“No” Means “Next Time”
Some of us love pitching, some of us hate it, but for those of us who hate it, nothing sounds as sweet as that of an editor giving you an assignment. It means you have work and you didn’t have to come up with an idea.
But what happens if you just don’t think you’re the man for the job? You’re about to have a baby, you’re about to go on vacation, you have too many assignments or you just don’t know the material. If you say no, does that mean you’re never going to hear from the editor again?
“It depends on the excuse,” says an editor at a men’s magazine I spoke with. “If a writer says ‘I don’t wanna do it,’ then screw you. But I’ve had a writer say, ‘You know, I just don’t think this topic is my wheelhouse,’ and that’s fine. As long as a writer isn’t flip about it.”
“I’ve never actually had a writer turn down an assignment,” says an editor at a teenage girl’s magazine. “BUT, unless they were a totally new face that I was taking a chance on, I would completely understand the schedule thing and not count it against them at all. The only negative point I might take note of is: “this writer is busy, so have a back-up in mind when calling him/her”… but even that is not a negative.”
“I always approach writers ahead of time to see what their schedule and availability to travel is before I narrow down who will actually do it,” says a travel editor at a bridal magazine. “I have had someone refuse me because he was too busy–I appreciated the honesty, and assigned him something later when his schedule cleared up. I would much rather have someone say “I’m too busy” then have someone accept an assignment and then do a half-assed job, or turn it after my deadline. (I am on a deadline too, or I wouldn’t have given them one!) If someone needs a later deadline date, I’d rather sort that out ahead of time-some stories have more flexibility than others. I’ve also had someone turn me down because they didn’t like the destination I needed–it seemed “beneath” them. Needless to say, it’s about the assignment, not about the writer going to their favorite place. I have not approached that person again, nor do I intend to.”
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