Your email subject line is arguably the most important part of any pitch.

Editors will decide to open your email, or send it straight to the trash, based on your subject line.

Welcome to part 10-of-11 of our subject lines newsletter series.

In each edition you’ll see the subject line we *actually used* that an editor *actually opened*, leading to press for one of our Wolf PR clients.

For each winner, you’ll also see a subject line that most editors would delete.

Do- get specific.

Like articles for a gift recipient (think, gifts for: foodies, students, moms), publications create content around themes.

A few examples are: astrology, luxe, cozy, travel, and pet-friendly. When working on pitch angles, think of themes like characteristics you use to describe what you sell.

There are common themes that come up over and over. Astrology is a HUGE one. Publications write astrology articles all year. There’s a new sign to talk about every month. It’s a no brainer to pitch this angle!

Maybe you’re thinking, “that’s a soft ball, the glass has a Capricorn sign on it. It’s an astrology product!” But the article has other “Gifts for Capricorns” — a “Karma Candle”, black scrunchie, and CBD gummies.

Now, was a scrunchie designed for Capricorns only? Of course not! But they found a creative way to connect their work to Capricorn attributes.

Read the publications you want to pitch, see how they’re putting each piece together, and get creative with your story angles!

Don’t- write subject lines that
don’t give enough information.

Avoid general phrases like “excited to be in touch”, “looking forward to hearing from you”, “reaching out”, etc.

These types of phrases eat up your very valuable subject line word count but don’t give the editor any useful information. And it’s obvious that you’re looking to get in touch, it’s an email after all.

Remember to put yourself in the editor’s shoes. You’re emailing someone who gets 100+ emails per day. That’s a lot of emails.

What are emails you open or don’t open, just based on the subject line?

Thanks for giving our newsletter a bit of time in your inbox!

Nora & Kirsten

PS — We’re already brainstorming some new PR services and ways to help you next year….

If there’s a topic you’d like help on, or something you’d like to learn from us in 2025 please respond and let us know!

How to work with us

If you want to get great at telling your story, for more
press and more clients, we can help!