I could blame my recent airline debacle for pushing me behind schedule. But really, it’s more a case of my chronic tendency to overschedule myself. At one point, I had four articles due on Friday and another due on Monday (totalling, oh, like 4,000 words), but I’ve managed to shuffle deadlines a bit.
For one of the articles, I didn’t start contacting expert sources until I was back in town. This was deliberate because I didn’t want people to email me back during a week when I didn’t have time to schedule interviews. But then I started emailing new-to-me sources in an attempt to broaden my network of sources and it was a collossal disaster. I don’t blame these people (after all, this is prime vacation season) and I might try contacting them again in the future, but it’s a major bummer when you’re on deadline and need sources.
So, I went back to drawing board and decided to simplify. True, I could have used HARO or LinkedIn instead of selectively emailing people, but I knew that with this particular topic, I would be inundated with more responses than I could ever use. I wanted to be able to handpick people who had the right conversational style. So, I went through my email contacts and reconnected with sources I’ve used in the past for other publications. Both sources agreed to interviews within a few hours and were happy to help. It was so easy, it almost felt like cheating. But that’s why it’s a good idea to build your network NOW!
PS Once things calm down, I’ll work on finding more new-to-me sources, but this time I was just glad to have any sources.
Susan, I am glad everything worked out alright and you met your deadlines. I can’t wait to start interviews and finding sources to use. When the time comes, do you have any articles on how to do this? Appreciate the insight!
@Sal: of course I do! Here’s one post on the topic: http://www.urbanmusewriter.com/2007/12/finding-sources-through-social.html. But you should note that since that was published, “Help a Reporter” created a separate wesbite. The new URL is helpareporter.com.
Ugh, I know the feeling of needing sources, Susan. I once had a couple news pieces due and my sources had to be very specific. After getting the runaround from some pretty reputable organizations, I finally tracked someone down–at home. It was the only time I’ve had to ask for a deadline extension. I’m glad yours worked out!
I can so relate to this post! Spent the past two days trying to find experts sources for a feature article. My usual people couldn’t help,as it’s a new-to-me niche, and sources they referred me to could not help either. But I made new connections during my search, and one of them gave me an article idea for my weekly column. So it’s all good.
BTW Susan, I’d read your “finding sources” before, and used the “Help a Reporter” web site to find new to me sources. Two of the sources that panned out for this feature came from that service.
I also used LinkedIn to find sources for a series of profiles. When updating my status, I explain the projects I’m working on and ask people in my network who fit my criteria to respond. So far, I’ve had one pitch that turned into a profile article (sold and published now)and two more that are still in development.
So thanks for the help.
@Damaria: glad you found it helpful! I really love HARO and find it to be a huge help.