Rejection is a fact of life for freelance writers. Sometimes a kind-hearted editor takes the time to offer a little direction or nuggets of wisdom (“I really need pitches related to X right now” or “we’ve done enough on Y”), but often we never know the real reason, because we never hear from the editor. Still, if we’re being brutally honest with ourselves, I think we can often see the holes in our query letters. I know I can!
Thus, I’ve compiled a list of 15 potential reasons why you might get rejected. Some of these are tongue-in-cheek, but many of us are pulled from my own rejections (most notably 5-10).
1. You submitted a seasonal idea too late. It’s not too early now to be pitching back-to-school, fall fashion stories, or even Thanksgiving stories to monthly publications.
2. You misspelled the editor’s name. This one’s an easy fix. You know what to do next time.
3. Your voice didn’t match the voice of the magazine. If you’re pitching to BusinessWeek, you’d better not include slang or pop culture references. Likewise, if your target is Seventeen, you need to show that you know the lingo (without trying too hard).
4. Your grammar was a little lacking. This is a nice way of saying that you need to hit the books and bone up. I recommend the Grammar Girl podcast for help on the finer points of grammar.
5. Your query was too general. Don’t say “I want to write about cats,” say “I plan to offer readers 10 ways to save on cat care products.” Make sure that your article idea is clear and focused.
6. Your query was too specific. Sometimes we have the opposite problem and get a little too focused; for instance, “this article will show readers where they can buy vegan cookbooks in Houston” is too narrow for a national consumer audience.
7. You didn’t convince the editor that you can pull it off. If you’re pitching a new-to-you editor and you don’t have major clips, then you have to work extra hard to prove yourself. Include a little original reporting to give her a taste of what’s to come. Or try pitching a front of book (FOB) piece instead of a feature.
8. The publication just covered this topic. Oops! Happens to the best of us. Next time read some back issues or search the archives.
9. The publication is about to cover this topic. C’est la vie. At least it shows that you’re thinking along the right lines. Keep trying!
10. The publication already maxed out its freelance budget. Totally out of your control, so pitch one of their competitors instead.
11. Your topic might scare off advertisers. Unfortunately, this is a concern that many magazines have, especially with advertising dollars so hard to come by. That’s why you may have a hard time selling an expose on inflated airline salaries to most consumer travel magazines. In this case, you’d need something a little more indie and off-beat.
12. Your topic feels tired. Try to come up with a reason why readers will want to read this now. Maybe it’s a new study or a news story or a movie tie-in.
13. Your email got lost in the shuffle. Thus why you should follow-up!
14. Your clips are not impressive. True, some clips are better than no clips, but if they have typos or read like a glorified press release, then they may be doing you a disservice. Keep at it, and you’ll get better clips.
15. The editor was having a bad day. See? It’s not always about you. Sometimes it really is them. And, unfortunately, we as writers can’t do anything to change that.
The bottom line is that there are lots of reasons why we get rejected and not all of them mean we’re destined to fail as writers. In fact, most are simple things and mean that with a few tweaks, we’re back on track. Anything you’d add?
This is great, thanks Susan!
I love that you not only included why ideas are rejected (my agent says PASSED), but also how to fix them.
Regarding your tip #13 — I almost never follow up, and am grateful for the reminder. For me, Tuesday is Pitch Day (though I do pitch on other days), and perhaps Friday can be Follow Up day….hmmmm….
And, I rarely consider ads when pitching ideas — and I certainly never considered how my article may rub advertisers the wrong way!
I got some thinkin’ to do….
Laurie
Let me add a number 16. Provide documentation for any facts or statements in the story. And if you quote anybody, make sure you also include that you have approval to use the quote.
I almost did not get a humorous article published in the Boston Globe, because I forgot to get permission from one of the people who’s conversation I quoted. His was the statement that the entire article hinged on.
Luckily the editor knew me, and dropped me a note asking me to get the okay. Had a been a total stranger to her the piece would have never seen the light of day.
@Laurie: Thanks for commenting! A lot of my assignments are the result of a follow-up, so I’d definitely recommend it. Also, no editor has actually said to me “this idea doesn’t work because of advertisers,” but I have had requests for a rewrite because of that concern, so I figure it could factor into query decisions as well.
@Fibrowitch: That’s another good point! I almost had an article killed because the source wasn’t cooperative with the fact-checkers. Ugh!
@ Susan – I have gotten a bit paranoid about getting permission. I keep saying “can I quote you on that” so often I feel like I should train one of my birds to say it for me.
But it’s got to be done, even on the silly little humor things and throw away fluff things I do.
Susan, I am a real newbie. Can you tell me what you mean by clips?
@Brontepup: Clips is shorthand for writing clips. But if you don’t have any yet, I recommend that new writers really polish their query and not worry about the lack of clips. Don’t apologize (“gee, I don’t have any writing samples to send you – sorry”) and stay positive, because many editors will still give you a shot if the idea is strong enough. Thanks for reading!
Pitching is such a nerve-wrecking ordeal precisely because of all these reasons! I’m definitely going to keep this list handy to go over before I send out pitches. Thanks!
Found this link through twitter.com/rachelhills. A nice list and helpful guide – thanks very much for sharing
Very helpful article Susan! One thing that I have just started following up queries and after four months, the deputy editor got back to me and wants me to write an article on spec which is great! I also found this link through twitter.com/rachelhills.