Among the many writers that I’ve corresponded with as the editor of Freedom With Writing, I’ve noticed there is one trap that many writers commonly fall into, and it stops them dead in their tracks.

It’s this: They send out one pitch, then wait, and wait, and wait for a response.

That is one of the most dangerous traps to fall into. The waiting game means you’re giving yourself just one (or two) chances at publication, when you could be giving yourself dozens.

If you want to write a successful pitch that gets you paid, the secret it to send out a lot of pitches. Of course, this does not mean sending out low quality pitches. It means taking the time to craft good pitches that match a publisher’s needs. And then sending the pitch out. And then doing it again, and again.

That’s called the “pitching game” and it’s much more profitable than the “waiting game.”

It is easy to get too hung up about the quality of your pitching if you are sending out just a few pitches. It is easy to overanalyze. Instead of overanalyzing, the way to send out a successful pitch is to continually send out pitches, while also continually work on increasing the quality of your pitches.

It’s a game of luck, persistence, and creativity. It’s an “art.”

That being said, good pitches tend to have three primary elements.

• One: They closely match the publication’s needs. This means you’ve done your research and are proposing an article that the editor would actually want to publish. (You might be surprised at how easy it is to get this wrong.)
• Two: They are concise. Editors are busy. They are generally overwhelmed by work. Your job is to make it easy for them to quickly decide if your proposal fits their needs. They should be able to read and easily understand your email in less than 30 seconds. Shorter is better. This is difficult: There is sometimes a lot of information you need to include. Subject, length, qualifications, a short sample, etc.
• Three: Information about you as a writer, either establishing your credibility, and/or explaining why you’re qualified to write the article.

If you focus on those three elements, and repeatedly send out many pitches, then you’ll be well on your way to getting published and paid for your writing.