The inside scoop on pitching - and just how long it can take (as you may well know)
I know many of you work with journalists on articles and then patiently wait to see it go live. I thought it might be helpful to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be the journalist scurrying away on a piece.
Last week I landed a commission for a piece I had been pitching for FIFTEEN MONTHS. I also secured a commission for an idea I started pitching five months ago. And I have a commissioned piece still to go live that I pitched 14 months ago and was given the green light by an editor about four months ago.
I wouldn't like all of my pitches (scratch that...ANY OF) to be this long-winded as it takes a lot of time and energy (and nail-biting). To be honest, with all that chasing, researching other publications to pitch to, rewording emails to target different editors and so on, honestly, sometimes I think it’s not worth it financially or emotionally. It can be draining on all fronts.
The first piece just mentioned was a travel story from last year when I took off for six and a half months. I had a handful of complimentary tours and experiences in return for including them in an article (or trying to, because, as explained below, nothing is guaranteed). I thought the idea would be picked up quite quickly but one editor left me hanging for a year. She was interested, cooled off, and in the meantime I wrote the piece just so I had everything fresh in my mind, and then every month, I would follow up. It was actually draining. I also tried many other publications in the meantime. Eventually, the original editor said no. I tried more publications. In the end, I just wanted it off my hands. And I might have ditched it months ago if it was not for wanting to ensure the organisations involved would get press. And so, after 15 months of trying, one publication that I’d never written for before said yes. Result (and phew).
The second story is from my trip this year and is a travel idea based on an area I visited in Colombia in March. I actually first pitched this editor in January. I didn’t hear anything. I also tried again in April. And then again and again. She responded late last month, assuming her email was too late, but I quickly followed up three times, though she didn’t respond. Then she responded last week and commissioned me. In the meantime, I tried other publications and specialist magazines and it was either rejected or I didn't hear back. Again, for this one I’d had about four experiences for free and wanted to write about the area which isn’t a hugely well-known spot to international visitors.
I’ve mentioned this before but last year I spent six months working on a story about forced disappearances in Jalisco in Mexico before I even visited, and didn't have a commission till weeks after. Fortunately, it was published by the Guardian last year.
Several points to share from this:
Journalists rely on being given experiences/tours/products etc by PRs/founders of businesses in order to write about the experience/product. I could not have experienced the tours in the above articles without their help. Maybe I would have forked out for one myself but that wouldn’t have been enough to write the angle of the pieces. Travel editors want you to really delve into a place, and not (generally) to have just done one thing in an area as that doesn’t give you enough to then write about it. Given the low pay in journalism, we have to be given free experiences in order to cover it (though I did pay for my own meals etc in these destinations).
Nothing is guaranteed. Even confirmed commissions can fall through, which I saw earlier this year when a piece I spent about 30-40 hours on was "killed". There’s a level of trust involved. But hopefully the above shows a/ how tough it is to land a commission and b/why you need to have patience. I have a piece coming up that will go live at least 18 months after I first pitched it. But honestly, please don’t make a journalist feel bad as believe me, most will be going through rigmarole after rigmarole to get it published.
Have patience. I appreciate the PRs who don’t chase and chase and know that I’m working my ass off to find commissions. What PRs can do is share contacts, suggest editors to pitch to and be as useful as possible. That’s a win-win for all of us.
I’d rather not work like this. I’m so glad all my commissions don’t go through this slow and ugly process. It’s time-consuming and takes up a lot of energy. Thankfully last week I pitched a piece to my BBC editor and he said yes a few days later. That’s the kind of relationship I like, but I’ve been working with him for 11 years now.
Also, I know this isn’t new to yourselves. I say in my workshops that I have much empathy and sympathy for PRs as pitching is what I do for a living and I know many find yourselves in the above scenarios I’ve just outlined.
I still have many stories I’m trying to get published. I turned down some work recently as I said to one editor that I want to spend time trying to land commissions from stories I’ve already worked on. As many of you know, it takes time to research who to pitch at titles you’re not familiar with. Google searches come up with old names. Many publications don’t accept freelance pitches. People have moved on. It’s laborious.
The problem is with fewer titles and smaller budgets, it’s becoming even harder to find a home for that idea you just want to work on and then move on from. But when it does happen, there's a strong rush of relief.