How to get your startup covered by WIRED
TL;DR
WIRED is a technology, science and culture magazine owned by Condé Nast that says it reaches more than 30 million people each month. Coverage is free and editorial: staff writers cover news, and the public "How to Pitch Stories to WIRED" page lists the desk editors and their contacts. It suits startups with a story about how technology changes people's lives, backed by evidence.
What is WIRED?
WIRED describes itself as a publication about change, about the ways science and technology reshape the world. It covers business, politics, science, security, culture and gear, publishes long narrative features, and prints a magazine at least four times a year. Its founders gave writers one instruction in 1993, and WIRED still quotes it: Amaze us.
The pitch page sets the rules plainly. Staff writers cover breaking news across all desks, outside contributors mostly write longform features, and WIRED does not run opinion pieces.
Who should pitch WIRED?
- Startups at the centre of a real change in technology or science, with characters, stakes and a timeline a writer can reconstruct.
- Founders with documents, data or firsthand evidence that reveal something new about an industry.
- Consumer hardware and gadget makers whose product suits the Reviews team.
- Skip it for funding announcements, press releases and opinion articles: WIRED wants stories, and it publishes no guest opinion pieces.
How much does WIRED cost?
Editorial coverage is free and cannot be bought. Advertising goes to Condé Nast at adinquiries@condenast.com, with no published prices. Product reviews come from the WIRED Reviews team of 15 full-time staffers, which tests products in real life over long periods. WIRED earns affiliate commissions on some purchases, and its policy says the affiliate program runs independently from the newsroom. Freelance writers get paid for assigned stories, at about $1 per word for a typical assignment, which matters only if you plan to pitch as a writer.
How do you get your startup covered by WIRED?
- Read the How to Pitch Stories to WIRED page. It names the editors per desk, such as senior business editors Louise Matsakis and Sophie Kleeman, and Michael Calore for consumer tech and culture, with their email addresses.
- For news, find the staff writer who covers your field on the WIRED staff page, which lists Signal contacts, and send a short tip.
- For a bigger story, send the desk editor a pitch built around a narrative: what happened, who the main characters are, why it matters beyond your company. WIRED suggests 500 to 700 words for feature pitches.
- Check that WIRED has not run a similar story recently, and say how yours moves the topic forward.
- Use press@wired.com only for questions about WIRED itself: it belongs to the communications team.
Tips to get more out of WIRED
- Pitch a story, with a beginning and stakes, and leave the product brochure out. WIRED writes that it wants a tale you're going to tell.
- Bring evidence: documents, test results, usage data, named customers.
- Look for the faint signals of change WIRED says it hunts for. A niche trend with real users beats a broad claim.
Our verdict
WIRED is a hard target for a startup and a strong one for a founder with a true story about change. Funding news and launch announcements go nowhere; documented stories with stakes get a hearing. Read the pitch page closely, then write to one editor or writer.
The domain authority shown belongs to wired.com as a whole, and editors decide whether a story links to you, so the real gain is readers and credibility.
More options: see all tech media, blogs and newsletters. Planning a launch around press coverage? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.