The senior care market is changing and growing so rapidly, and the editorial team of Environments for Aging is doing its best to scour the news about new communities, talk to our contacts in the field about pressing issues, conduct site visits, and note trends as they ebb and flow. As we grow this brand online, in print, and through our conference and other events, we’re also eager to receive relevant press releases and direct story pitches from those of you who live and breathe this industry every day.

 So, bring ’em on! But keep in mind that we’re pretty picky about the kinds of stories we will and won’t accept. To put your best pitch forward, consider these tips:

Pitch first, write later. If you have a great story idea, or you’ve worked on a new/renovated community with a good story to tell, write up a couple of paragraphs that summarize the whole piece. Bullet points work, too. See the later tips for details on what to include with this information. The point here is, it’s better to make sure we’re interested in the concept before you go to the trouble or writing up a full story and submitting it as a fait accompli. Do you already have a story written, so it’s no trouble to send the whole thing? That’s fine. We’ll still take a look. Unless…

Me first! We won’t accept already-written articles that have run anywhere else, and that includes your own website, blog, or promotional materials. We strongly prefer exclusivity/first-run rights on pitches and we weigh that in our decision making. If you’re simultaneously pitching an idea to other competitive media outlets, we’ll still consider it, but please mention this up front. And if you already have a commitment from another media outlet (or you get one before you’ve finalized an assignment with us), tell us. It’s a good faith thing.


God is in the details, and timeliness is next to godliness. Of course, we want timely, fresh information and insight. And as a rule of thumb, when we consider profiling a specific community, we’re looking for a project that was completed within one year of the pitch. (Unfinished projects may find a place, too.) Whatever the topic, always include the following information: relevant dates (project completion, research conducted, etc.); names and credentials of the author and/or sources; whether or not there are hi-res photos/renderings available; and whether or not you’re offering exclusivity.

“Why should they care?” After you write your pitch, ask yourself: Why would someone who designs a physical space for senior care/living want to know about this topic? If you can’t come up with an answer, then the story isn’t for us. If you can come up with an answer, write it down, and add it to your pitch. “Connect the dots!” is my personal editing battle cry. If your pitch (and the subsequent article) can’t make it immediately clear why our readers should care, there’s a good chance they won’t.

Show and tell.  Photos. Photos, photos, photos. Please include a couple of low-res images of the project with your pitch if you have them (telling me you’ll send photos later if I want to see them is adding an unnecessary step). If you don’t have photos, tell us when you’ll get them, if at all. High-quality photography that supports the points made in a pitch/article is an enormous selling point. We like solid, information-rich charts and graphs, too. And photos. Did I mention photos?

No soliciting. As a matter of editorial policy, we do not accept vendor-bylined articles, nor do we include specific product or vendor names within features. (There are occasional exceptions for blog posts and issues that are unrelated to the company’s products; we consider those on a case by case basis.) Additionally, we’re not interested in project profiles that are really just PR pieces for specific firms, in disguise. We’re looking for actionable takeaways for our readers: What were the operational problems, and how did the design solve them? How exactly is this trend playing out in the physical environment? What does this research mean to the design of communities? The takeaway needs to go beyond “…and that’s why you need our product or service.”

A couple other things you need to know about us before pitching:

  • No phone pitches, please. Email pitches are strongly preferred so we can keep track of them all.
  • We are a digital-first publisher: Almost all articles go online first, and we pull from that content when assembling our print issues. As such, we’re constantly assigning and writing new articles on a rolling basis.
  • We stockpile story pitches and try to review them as a team at least once a month—another reason to make sure your pitch is thorough, so that if it does spark an interest, it doesn’t take several more weeks of back-and-forth before we can make an informed decision.

Any questions? Email me anytime. We look forward to hearing from you.