Want to sell a story to the Daily Mail?

How to Sell a Story to the Daily Mail or the Mail on Sunday

Do you want to find out how to sell a story to the Daily Mail or the Mail on Sunday?

At Talk to the Press we work alongside all of the national newspapers, websites and women’s magazines, including the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. If you would like to sell a story to the Daily Mail or the Mail on Sunday, we can help you – and our service is completely free for you to use.

Every time someone contacts us with their story, we have a chat and think about which publication their story suits best. Many people approach us specifically because they want to sell their story to the Daily Mail, but sometimes another national newspaper or magazine may be a better fit.

Sometimes people contact us with a particular paper or magazine in mind they want to appear in. Although we’ll always try our best to meet your expectations, we’ll also be honest with you.

If we feel your story isn’t right for a certain publication we’ll tell you and find a way to make it work for another. Sometimes when people pitch their stories directly they get told they don’t have a story – most of the time they do have a story – they just haven’t pitched it to the right department or the right publication.

Once we’ve established which publication your story suits we will ask you to email us all the relevant documents and pictures to support the story. Then we’ll carry out a short interview to get the basic facts so we can write a synopsis.

The synopsis is a summary of your story and will usually be no more than 250 words presented in bullet points. This allows editors to quickly review your story idea.

If the commissioning editor is interested they will raise it in conference and, if the editor agrees, your story will be commissioned.

Negotiating a Payment with the Daily Mail and other media outlets

Once it’s commissioned we will negotiate a fee for you. The fee may depend on how prominently the story appears in the newspaper – for example whether it is a page lead or a full spread.

We will then carry out a full interview, either in person or over the phone. It may also be necessary to arrange a photoshoot if you are happy to do so.

We can read the article back to you upon request before publication to ensure you’re happy with everything. This gives you the opportunity to correct anything that may be inaccurate or request small changes before it goes to print. You don’t always receive this opportunity if you approach a newspaper directly, which is one reason why many people choose to use an intermediary like Talk to the Press.

If you would like to find out more information about selling your story to the Daily Mail or another national newspaper, simply complete the story valuation form on this page. You only need to provide a few of the main points of your story and one of our team will get back to you with an estimate. Alternatively you can call our features team.

Please do not send your story anywhere else in the meantime as we work on an exclusive basis with our contacts. Sending your story to multiple places can reduce the fee your story could achieve, as newspapers will not pay the maximum amount if there is a risk the story may appear elsewhere.

Talk to the Press are here to help you navigate the national media and ensure you are paid the full amount possible for your story. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.