As I touched on in my last post, the worst part of being a novice freelancer is that you often feel as if you’re working in vain. Queries get rejected or ignored by editors. Articles written on spec get turned down. Some kick-ass idea you labored over and researched suddenly turns up in your targeted magazine just as you were about to hit send.
But just today I got a little reminder that a writer’s work is never necessarily a waste of time. Last May, I pitched an idea to a small niche national magazine and was duly rejected. Apparently, the rejection had nothing to with my proposed topic – the editor said that she was so backlogged, she was not accepting any new writers at the time. I was disappointed, of course. It was always sucks to get dinged no matter the reason. Plus, I had spent a substantial amount of time researching the subject while on vacation in the U.S., squeezing library time in between breastfeeding the baby and visiting family and friends that I hardly ever see. And because the idea was for a niche magazine I had no clue who else I could pitch it to.
About a month ago, however, I read that the editor of this magazine had changed. I decided to resend my pitch – who knows? Maybe this editor would have things more under control. I hit send and waited. And waited and waited and waited. Nothing. Yesterday, I decided to send a follow-up email before dropping the idea forever. This time, I got an instant response from the editor saying he liked my idea and could I have the proposed article ready by mid-January?
Um, hells yeah.
How cool is that? Good thing I kept an eye on this magazine and followed-up on my query! Two valuable lessons, I think, on how to make sure your work isn’t in vain.
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