If an Editor Doesn’t Need Freelancers Now, Should You Try Later?
Welcome to the Dream of Travel Writing–the Monday Mailbag! We often get questions from readers, folks in our accountability group, or coaching program members that we think would apply to a lot of you.
Now, with permission, agony-aunt-style, we’ll be sharing a new one with you each Monday. If you have a question you’d like to see included, please send it to us at questions [at] dreamoftravelwriting.com and make sure to include a line saying we have permission to reprint your question.
On to the tricky travel writing questions!
The Background
I’ve been seeing similar situations come up often with coaching students and in retreats, so I wanted to share this question with you:
“When an editor gets back on a pitch and says they’re not taking on any new freelancers at the moment, is it okay to pitch them again in a few months in case they’ve started taking freelancers again?
And when I email them back should I say I’ll be doing so or just…do it when the time comes?“
My Advice
“To begin, it depends on the wording. If they don’t have the budget, I think they will be annoyed if you pitch them again. (Not that I haven’t seen editors who say they have no budget show up on TravMedia with a call for writers because they suddenly have money for an advertorial piece or something special.)
If they’re all set for now, though, that’s a very different story, and you should definitely pitch again in a few months, or just pitch a different section at the magazine or different editor there.
However, if the wording is very close to what you’ve said, ‘not taking on new freelancers at the moment,’ that strikes me as something very different, because freelancers aren’t staffers that you have enough of and that’s it. They are constantly pitching and being assigned to.
With the slight caveat that it depends on the publication and I can maybe see (mostly in trades though) situations where that might make sense, I think this is actually a brush off.
In which case, to get closure, I might say something like:
‘Thanks so much for getting back to me and letting me know!I’ve been following [NAME OF MAGAZINE] for a while, and I’d be honored to get a shot at least to pitch when you do have some needs, so please feel free to reach out with anything you’re looking to fill.
Unless traveling, I’d be happy to help out with a last-minute hole or other urgent need or at the very least, connect you with some other available writers with the right background who can help.
In any event, I’ll circle back with you next year and see if your freelance situation has changed.
Thanks again for following up,
You’
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