"What does this rejection *really* mean?" reminds me of one I've been pondering from The Atlantic: "I think this pitch sounds very good and interesting, but unfortunately our psychology and science team is just too overloaded to take this on right now, so we'll have to pass, with regret, and wish you luck in finding a good home for it elsewhere." — That was maybe 6 weeks ago, plus some potentially relevant stuff came up in the news last week. Would it be a major faux pas to ask the editor if the timing might be better for them now?
Good question! I don’t think it would be terribly off to follow up — this was a pretty encouraging rejection! But I’d definitely be light and delicate about it and just casually ask if things have changes (especially if there have been substantial new updates to the idea as a whole). Expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised if they’re interested this time around!
Hi Tim. Thanks so much for these tips. Honestly, I've become discouraged with pitching which translates to not doing it much. I understand it is part of the freelancing package and it isn't even the rejections that are getting to me. What is getting to me is the difficulty in finding the right editor to pitch a specific story and, even more challenging, finding their email or contact information. I have tried lots of tricks (Hunter, Signal, various databases, etc.) but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find editors' contact information. This is particularly true for larger publications especially the NY Times. Do you have any thoughts to keep me from giving up altogether? Thanks again. Hope you are well. Hugs!
"What does this rejection *really* mean?" reminds me of one I've been pondering from The Atlantic: "I think this pitch sounds very good and interesting, but unfortunately our psychology and science team is just too overloaded to take this on right now, so we'll have to pass, with regret, and wish you luck in finding a good home for it elsewhere." — That was maybe 6 weeks ago, plus some potentially relevant stuff came up in the news last week. Would it be a major faux pas to ask the editor if the timing might be better for them now?
Good question! I don’t think it would be terribly off to follow up — this was a pretty encouraging rejection! But I’d definitely be light and delicate about it and just casually ask if things have changes (especially if there have been substantial new updates to the idea as a whole). Expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised if they’re interested this time around!
Thank you, Tim! Appreciate your thoughts. : )
Hi Tim. Thanks so much for these tips. Honestly, I've become discouraged with pitching which translates to not doing it much. I understand it is part of the freelancing package and it isn't even the rejections that are getting to me. What is getting to me is the difficulty in finding the right editor to pitch a specific story and, even more challenging, finding their email or contact information. I have tried lots of tricks (Hunter, Signal, various databases, etc.) but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find editors' contact information. This is particularly true for larger publications especially the NY Times. Do you have any thoughts to keep me from giving up altogether? Thanks again. Hope you are well. Hugs!