Publications, especially good or interesting or popular ones, share a common problem: Most unsolicited story pitches are so far off the mark that many of them make the editorial assistant (since that’s the person who usually judges pitches) wonder why they bother. Then they come across the 1 in 100 that is perfect. That’s why.

The percentage of total pitches that are bad can be reduced, however, if a publication is really clear about what it’s looking for and why. This American Life‘s pitch guidelines are amazing in their level of helpful detail. They clearly want you to pitch them a good story, because that is a win-win for them: They are more likely to get a great story, and they don’t waste their time reading the pitch emails. Also, it makes people happy to place a story.

In the first two grafs, the guidelines tell what they’re looking for in a pitch. But in the next section, they show you successful pitches and say why they were successful:

Here are some real pitches we got that were effective and made it into the show. They all do a few things that helped us say yes to them. First, each of these stories is a story in the most traditional sense: there are characters in some situation, and a conflict. These pitchers are clear about who the characters are and what the conflict is. Also: each of these stories raises some bigger question or issue, some universal thing to think about. That’s also pretty important, and you stand a better chance at getting on the air if you let us know what that is too.

The best writers’ guidelines set clear expectations and also set writers (or audio storytellers) up for success. This American Life‘s guidelines are just perfect. (It’s also worth noting that they’re written in the same conversational, familiar tone in which they expect the pitches to be written and the stories to be told. Nice touch.)