Aug 14, 2020
When an editor posts a call for pitches, freelancers sometimes respond the way they would to the siren’s call.
The writers retweet them, share them, subscribe to newsletters with them. After weeks of saying they’ll get around to pitching, they suddenly snap to attention.
Typically, the writer skips over analyzing (or even reading) the publication, and sends out a half-developed idea to join the hundreds of others in an inbox queue.
As popular as calls for pitches are, they rarely lead to what writers say they want most: long-term editorial relationships.
What I find interesting is the gap between how excited the call for pitches can make the writer feel and their surge of activity, and the actual outcomes (i.e., no assignment). There are far more systematic ways to find editors commissioning work who are a good fit. And there are replicable methods for sparking creative ideas that editors will want to assign.
If you’ve been answering the siren’s call with little to show for it, today’s episode will help you respond to calls for pitches in a new way.
P.S. This is the 100th episode of the Writing Coach Podcast. To celebrate, I’d really appreciate it if you would please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!
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More info and full show notes: www.rebeccalweber.com/podcast100