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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Jun 5

Pitch Fail Club: Guest Post from @markffisher.bsky.social

Mark warm-pitched an editor and shares the full pitch, the feedback, and what he learned.

pitchfailclub.substack.com/p/the-post-m...

Got a failed pitch? Email [email protected] for a shot at a free annual sub.

The Post-Mortem: Guest Post by Mark Fisher, Journalist and Theatre Critic

The Pitch That Was Ignored. Until It Was Too Late.

pitchfailclub.substack.com

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Jun 2

New from PFC

“I want to write about...” is not a pitch. It’s a crumb. No editor sits down for a crumb.

🔗 pitchfailclub.substack.com/p/the-craft-...

👀 On Thursday: A Post Mortem from a national broadsheet theatre critic, and a reply that came too late.

#FreelanceJournalism #Pitching #WritingTips

The Craft: How to Turn A Half-Baked Idea into a Pitch

Supermarket car parks, huh? That’s not a story until you ask why the cashier’s acting like a parking attendant.

pitchfailclub.substack.com

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 29

5/5 Ready to turn those rejections into your future acceptances?
👇 Subscribe to Pitch Fail Club & send it to your most bruised journo mate:
pitchfailclub.substack.com
Get the editor feedback you've been missing. Subscribe Now! #freelancejournalism 🍾

Pitch Fail Club | Substack

For freelance journalists: We dissect your real rejected story pitches and editor feedback to help you sell more articles. Let’s fail better, together. Click to read Pitch Fail Club, a Substack public...

pitchfailclub.substack.com

James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 29

4/5 Why did I start this? Because learning to pitch through trial & error alone is brutal. And lonely. Pitch Fail Club is about changing that, together.
#LearnFromFailure #failupwards

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 29

3/5 With Pitch Fail Club, you get:
✅ To read REAL pitches that failed
✅ REAL editor feedback on why
✅ Clear lessons from each rejection
✅ Craft tips that actually help (beyond 'be good'!)
✅ Company in the glorious, miserable art of freelance pitching. Because we've all been there.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 29

2/5 Welcome to Pitch Fail Club! 🎉 My new weekly Substack where we DO talk about it. We dissect real failed pitches & share the actual editor feedback that came with them.
We're here to show you the 'WHY' so you stop pitching into the void.
#WritingCommunity #Substack

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 29

1/5 🚨 LAUNCH DAY: Pitch Fail Club is live! 🚨
Freelance Journalists: Your freelance pitch gets rejected. Again. No feedback. No explanation. Just a 'We’ll pass on this,' or more likely, silence.
Sound familiar? 😫
#PitchFailClub #FreelanceJournalism pitchfailclub.substack.com

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 22

Freelancers, ever feel like your pitches are loading... and then stalling? 😫 Coming soon...a new community to help you get past the error messages. Pitch Fail Club is Launching May 29th, 2025 with very special guests. #PitchFailClub #FreelanceJournalism #Pitching #Substack #WritingCommunity

Reposted by James Banyard

Hugh Morris @hwfmorris.bsky.social · May 13

btw, at VAN, we have updated our pitching guidelines! welcoming submissions from freelancers and new friends of the magazine van-magazine.com/contact-us/s...

How to pitch VAN

VAN welcomes story pitches on all topics from journalists and critics as well as musicians, industry professionals, academics, and students. Please take a look at our archive to familiarize yourself w...

van-magazine.com

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · May 6

I didn't realise the Spectator had such a good classical music section!

James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Congrats on VAN hitting 400! That 'sexless' verdict on a Daphnis with acrobats is brutal - like describing a banquet as tasteless.

James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Mar 13

Hey, I wrote this! So pleased to be making by debut in VAN Magazine. Thanks so much to @mbetteridge.bsky.social for his time last week.

VAN Magazine @vanmusicmag.bsky.social · Mar 13

Manchester-based composer Michael Betteridge on why co-creation rather than individual composition is at the heart of his practice, the difference between big “C” and little “C” composers, and whether the future of opera is as precarious as people think.

van-magazine.com/mag/michael-...

Useful Music

Michael Betteridge on why co-creation rather than individual composition is at the heart of his practice, the difference between big “C” and little “C” composers, and whether the future of opera is as...

van-magazine.com

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Reposted by James Banyard

Flight Free UK @flightfreeuk.bsky.social · Feb 13

We're bringing our event 'Travel, flying and the climate crisis' to Exeter!

Hear from @jamesgyke.bsky.social, @vipulpatel.bsky.social, @sarahfinch.bsky.social & more about campaigning, justice, offsetting, travel...

Register to attend in person or online: www.tickettailor.com/events/fligh...

Image shows a person in an airport watching a plane take off. Text says, Travel, flying and the climate crisis (Exeter). A community event about how we can reimagine travel, and why we must, Thursday 6th March 7pm-8.30pm, University of Exeter or online

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 16

Quirk's Christmas show at the Exeter Phoenix is stunning, and hilarious. Review up now!

www.theprsd.co.uk/2024/12/16/d...

Dayzee and the World of Tomorrow | a giggle-your-socks-off good time from Quirk - the PRSD

Quirk Theatre have produced a Christmas show that excels in message, meaning and mirth. James Banyard saw Dayzee and the World of Tomorrow

www.theprsd.co.uk

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 11

Great to meet the guys from Wandering Tiger today - Ben, Luke and Charlie - as they prepare for this year's production of Humbug at St Nicholas Priory

Starting with a small @exetercouncil.bsky.social arts grant in 2017, they’ve grown into a key fixture in the region’s culture.

councillor james banyard meets the cast of wandering tiger

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 11

Excellent preview piece, Lee!

James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

13/ The pandemic forced Exeter Council to stop accepting cash.

But we don’t have to accept this ongoing exclusion.

🌱 Greens are calling for:

A full EQIA on cashless payments.
Reinstating cash payments at leisure facilities.

Let’s make services inclusive for all.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

12/ Going cashless affects young people too.

Ron Delnevo from the Payment Choice Alliance said over 50% of pocket money is given in cash.

Harriet Baldwin MP went to a cashless leisure centre that insisted that customers used a coin for the locker.

Cash won’t vanish.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

11/ This issue isn’t just in Exeter.

The Commons Treasury Committee in Westminster is currently discussing access to cash.

@age-uk.bsky.social told the committee it was crucial that people could still access essentials, like council run leisure services.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

10/ Cllr Knott (Labour) argued that handling cash costs twice as much as card payments, and challenged me to suggest which services the council should cut to fund cash-handling costs.

But running a council is not the same as running a pub.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

9/ Labour says only a small number of people are affected by this policy and claims leisure centres have found ways of helping them.

But what about the people who don’t even try to go for a swim because they know they can’t pay in cash?

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

8/Cllr Duncan Wood, Labour’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure, said the pandemic forced the council to go cashless, so no EQIA was necessary.

But why haven’t they done one now, years after the initial change?

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

7/ Councils are legally obliged to assess how their policies impact disadvantaged groups.

Last week, I attended the Strategic Scrutiny Committee, and asked Exeter’s Labour-led council why they hadn’t done an Equalities Impact Assessment on going cashless.

This is what they said:

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

6/ Consider victims of financial abuse.

These people rely on cash—often saved secretly—to escape their abuser, and to hide their trail.

Using cash can be a matter of life and death.

Cashless council leisure centres exclude these vulnerable people.

We must do better.

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James Banyard @jamesbanyardwriter.bsky.social · Dec 9

5/ The people who use cash most are often the most vulnerable.

Older adults, people with disabilities, undocumented migrants, those without bank accounts, and victims of financial abuse.

Excluding cash excludes them from accessing leisure facilities.

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