Stacey Henley's Advice For Breaking into Video Game Journalism | Winter Spectacular 2020
2020 was my first year in this industry, and it’s actually been quite a good year for me, which is weird because, you know, it’s 2020. When Ollie asked me to put something together for startmenu, I figured the best thing to focus on was how to break into the industry. It’s the million-dollar question - well, £250 commission question, anyway - and it’s something I have very recent experience of. I also figured the best way to write it would be a list; they’re clearer, (hopefully) less self-indulgent, and easier to read.
Think of these as Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing*, except they’re not rules, and I’m not Elmore Leonard.
1. Always Listen To Advice
People in games media tend to be very active on Twitter, are often on podcasts, and many have their own Twitch or YouTube channel. The sound of us all chattering away can be maddening, especially just after a big AAA release. But we often talk about our own experiences, our successes and failures, things to definitely do and things to definitely avoid. Quite a lot of us love the sound of our own voices too - or at least the sound of our own thumbs on Twitter. Games media can feel like a closed club - I still feel on the outside a lot of the time - but it’s a club that plays its music so loud you can hear it down the street. Just follow people whose work you enjoy and you’ll pick up some great tips.
2. Don’t Listen To Advice
Yeah, I know this is a contradiction. But both points make sense, I promise. Everyone is different, and there are certain things that I or someone else might have done in the past which doesn’t fit with your personality, or your writing style, or suit the area of games media you want to focus on. You should always listen to advice in case you pick up something useful, but you shouldn’t feel compelled to follow it.
Cloud understands that confidence is key.
3. Bet On Yourself
The first two points here are the most important generally, but for me personally, betting on myself has been the most important part of breaking into the industry. Polygon aren’t going to email you to ask you to write for them out of nowhere, you need to email them. I understand the appeal in writing for low- or zero-paying sites while you find your feet and your voice, gaining contacts and confidence with no pressure until you’re ready, but you’re ready when you say you are. An editor isn’t likely to say “hey, I read your op-ed on [insert indie site], you should definitely pitch us something similar on the next AAA game.” But you know what you should do? Pitch them something similar on the next AAA game anyway, and make sure to send that great indie piece in your pitch. You don’t need a diploma or a license or a secret handshake, you just need a great pitch.
Coco believes in you!
4. Say Yes
As important as it is to bet on yourself, I won’t lie: name recognition does help. There are pitches I’ve landed recently that had I sent them in January, I might not have had accepted. I’ve gotten better at pitching since then, but I’ve also written for some bigger sites, have been able to get repeat commissions, and have established myself - at some sites at least - as a reliable name. This isn’t just bragging, it leads me to this point: saying yes. It’s unlikely that Polygon will email you off the back of an indie op-ed, however insightful it may be. However, as you get more commissions, you probably will get an editor emailing you asking if you’re available for guides or other coverage of upcoming games. Either that, or you’ll see them post on Twitter that they need “a writer familiar with FPS games for a new project.” Say yes. I didn’t really see myself as a guides writer, but midway through the year an editor I’d done a feature for offered me some guide work. Since then, a huge chunk of my work has been guides. My first major review, the editor was looking for “people who are massive fans of [big franchise].” I liked the franchise, but I wasn’t a “massive fan.” But I wanted the review, so I emailed the editor anyway. I ended up writing several reviews for that site, and leveraging that first review to land big ones at other sites too. Bet on yourself and say yes, it will pay off.
(I’ve decided to make this entry longer because there’s definitely a thing in games journalism where a lot of the more established folk are more middle class than you might expect. Gaming is an expensive hobby and journalism as a whole used to be more exclusive, and so a lot of the people who’ve been around for longer are rich. No other way to say it, if your family didn’t have money, you probably weren’t going to be able to do this job a decade or two ago. Now, that’s not necessarily the case. My PS4 and Switch are both pre-owned, and a lot of the games I’ve played this year have come via press codes, but it’s still an industry where having money going into it is a big plus. I don’t, but I’m lucky to live with my partner in a small, cheap apartment which meant I could dive into this full time, which made it easier - and necessary - to say yes. But if you’re studying or working another job, don’t feel like saying yes to everything is the only way to get by. Saying no because you’re too busy with work, college or, hell, just life? Fair enough. Saying no because you don’t think you're good enough? Cut that shit out)
5. Build Momentum
If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to write for a bunch of different big sites. Mostly just so you can say you have, because it’s more impressive to say you’ve written for 12 different sites than it is to say you’ve written for one site 12 times. The more editors who like you, the gooder a writer you are, right? There’s definitely something to be said for diversifying your range of commissions, but there’s a lot of reasons why building momentum with one site is a great strategy. If you keep working at the same place, that site grows to trust you a lot more, and they’ll be more likely to email you with work. You might not be able to list off as many sites on your Twitter bio, but you’ll get more money. There’s only one winner there.
“SOUND THE PITCHING HORN!”
”LIGHT THE INVOICE PYRE!”
6. Don’t Tell Me What You Want (What You Really Really Want)
Nice and quick this one. Never send an email saying you’re a “wannabe journalist”, “new journalist”, or anything else like that. Just say you’re a journalist. You’ve heard of “dress for the job you want”? Well, you can dress how you like because we’re all stuck at home, but you should definitely email for the job you want.
7. Fuck FOMO
There’s going to be a game that comes out that other people get before you. They just will. Either you’ll be on another project, or you’ll be in the second or third or fourth wave of codes, or you won’t get a code at all and will have to weigh up whether you can wring enough work out of the game to bother buying it. You’ll feel like everything that could possibly be written about the game will have been written before you’ve even begun to download it. It’s definitely true that getting a game early opens up avenues; earlier this year I bought Final Fantasy VII Remake and the site I bought it from accidentally shipped it a week early, and I ended up doing some work I never would have been able to get otherwise. For a lot of games until very, very recently though, my code came through on release day or not at all. With limited code access, I had to be careful about buying games I thought I could still sell a feature or guides on. There’s no advice on how to make this not happen, because it inevitably will. There are too many games and you’ll never be able to play all of them. Just… don’t sweat it.
Let me tell you my first successful Hades run only had one of these and it wasn’t talent or determination.
8. Talent, Determination, Luck
You’re going to need two of these, and you can’t count on luck. So get ready to be determined.
9. Reach Out (I’ll Be There…)
You might have read all this - thanks! - and are now thinking, “wow, that’s great and you’re clearly a wonderful person…” - thanks! - “but how do I actually do this? Who do I send pitches to?” This was definitely a stumbling block for me too, by the way. Some sites will have a Staff page which lists the editor and their email address, which is just the best. Other times, they won’t list the email address but will list the editor’s Twitter, which itself has the email address on. There’s a few more steps, but still, this is also the best. Some of the time though, it’s hard to find a site’s pitch address. In those cases, most freelancers (I’m @FiveTacey) will probably be happy to help. This can be a lonely industry, and a lot of us are very supportive. We’re also people though, not just resources, so bear that in mind. Also, I think it’s fair game if an editor has DMs open to message them and say “hi, I’m trying to send a pitch to [your site], but I can’t find the email. Do you know where I should send it?” They’ll probably also be happy to help, but if for whatever reason they don’t reply, don’t take it personally. Reach out to a freelancer or someone else at the site. Oh, and definitely do not pitch via DMs. With game codes, it’s very similar. Ask a freelancer (again though, we’re people not resources) if they have a contact you should use. There’s also a range of games media sites you can sign up for to request keys, but you need to have a few articles published first. If you land a review for a site, try and get tagged in the email chain, so that way you can see the PR’s email address which might be useful for another game in the future.
Jump on it.
10. Just Fucking Send It
“You miss 100% of the pitches you don’t send”
- Wayne Gretzky
- Michael Scott
- Stacey Henley
If you have a pitch, just send the fucking thing. I’ve sold pitches this year that I never expected to, and I’ve had pitches I thought were a lock get rejected across the board. Most frequently though, I’ve sent pitches, ended up getting them rejected, and with a combination of l'esprit de l'escalier and rejection feedback, I’ve retooled it and sold it elsewhere. Rejected pitches are also great for name recognition. When editors say no, they don’t send your pitch to all their mates to laugh at, ensuring you’ll never get work again. They’re just deciding that with a limited budget and with a stack of other pitches, yours doesn’t work this time. They might have come really close to accepting it, and if they have been, they’ll be very interested to read your next one.
*Leonard’s 10 Rules are very strict rules on how to write fiction. If you follow them you’ll write exactly like him, but there are thousands of other writers who don’t follow his Rules and still write wonderful stories. These pieces of advice are all based on my experience, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all work for you, or that not following them will lead to failure. Listen to what makes sense and ignore what doesn’t. The top two points are by far the most important. But also, just fucking send it.
