Recently I got an email in response to one of my queries saying, “I’d love to take a look at this article on spec. Thanks.” Not exactly a rejection but not what every writer dreams of hearing either. Despite the fact that most professional writers would scoff at writing on spec, I’m tempted to do it.
Here’s why: if the editor was completely disinterested in the topic then she wouldn’t have asked to read the article. If I can gather enough information 0n what style guide they use and the preferred word count, there’s no reason I couldn’t write up the article over the next few weeks (the topic is familiar to me and doesn’t require much research) and wow the editor, potentially leading to other (non-speculative) assignments. Worst case scenario she doesn’t like the article and I sell it elsewhere.
For those who are perhaps unfamiliar with this concept, here are a few other posts to get you up to speed on the topic:
Golden Pencil: Writing On Spec
Inkthinker: Did I Misunderstand What a Query Letter Is?
Quinn Creative: Should You Write On Spec?
What do you think?
More and more editors are asking for spec, citing various spurious reasons. Unless you are starving, best not to fall into that trap. Oh, and ‘disinterested’ means fair and impartial. It’s not the same as ‘uninterested.” Sorry, always the writer looking to fix things.
Given the amount of assignments on my plate, I am leaning towards not writing the piece on spec after all. Of course, it’s standard practice for editors to want to see personal essays on spec, and more often than not, I’ve had to shop it around to multiple magazines before finding a fit, which is a long and time-consuming process.