Hey all. First of all, Happy New Year! Let’s make 2022 a great one! I’m feeling very optimistic about this year. And after 9 lovely days off over the holidays (hiking, cooking fun meals and soooo much television binging - don’t ask me how fast I watched Cobra Kai and Emily in Paris!) I’m excited to get back to work.
I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a while now. First things first, a little refresher about me.
I’m a freelance writer published in The New York Times, Parade, AARP, Woman’s Day, Men’s Journal, Hemisphere’s, Wired, SELF, People, Shondaland, Glamour, HealthyWomen, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Hemisphere’s, Mental Floss, and more. I write about health, entertainment, culture, finance and pets. I also do copywriting and content marketing for brands like Amazon, AAA, Honda, Lifetime, HBO, NBC, Gentherm, Chewy.com, and beyond.
In addition, I also get hired for freelance brand consulting — I love using my marketing background and years in the media industry to help companies competitively position themselves in the marketplace — as well as write biographies and press releases for everyone from musicians to doctors, public figures and beyond.
What to pitch me:
I’m always interested in receiving pitches from PR reps. I love hearing ideas for really unique stories. And it’s always helpful when publicists provide some suggested angles — i.e. I did this really fun story on the history of the Baywatch swimsuit and how it’s still influencing styles today when a rep pitched me about the upcoming Baywatch anniversary and an idea about the bathing suit.
And I had the chance to dive deep into the world of gloving for Rolling Stone here when another publicist pitched me about their client who started the craze selling light-up gloves out of the back of his truck.
Hearing about a friend of a friend traveling overseas to have his eye color permanently changed inspired this fun one for DuJour.
And here is a favorite story I wrote, for the New York Times. It’s about some SUPER intense haunted houses. I hid behind a wall and watched people go through one and wow was that outside of my comfort zone but beyond cool.
I like being pitched interesting people to interview, whether they have upcoming books coming out or can weigh in on cultural topics like recovering from burnout, money topics, etc.
Always interested in new health trends, studies and interesting things happening in that space.
I do monthly celebrity covers for a health/wellness women’s publication and am always looking for female celebs 40+ (must be household names) who have a health and wellness angle and a new project to promote. So keep me in mind for that!
Always love to hear about new trends - like cricket protein powder, camel milk, etc.
I love interviewing celebrities, especially when there is a health and wellness angle.
Anything you think is cool and doesn’t have a ton of coverage - whether that’s some new tech development, the fact that people are turning loved one’s ashes into diamond rings, a new health product, a topic we need to be talking about right now, etc.
I’m looking forward to building up an audience on here and connecting with many of you. I am always looking for sources for upcoming stories.
Open Queries:
Here are a few stories I am currently working on that I could use sources for. I am just hopping back into the year here and plan to have more things to source for soon. :-)
Shondaland:
Is the fertility cliff a myth? Why you can still get pregnant after 40 + what to do to optimize your chances: Would like to connect with some fertility experts and people who got pregnant over 40 who have some interesting things to share on what they did to optimize their chances.
Buying a home as an unmarried couple – what to know: Would love to connect with some money experts who specialize in home purchasing.
Greater Pet Care:
Dog breeds with beards: Need to connect with a dog breed expert or veterinarian/behaviorist
Do Cats Like Kisses: Need to connect with a cat behaviorist or veterinarian.
Pet CBD Review: A vet or pet expert to talk about pet CBD (cannot mention specific products)
Work with me:
Beyond pitching and submitting for my source requests, I’d love to chat about:
Copywriting or content marketing for your client, whether that’s banner ads, social posts, website content, marketing materials or corporate blogs.
Any brand consulting needs
Writing press releases or biographies
Paid speaking engagements - I have given talks at places like Universities about working with media, the ins and outs of journalism, etc.
Mentoring. I love giving aspiring journalists advice on how to craft a pitch and break into their dream pubs.
Feel free to email me with any needs in those departments.
My contact information:
Email: NCPajer@gmail.com. If you are responding to a specific pitch in here, please include the subject of what you are pitching in the headline.
Twitter: @NicolePajer - I take many routes to finding sources. I post in publicist forums, will send out these newsletters but often also post on Twitter when I need some quick sources for something. It’s been a phenomenal resource for that so would love to connect with you there.
Instagram: @NicolePajer
Warning: Socials will also be filled with content of these 2 silly pups (I did not stage this photo. They did all of that on their own - the toys, the sleeping positions, etc.) :-)
Website: www.nicolepajer.com (def plan to update that bad boy soon).
Looking forward to being substack buddies and to working together soon!
<3 Nicole
Nicole...i paid MY student debts. tell me why i should have to pay other peoples student loans. go ahead, i'll wait.
This is most helpful, Nicole, thank you!