Rejection is a fact of life for freelance writers. Sometimes a kind-hearted editor takes the time to offer a little direction or nuggets of wisdom ("I really need pitches related to X right now" or "we've done enough on Y"), but often we never know the real reason, because we never hear from the editor. Still, if we're being brutally honest with ourselves, I think we can often see the holes in our query letters. I know I can!
Thus, I've compiled a list of 15 potential reasons why you might get rejected. Some of these are tongue-in-cheek, but many of us are pulled from my own rejections (most notably 5-10).
1. You submitted a seasonal idea too late. It's not too early now to be pitching back-to-school, fall fashion stories, or even Thanksgiving stories to monthly publications.
2. You misspelled the editor's name. This one's an easy fix. You know what to do next time.
3. Your voice didn't match the voice of the magazine. If you're pitching to BusinessWeek, you'd better not include slang or pop culture references. Likewise, if your target is Seventeen, you need to show that you know the lingo (without trying too hard).
4. Your grammar was a little lacking. This is a nice way of saying that you need to hit the books and bone up. I recommend the Grammar Girl podcast for help on the finer points of grammar.
5. Your query was too general. Don't say "I want to write about cats," say "I plan to offer readers 10 ways to save on cat care products." Make sure that your article idea is clear and focused.
6. Your query was too specific. Sometimes we have the opposite problem and get a little too focused; for instance, "this article will show readers where they can buy vegan cookbooks in Houston" is too narrow for a national consumer audience.
7. You didn't convince the editor that you can pull it off. If you're pitching a new-to-you editor and you don't have major clips, then you have to work extra hard to prove yourself. Include a little original reporting to give her a taste of what's to come. Or try pitching a front of book (FOB) piece instead of a feature.
8. The publication just covered this topic. Oops! Happens to the best of us. Next time read some back issues or search the archives.
9. The publication is about to cover this topic. C'est la vie. At least it shows that you're thinking along the right lines. Keep trying!
10. The publication already maxed out its freelance budget. Totally out of your control, so pitch one of their competitors instead.
11. Your topic might scare off advertisers. Unfortunately, this is a concern that many magazines have, especially with advertising dollars so hard to come by. That's why you may have a hard time selling an expose on inflated airline salaries to most consumer travel magazines. In this case, you'd need something a little more indie and off-beat.
12. Your topic feels tired. Try to come up with a reason why readers will want to read this now. Maybe it's a new study or a news story or a movie tie-in.
13. Your email got lost in the shuffle. Thus why you should follow-up!
14. Your clips are not impressive. True, some clips are better than no clips, but if they have typos or read like a glorified press release, then they may be doing you a disservice. Keep at it, and you'll get better clips.
15. The editor was having a bad day. See? It's not always about you. Sometimes it really is them. And, unfortunately, we as writers can't do anything to change that.
The bottom line is that there are lots of reasons why we get rejected and not all of them mean we're destined to fail as writers. In fact, most are simple things and mean that with a few tweaks, we're back on track. Anything you'd add?