Pitch Tracker for Freelance Journalists | UK JournoHub

Last reviewed: 17 May 2026Next review due: 17 November 2026

Why pitch tracking matters

A pitch tracker is a running log of every story idea you have offered to an editor — including who you pitched, when, the proposed fee, the current status, and when your next follow-up is due. It is the operational backbone of a productive freelance journalism practice.

Without a tracker, you rely on memory and a disorganised inbox to manage your pipeline. You miss follow-up windows. You duplicate pitches to the same editor. You do not know whether your conversion rate is 10% or 30%, which makes it impossible to diagnose and improve. You have no evidence when a kill fee is disputed.

A good pitch tracker takes about two minutes to update after each email you send or receive. The investment pays for itself the first time it stops you chasing a commission that was already invoiced, or the first time you can produce a dated commission record when an editor disputes your kill fee claim.

When a pitch tracker is most valuable

1You are managing more than five active pitches simultaneously — memory and inbox search are not reliable enough at this volume.
2A commission is killed and you need to produce a dated record of when you received the commission and what fee was agreed.
3HMRC queries your freelance activity and you need to show a record of genuine commercial approaches and income-generating work.
4You are comparing your performance across publications — your tracker tells you which editors commission you most reliably.
5You are following up on pitches and need to know the exact date you sent each one.
6An insurance claim requires evidence that a specific piece of work was commissioned and in progress at the time of a relevant event.

Red flags: signs your pitch management needs improvement

You have sent a pitch but cannot remember whether you followed up or what the editor said.
You are surprised when you receive a commission because you had forgotten the pitch was live.
You have no idea what your pitch acceptance rate is — this is diagnostic information for improving your pitching.
A commission is killed and you cannot find the original agreement in your inbox.
You have accidentally pitched the same story to the same editor twice.
You have commissioned pieces in progress and no note of the agreed word count, fee, or delivery deadline.

Pitch tracker setup checklist

Choose a tool: Google Sheets, Excel, Notion, Airtable, or Trello (see comparison below).
Create columns: Pitch number, Story angle, Publication, Editor name, Date pitched, Status, Agreed fee, Follow-up date, Notes.
Add a status key at the top or bottom: Sent / Followed Up / Commissioned / Rejected / Stale / Killed / Invoiced / Paid.
Add a row immediately after every pitch you send — do not let more than 24 hours pass.
Set a follow-up reminder (calendar or task app) for five to seven working days after each pitch.
Update status promptly when you receive a response — a commission, rejection, or no-response-after-follow-up.
When commissioned: add the agreed fee, word count, and delivery deadline.
When killed: note the date killed, who communicated it, and the kill fee status.
Review your tracker monthly: calculate acceptance rate by section, and identify publications worth re-approaching.
Back up your tracker monthly — email yourself a copy or use cloud storage.

Tool comparison: spreadsheet vs Notion vs Trello

Spreadsheet

Pros: Instant setup, powerful filtering and sorting, easy to export, works offline, most familiar.

Cons: No rich text notes per row, requires manual backup, limited visual pipeline view.

Best for: Most freelancers.

Notion

Pros: Rich text per pitch, file attachments, relations between databases (pitches → invoices), flexible views.

Cons: Steeper learning curve, slower to update on mobile, overkill for low volume.

Best for: High-volume freelancers who want linked records.

Trello

Pros: Visual Kanban pipeline, drag-and-drop status updates, easy to see what is in each stage.

Cons: Awkward to sort or filter by date, fee, or editor; search is weak; gets messy at high volume.

Best for: Visual thinkers with a manageable pitch volume.

Generate your pitch email

Use the Advanced Pitch Generator to create the pitch, then immediately add it to your tracker. The generator exports key details you can paste straight into your tracker row.

Advanced Pitch Generator

Pitch tracker template

Copy this into a Google Sheet, Excel, or Notion database. Replace the example rows with your own pitches.

| # | Story Angle | Publication | Editor | Pitched | Status | Fee (£) | Follow-up | Notes |
|---|-------------|-------------|--------|---------|--------|---------|-----------|-------|
| 1 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-05-01 | Sent | 400 | 2026-05-08 | First pitch; national feature |
| 2 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-05-03 | Commissioned | 350 | 2026-05-30 | Delivery deadline 30 May |
| 3 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-04-22 | Rejected | – | – | Suggest re-angle for trade press |
| 4 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-04-28 | Followed Up | 500 | 2026-05-10 | Chased 5 May; no response |
| 5 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-03-15 | Killed | 600 | – | Kill fee claimed 18 Mar; awaiting payment |
| 6 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-05-10 | Invoiced | 280 | – | Invoice #INV-2026-041 sent |
| 7 | [Story headline / angle] | [Publication name] | [Editor name] | 2026-04-01 | Paid | 450 | – | Paid 2026-04-30; receipt filed |

STATUS KEY:
Sent → Followed Up → Commissioned → Invoiced → Paid
Sent → Followed Up → Stale (no response × 2)
Commissioned → Killed → Kill Fee Claimed
Any status → Rejected

Common pitch tracking mistakes

Starting the tracker but not updating it — an outdated tracker is worse than none because it gives you false confidence.
Only tracking pitches that resulted in commissions — rejected pitches are equally important diagnostic data.
Not recording the agreed fee at the commission stage — "we'll sort the money when it's done" is a reliable source of later disputes.
No notes column — a single sentence about the editor's response or your angle adjustment saves time on re-pitches.
Tracking pitches but not calculating your acceptance rate quarterly — the whole point of the data is to improve your practice.
Using the tracker only when things go wrong — it is a daily operational tool, not an emergency one.

Related guides

How to Pitch Editors in the UK

The three-paragraph structure, timing, and follow-up etiquette before you add pitches to your tracker.

Kill Fees: Your Rights as a UK Freelancer

Your tracker is key evidence when claiming a kill fee on a cancelled commission.

Invoicing for Freelancers

Match commissioned rows in your tracker to invoice records for clean financial records.

Freelance Journalism Contracts

Complement your tracker with written commission agreements to protect agreed terms.

Primary sources

Frequently asked questions

Why do I need a pitch tracker if I only send a few pitches a month?

Even low-volume pitchers benefit from tracking. Without a record, you cannot know your acceptance rate, which editors respond to what types of story, or when a follow-up is due. A pitch tracker also prevents the embarrassing mistake of pitching the same story twice to the same editor, and gives you a running log of approaches that can serve as evidence in a kill fee or non-payment dispute.

What status codes should I use in my tracker?

Keep it simple: Sent, Followed Up, Commissioned, Rejected, Stale (no response after two follow-ups), Killed (commissioned but not published), Invoiced, Paid. Some freelancers also add Held (editor expressed interest but has not commissioned) and Exclusive Window (pitch offered exclusively to one editor and awaiting their response). Avoid overly complex systems — you need to update the tracker quickly after each action.

Can my pitch tracker count as business records for HMRC?

Your pitch tracker is a record of business activity that supports your Self Assessment return. It documents when you were engaged in billable journalistic work, which is relevant evidence if HMRC queries whether your freelance journalism is a genuine trade (rather than a hobby). Commissioned pitches connect directly to your income records. Rejected pitches show business development activity. Keep the tracker for at least five years alongside your invoices and bank records.

How do I use my pitch tracker to support a kill fee claim?

If a commission is killed, your tracker entry showing the date pitched, the date commissioned, the agreed fee, and the delivery date provides the factual basis for your kill fee claim. Combined with any commission email or letter, it gives you a complete record. Note in the tracker when you delivered the piece and how the kill was communicated (email, phone call, verbal). This evidence is useful if the dispute goes to small claims or NUJ mediation.

Spreadsheet, Notion, or Trello — which is best?

Spreadsheets (Google Sheets or Excel) are the most flexible, fastest to set up, and easiest to filter and sort. They work for most freelancers. Notion is better if you want to attach notes, email excerpts, and files to each pitch record. Trello is useful if you think visually and prefer a Kanban board (each column = a status), but it can become unwieldy with a large pitch volume. Use whichever you will actually maintain consistently — consistency beats tool choice.