3 pitching roadblocks
Pesky, but totally surpassable!
You are reading Letters from Hannah. If you like it and want more in your inbox, please subscribe.
Hi from 2/3 of the way through my year of 100 pitches. (OMG, what is time, etc.)
A pitch is a tool—a powerful tool for any writer, a way to get your work into the world.
One of my big 2023 goals was to write stories that mattered to me, for big publications. I’ve had some wins, like this labor of love for The Guardian about sustainability and cheese. And this essay about postpartum depression and grilled cheese. And also along the way, a lot of “no thank yous,” and a lot of radio silence. C'est la vie, as any freelancer knows.
I’m on pitch number 60-something. (My accounting has gotten a little messy as I group together some many-pitches-in-one-emails and occasionally forget to update my spreadsheet as I email, follow up, rinse, and repeat.)
These are three things that pop up for me, a now quite experienced pitcher, and what I’m doing about them:
1. Not following up
This just happened to me! An editor I’ve built a great relationship with gave me a polite “nope” in response to my last pitch, and then asked me to send along any ideas for fall. I remember thinking great and pumpkin spice with a twist? at the time. And then I promptly got sucked into other things, and didn’t think about it until right now. (I actually just paused writing this email to send her a few ideas).
If an editor replies at all, this is a good sign. A very good sign. They are bothering to take time from their busy days and crazy inboxes to keep the conversation going. A “no, but…” is 90% of the way to a yes, in my book.
And if they haven’t replied at all, give it something like a week or ten days and then follow up. It takes 10 seconds and cannot hurt. I’ve gotten more yeses this way than the first time around.
2. Not prioritizing pitching
Hey, I’m a busy mom! When I haven’t slept well the night before and my toddler has a runny nose and won’t stop his “mommy mommy mommy,” am I really going to be dreaming up dream stories for dream magazines? No, I’m just going to do what needs to get done and make sure I’m not missing any big, major deadlines.
Or maybe I’ve just heard some yeses and now my focus is shifting to full-on editing, researching, and writing mode. This is a real thing, but I always want to have ideas brewing and early stage projects in the pipeline.
This is my new intention - send out a new pitch or two a week and keep the momentum going. Slow and steady, and all that. Momentum is pretty great. Without it, it’s easier to slip into…
3. The pitching blues
This could also be called DREAD or FEAR or…you get the idea. It happens when I’ve sent out a lot and not got much back, or I’m just feeling low, or my ego is extra fragile. My brain starts to call me a fraud and question that I should be even bothering. It all feels hard, discouraging, and bleak. I don’t think any of us are except from these feelings, at least on occasion.
Here’s my advice for those moments/days/sometimes even longer - take a walk. Get a pep talk from a friend. Give yourself a pep talk. Read something juicy. Then come back, because your words and stories are too important for the fear and the dread to get in the way for too long.
xo,
Hannah
PS Some class updates:
Dinah Lenney and I are about to host the fourth and final Telling your Food Stories class. This has been a complete and utter joy, and I’m sad it’s over. Should we do it again? Something different?
Back by popular demand! Hannah Selinger and I are teaching our third class on HOW TO PITCH. Bring your pitches and we’ll workshop them together, we’ll answer your questions, and we’re share our collective pitching wisdom.
There are a few spots remaining in our HOW TO WRITE A BOOK PROPOSAL class, with my brilliant literary agent Andrea Somberg as our guest speaker.
Speaking of Andrea, she’s agreed to team up with me for a HOW TO FIND A LITERARY AGENT class in early October. This is still hot off the proverbial presses and is going to offer so much for writers looking to make big moves in their careers.
Cheers!
