Ready for a tough one today? Pick up a magazine you’ve wanted to write for but have never pitched. Spend some time looking through it and come up with three ideas for it.

Now write those ideas on a piece of paper on one line each. No more than that. These are your five-second pitches.

Okay, now the hard part. Look through the masthead, find the name of an editor who seems nice and approachable, look up the phone number and…

Call!

Do it. Call and ask who you can pitch stories to. If they ask who you specifically want to talk to, you name the nice editor, get connected and say, “Hi, I’m a freelance writer, and was wondering if you’re open to pitches.” If they ask you what you want, you basically say the same thing and ask for a name. If the editor actually gets on the phone and says, “Hit me,” (it happens), you hit her with those five-second pitches.

If you’re getting nowhere, ask if there might be a convenient time to drop by with your portfolio to discuss freelancing opportunities.

And if that still leads nowhere and you end up getting the phone slammed on your face, hey, you’re still the writer with the balls to call a hotshot editor.