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Topic: When it ok to ask editor to confirm??
| Author | Message |
| Colette | Posted – 5/8/2008 2:43:34 PM | show profile I sent a pitch to a magazine and the editor wrote back saying she loved the idea - and to please send in a fleshed-out proposal. I did as requested and didn't hear back for a week, so I emailed her asking if she received it. She responded straight away and said yes, she's been busy and hasn't read it yet. Now it's been another week (just over actually). Of course I have no idea if she now hates the idea or if she's just been too busy to read and respond... damn. Is this time-frame normal or would you assume it's a no-go? I want to shop it around if she turns me down, but how will I know if I don't get a response? At what point is it ok to ask directly "No problem if you aren't interested, but can you just let me know?" |
| Marie | Posted – 5/8/2008 3:07:24 PM | show profile Don't word it so negatively. Ideally call, sound enthusiastic, and say that although [fill in name of magazine] is your absolute first choice for publication, you need to know by [name a reasonable day and date] if they're interested, because if they're not, you want to sell the story elsewhere. Then if you don't hear back by the day you named, move on (if you want call one more time). Even if you move on, the magazine might still get back to you much later and ask if the piece is still available. If you haven't sold it, then you can sell it to them. This saves you from waiting around fruitlessly and losing out on other markets. |
| RockinRonD | Posted – 5/8/2008 3:38:43 PM | show profile | email poster Don't Wait I'd send the same pitch letter out elsewhere and let the first editor who gives you a go-ahead have it (provided of course they're offering the same or reasonably similar pay rate). No sense in waiting around for some editor to make up their mind. You could starve to death. Or your phones could get shut off. Or your electricty shut down (and there goes your computer). |
| Colette | Posted – 5/8/2008 4:34:35 PM | show profile Thanks Marie and RockinRonD Marie - in your experience, did I give enough time or should I wait a bit? You are right about making it very positive and giving a date when I need a response. RockinRonD - sounds like we've had the same experiences with swamped (or passive aggressive?!) editors. Maybe we all have. The waiting is, indeed, the hardest part. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 5/8/2008 5:44:20 PM | show profile I think Marie gives the best advice. Call -- do not email -- and touch base with the editor, asking when you can expect a firm answer. Be enthusiastic and casual. On that date, if the editor hasn't responded, call again and check in. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 5/8/2008 8:50:46 PM | show profile I just heard yesterday about a pitch I submitted last October, Fleshed out, etc. If you do call and the editor has no response yet, don't hint that you'd like to send it along immediately. Ask her for a date when you should follow up (two weeks? a month)? Then do so. Then the bit about wanting to shop it around, though that should be considered a given. |
