Did you pitch for my Forbes Father's Day Gift Guides (or still want to)? Read this!

I'm sharing some more details (and tough love), as most of the pitches missed the mark :(

May 21, 2025

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

In last week’s post, I shared that I’m now contributing to Forbes (yay!) and listed 2 Father’s Day gift guide assignments … unfortunately, the vast majority of the 216 pitches I received missed the mark.

I’m going to say it’s mostly my fault … I should have given better directions. However, some of this stuff should have been common sense or clear if you’d read my bullet points and have seen Forbes gift guides before.

So, I’m adding some details here to help guide you (scroll down further to see the assignments and how to pitch me):

NO products (seriously, automatic delete)
Use the subject lines I requested … if you don’t, I won’t see your pitch. These are the exact words I’m typing into my search bar … if you get creative or go rogue, it won’t populate when I go to write. Help me help you.
These need to be experiences for a U.S.-based audience (nobody is flying their family to Europe on a week’s notice to spend Father’s Day at a distillery)
These experiences shouldn’t be tied to a specific date … so many of you pitched special menus at restaurants for Father’s Day or a golf package weekend for Father’s Day … it’s too late for people to plan a trip to another city for Father’s Day to take advantage of these specials.
Ideally, these experiences need to be available around the country … so for instance, a private jet or yacht company where you can charter a flight or sail to the location of your choosing. Or an online class you can take from anywhere. Or anything digital, really. Or a golf brand that offers lessons and has locations in a bunch of cities across the country. Or a hotel chain that has a really cool offering and is available in a bunch of cities nationwide. Or something like ResortPass or ClassPass, which you can use all over the country. Make sense?
The reader needs to be able to purchase this experience with a link to click … a lot of the pitches I received had no link to actually buy the experience. I can’t do anything with that. If you don’t provide me with the basics, I’m not going to write back and ask for them … I’m just going to move on to the next pitch. I have 20 slots and hundreds of options.
The good news is: Some of the pitches I received gave me ideas for other stories to write … so please know that I’m saving everything and you may be hearing from me at a later date about a different story/gift guide!

Ok, I’m looking forward to receiving some fresh and spot-on pitches :)

And please do NOT follow up on pitches already sent … if it’s a fit (again, few were), I’ll let you know in the coming days.

Scroll down to see those 2 assignments and how to pitch me!

Thank you,

Jill

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Share Jill Schildhouse's Call for Pitches

—— Current Editorial Needs ——

1. Forbes Father’s Day Gift Guide: First Class Experiences For the Busy Executive

Note: This is about EXPERIENCES, not products.
The sky is the limit here, but think luxury, intimate, exclusive, special.
Please send compelling pitches and a link to the experience.
Subject line: Forbes Father’s Day First Class Experiences
Email: JillSchildhouse@gmail.com
Pitch by: Tuesday May 27

2. Forbes Father’s Day Gift Guide: The Ultimate Gift Guide to Gifting Time Together

Again, I’m focused on EXPERIENCES, not products
Looking for ideas across every budget for couples or the whole family
Things like cooking or mixology or golf classes, travels, a couples spa day, etc.
Subject line: Forbes Father’s Day Gifting Time
Email: JillSchildhouse@gmail.com
Pitch by: Tuesday May 27

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