Source of Sources, explained
Source of Sources is what happened when HARO's founder watched his creation get shut down and rebuilt it himself: one free daily email of vetted journalist requests, no platform, no login. We process every request it sends to power QuotedExpert, so this page uses our real data rather than launch announcements.
What is Source of Sources?
Peter Shankman founded HARO in 2008, sold it in 2010, and watched it pass to Cision, which folded it into a platform called Connectively. When Connectively shut down in December 2024, Shankman launched Source of Sources at sourceofsources.com.
The pitch is deliberate nostalgia. Journalists submit requests, Shankman's team vets them, and one email goes out each day. You reply to the journalist directly from your inbox, exactly as HARO worked at its best.
How Source of Sources works
- 1. A journalist submits a request. They describe the story, the expert they need and the deadline, and the request is vetted before it runs.
- 2. One email lands each day. Around nine requests per email in our data, grouped and readable in minutes.
- 3. You reply by email. Your pitch goes to the journalist from your own address. There is no platform in between.
- 4. The journalist picks. Winning replies get quoted, usually with name, title, company and often a link.
Source of Sources in numbers: our processing data
QuotedExpert has processed the Source of Sources feed continuously since May 2026, alongside the HARO firehose. These figures come from that processing, with the recent window ending 9 November 2026.
| Measure | What we see |
|---|---|
| Requests processed since May 2026 | 1,945 |
| Requests per day, last 30 days | About 12, in one daily email of roughly nine requests |
| Distinct outlets | 547, including Forbes, USA Today, Southern Living and Medscape |
| Typical deadline | About four days (median 100 hours from landing to deadline) |
| Fast movers | About 12% close within 24 hours, between HARO (17%) and Qwoted (9%) |
The shape is different from HARO, not just smaller. One short email with longer deadlines respects your attention, and the vetting shows in the outlet mix.
What does Source of Sources cost?
Nothing. It is free for sources and journalists, with no paid tier changing what you receive.
Your cost is a few minutes of reading a day and the pitches themselves. Of the four sources we track, it is the cheapest in attention as well as money.
How to get quoted on Source of Sources
- Read the whole email. At nine requests, full coverage takes minutes. This is the one feed where seeing everything is realistic.
- Reply the same day anyway. Deadlines average four days, but journalists assemble stories from early replies.
- Lead with the answer. First sentence usable as the quote, one credential line, then supporting detail.
- Be a person, not a template. A small, vetted community notices mass-blasted pitches quickly, and the same journalists return.
- Stay in your lane. Relevance is the whole currency here. One off-topic pitch costs more trust than it can win.
The craft transfers from HARO directly. Our pitch template and pitch guide apply line for line.
Source of Sources' limits
- Volume. Twelve requests a day against HARO's 43 means niche topics can go quiet for stretches.
- One edition a day. A request that lands just after today's email waits until tomorrow, and 12% of deadlines close within 24 hours.
- Everything is manual. Reading, judging and writing are all on you, with no matching and no drafting help.
- No extras. No expert database, no analytics, no alerts. The simplicity is the product, and also the ceiling.
How QuotedExpert relates to Source of Sources
Source of Sources is one of the four sources QuotedExpert monitors, alongside HARO, Featured and Qwoted. Every request is scored against your expertise and core offering the moment it lands, rather than waiting for you to read the daily email.
Matches arrive with a draft in your voice, ready to send from your own email. It keeps the part of Source of Sources people love, the direct journalist relationship, and removes the daily reading habit it depends on.
Common questions
- What is Source of Sources?
- Source of Sources is a free daily email of journalist requests, run by Peter Shankman, the founder of HARO. Journalists submit requests for expert quotes, subscribers get one email a day, and replies go straight back to the journalist by email. There is no platform to log into.
- Who runs Source of Sources?
- Peter Shankman. He founded HARO in 2008 and sold it in 2010; it later became part of Cision, which folded it into Connectively and shut that down in December 2024. Shankman built Source of Sources as the independent, back-to-basics successor.
- Is Source of Sources free?
- Yes, for sources and journalists alike. Like HARO, the cost is your time reading the email and writing replies, though at roughly nine requests per email that reading takes minutes rather than the half hour HARO demands.
- How many requests does Source of Sources send?
- We have processed 1,945 Source of Sources requests since May 2026, and 366 in the 30 days to 9 November 2026, about 12 a day in a single daily email. They came from 547 distinct outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Southern Living and Medscape.
- Source of Sources vs HARO: which is better?
- They are the same idea at different scales. HARO sends about 43 requests a day across three editions with no filtering; Source of Sources sends about 12 a day in one vetted email. HARO wins on volume and range, Source of Sources wins on signal and reading time. Most experts benefit from both, which is why QuotedExpert monitors the pair.
- Does QuotedExpert cover Source of Sources?
- Yes. Source of Sources is one of the four sources QuotedExpert monitors, alongside HARO, Featured and Qwoted. Its requests are scored against your expertise, and matches reach you with a draft ready rather than as one more email to scan.
Last updated 9 November 2026, by the QuotedExpert team in London. Request data measured from our own processing of the Source of Sources feed, May to November 2026.
Comparing the platforms side by side? See all 7 HARO alternatives compared →