1000 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22229
Phone: 703/276-3000
Now that spring training is underway, put your best pitch forward (and we don't mean baseball) for publications like USA Today's Baseball Weekly. It's a stand alone magazine devoted to major and minor league baseball coverage and the only magazine devoted to covering only baseball. It's a great alternative to getting coverage in magazines such as Sports Illustrated. Executive Editor Lee Ivory says although most of his pitches are from equipment manufacturers, he's open to any ideas that would fit the pub. Baseball Weekly's (300K circ) special equipment training guide, with reviews of all baseball-related products, is the perfect way to form a relationship with editors. Send them a product to review or a new trend in training procedures and you're sure to get that highly coveted, but rarely received, call back. Also try stepping up to the plate with the following sections: Inside Pitch, a "hodgepodge of funny or quirky" news of the week; Major League report, with profiles about teams, players or recent trends; Clubhouse, a baseball section just for kids; and Low & Inside, the magazine's minor league coverage of teams and players.
To avoid striking out with editors, take note of their publishing schedule and deadline days. The staff works on a Sunday through Thursday schedule (akin to USA Today) and they're off on Friday and Saturday. Crunch days are Monday and Sunday since deadline is Monday night. If you're calling, try Wednesday afternoon, since editors have a Wednesday morning editorial meeting. E-mail is preferred. In addition to Ivory ([email protected]), deputy editor Tim McQuay takes pitches (tmcquay @usatoday.com).