And so I type...
Confession...I haven't been spending my precious designated writing time doing much actual writing lately. I've spent it pitching, and I'm feeling exhausted and disillusioned by the process. I enjoy crafting the pitches themselves (because, writing) but what drains me is the endless research to find appropriate pubs, then more research to figure out who best to send pitches to, and then there is the waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I have not worked as an editor, but I can imagine they are inundated with pitches on the daily, so I'm not judging; I'm just expressing...frustration from my end of things.
I would prefer rejections, even nasty rejections, over this agonizing silence. Because a rejection is feedback, even if it is a form rejection. It tells me that I need to reassess my approach (or, after multiple rejections, my ideas). But not knowing whether a pitch is a "no" or if it's languishing in a slush pile of never-to-be-opened emails is not constructive for me in any way. So after a couple of weeks, I follow up. The majority of my commissions have come after a first follow-up. But more often than not that follow-up goes unanswered. Now my pitch has been sitting for a month, and meanwhile my bank account dwindles. If I knew an idea was rejected I could move on to the work of pitching it elsewhere. The "cast a wide net" approach I've sometimes heard advocated doesn't appeal to me as a writer. I take care to craft my pitches thoughtfully and with a publication's tone, content, and voice in mind. I start with a clear summary of the "big idea" and give a sense of the shape a piece will take. I want to show editors through a quality pitch that they can expect quality work from me. But at what point am I putting too much effort into this? Or maybe I just need to continue doing the hard work and hope something turns around.... Writers out there, what are your thoughts? Is there anything you have tried that makes your pitches stand out and get noticed?
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Kelly McQuillan
Musings on creativity, productivity, and how to juggle it all with family life... Archives
December 2019
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