Career Advice

‘Just Not Right For Us’ — Editorspeak, Decoded

By Grace Bello August 7th, 2013

For those new to the freelance writing game, editors’ terse replies may seem cryptic. Thing is, they are.

But oftentimes an editor’s quick remarks hint at how you can improve your article pitches, personal essays, and opinion pieces in general — and how you can further entice this editor in particular.

Read on for editorspeak, decoded.

‘Just Not Right For Us’

Laura HelmuthSlate‘s science and health editor, told TFS by email that, when she uses the phrase above, “It usually means that the story doesn’t quite fit Slate’s style.”

Her publication, an online-only general interest site, favors provocative reads: “We don’t do a lot of straight stories about science and medicine; our stories tend to be opinionated or surprising or funny.” So while it’s possible you’ve got a great science story, it might not be surprising enough to land in Slate.

Charles Blackstone, managing editor at the online literary magazine Bookslut, nixes any pitches that seem too broad. He told TFS by email, “Typos, generic pitches that clearly have been sent from publication to publication, genres we have never covered and wouldn’t cover (like prescriptive nonfiction), these things fall into the ‘not the right fit’ category.”

The best way a writer can improve his chances of landing an assignment is to do some research on the magazine. Take a peek at their media kit, which tells you the demographics of their audience. And read their online archives or back issues to find out what tone or style they’re interested in. Is it authoritative? Conversational? Snarky?

But above all, Family Circle health director Lynya Floyd wrote, “[If you’re] pitching Essence? Don’t write in your letter that you think your story is perfect for Ebony. Spell the editor’s name right. And make sure she still works there.”

‘Please Pitch Again’

“When I say ‘please pitch again,’ I really mean it,” said Helmuth. “It’s tough to nail a publication’s tone and audience on the first try, or even the tenth. And you never know what else a publication has going on in-house and how your pitch will fit with the rest of the lineup.”

When asked how he indicates that he’s interested in working with a writer, Blackstone said, “I often will ask for more. Sometimes we’ll ask for a revision of the pitch (or of the piece, if we’ve read it) if we feel there’s something there that just needs more developing and refining.”

Floyd, too, encourages writers who seem to be on the right track: “I ask him or her to please pitch us again. I try not to let good pitches or writers go astray, and I think most magazine editors walk the same line. In fact, you have no idea how often we’re told by our supervising editors to find new talent.”

When editors ask you to pitch again, they’re not just trying to be nice. They see potential in you, and they indeed want to hear more.

No Response

But what if you get the worst response — which is no reply at all? Blackstone said, “The silence is probably a sign that something about the pitch wasn’t clicking.” In his case, however, “I pretty much respond to everything that comes personally addressed.”

One strategy, though, is to create a deadline so that, even without a response, you’ll know when it’s safe to start pitching an alternate publication. Ask an editor to “please respond within two weeks if you’re interested,” and you politely establish a timeframe within which they should get back to you.

Blackstone offered an unconventional tactic: “If you happen to live in the same city, or are planning to visit the editor’s city, definitely pitch lunch or drinks! I’m so much more likely to read something and work to get the editor-in-chief to agree we should accept a pitch when I’ve had a dirty martini with the future contributor.”

As for Helmuth, she feels the pain of writers who don’t receive replies: “I never quite know what to say about editors who never reply to pitches, other than to speak to them directly: Editors, cut that out. You’re giving the rest of us a bad name.”

Image courtesy Rafael Anderson Gonzales Mendoza/Flickr

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