer have the access, sources, and expertise claimed? What would need confirming?
5. Reporting and legal risk: anonymous sources, allegations against named people, conflicts of interest, sensitive subjects.
6. Writer track record based on clips they have shared.

Return:
1. A verdict: commission / commission with changes / decline, with the reason in two sentences.
2. If commissioning: a short assignment brief (angle, length, deadline, sourcing expectations, fee, kill fee, rights).
3. Questions to ask the writer before committing.
4. A reply email: either the commission or a kind, specific decline.

Base your view only on the pitch and what I tell you. Do not assume facts about the writer or the story; mark anything to check as [VERIFY].
```

## What to fill in

- PASTE IT
- NAME OR TYPE, audience, tone, what we typically run
- RECENT STORIES, or "nothing"
- OUR RATE OR BUDGET for this kind of piece
- when we would want to run it

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