Finally, a very short sentence to close the pitch<\/strong>. This part shows you\u2019re easy to work with. Say something like \u201cthank you for your consideration.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThat\u2019s it. Three sentences. (Surrounded by Dear Editor, and Sincerely, Author Name.)<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re able to summarize a good idea in just one sentence, it also shows you have a deep understanding of both the publication and the idea.<\/p>\n
Sure, you can go long and double the length. Sometimes it is necessary, depending on the idea, but often it just makes it harder on the editor.<\/p>\n
But, a three sentence pitch is all you need to send.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind, that the work you\u2019ve done before writing the pitch is what ultimately determines the success of the pitch.<\/p>\n
Will the editor be excited by the idea?<\/p>\n
Does the idea closely fit what they publish?<\/p>\n
Does the idea provide value not easily acquired by other writers? (Such as exclusive access, domain-level expertise, or a unique perspective?)<\/p>\n
If at first you fail, keep calm and pitch again.<\/h2>\n
Based on feedback from my readers at Freedom With Writing, as well as through mentoring writers via our training programs at Writing Launch, I\u2019ve discovered a common pitfall that holds quite a few writers back.<\/p>\n
I recently got an email from a writer whose application was rejected by a content marketing agency.<\/p>\n
She was \u201cabsolutely disgusted\u201d with the company. She wanted to take their rejection email and \u201cshove it where the sun don’t shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clearly, they had hit a nerve. To her, this was a deeply personal rejection.<\/p>\n
In her mind, they hadn\u2019t rejected her writing. They had rejected her. <\/i> They had told her that she wasn\u2019t good enough.<\/i><\/p>\n
Writing can be such a deeply personal part of our identities. For many writers, this isn\u2019t just about our ability to write, but about our value as unique and important individuals.<\/p>\n
Writing is art — and it sometimes connects with the most vulnerable parts of who we are.<\/p>\n
However, in order to get published again and again, a writer needs to develop a thick skin.<\/p>\n
And the most surefire way to do that is to take a step back, and separate your attempts at getting published from your identity as a writer.<\/p>\n
Instead of thinking about the pitching process as \u201cselling yourself,\u201d think about it as selling solutions to people\u2019s problems. For magazine editors, that could mean giving them the right article at the right time.<\/p>\n
Think of this as a way to externalize things. It takes the pressure off, creating the ability to think about things more objectively, and as a lot more fun.<\/p>\n
Zachary Schwartz, in his quest to get published by Vice, had to face rejection multiple times.<\/p>\n
He could have taken each rejection personally, as a slight against his work. However, with each rejection, he took a step back, and looked for the best way to move forward.<\/p>\n
He had worked very hard to gain exclusive access to exactly the type of feature story Vice loves to publish. He even went ahead and wrote a 1,500 word article. He then pitched six editors at Vice.<\/p>\n
And then he waited.<\/p>\n
None of them responded.<\/p>\n
Instead of giving up, he sent a short follow up message.<\/p>\n
He finally got three responses. All of them rejected his original article.<\/p>\n
One of the editors, however, was willing to work with him, but he would have to completely rewrite the article, turning it into a Q&A. (Making the work even less about the author than it had ever been!).<\/p>\n
At any point in the process, he could have focused inward, attempting to express himself, and his identity as a writer. Instead, he continually focused outward, carefully studying the situation, and adjusting his actions based on the situation in front of him.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how he broke into writing for a major publication as a teenager.<\/p>\n
Zachary Schwartz\u2019s full case study will be published soon, in our upcoming edition of The Paid Publishing Guidebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before You Craft the Pitch At 19 years old, Zachary Schwartz was determined to get published on Vice, a major website with millions of visitors a month. He\u2019d never been paid to write before, and had never done any paid journalism. But he was determined. And he succeeded. If you want to write a pitch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5272"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5280,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272\/revisions\/5280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}