A day late but still worth it!
Yesterday I learned a kinda new freelance lesson, but not one I didn’t somewhat already know. And the second lesson isn’t really a lesson for me, since I’ve done it before with success, but it never hurts to remind you of yet another great way into an editor’s fold.
Old Lesson, revisited:
In visiting with my summer camp director a few weeks ago in her office, I spied a copy of a summer camp trade magazine for program and director people, and browsed through the content. I liked what I saw–and wish I’d have seen it sooner. I figured there were topics covered in past issues that I, as a camp program director for like the last ten years, could have used at some point. Immediately, though, my first thought was, “I have perfect experience for this publication and I want to write for them.” I noted the url and visited at home that evening. I sent off a nice note to the editor (fake doesn’t work here, only the genuine thing) about how I wished I’d have seen it sooner, and how I’d like to write for them. I didn’t pitch any ideas, just mentioned that if she needed writers at some point, I had experience. (If you’re a longtime reader, you know that I did this with a diabetes magazine about a year ago. They bought the article but folded before it had its debut)
I got a note back the next day thanking me for my nice note, and with an attachment: the editorial calendar. She said she was filling the Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec. issue slots and invited me to pitch something based on those topics. At that time, I was pressed to finish an overdue piece assigned me the week before, so I told her I’d reply to her by the end of next (last) week, which she was fine with. And that leads me to yesterday’s lesson….
New Lesson:
So, I spent about a week staring at this list of topics and scratching my head. These were tough ones–things I knew about but really didn’t know enough about to appeal to an audience of over 10K subscribers. I felt the pressure around lunch yesterday (my self-appointed freelance time at work), and thought that if I can’t give her an idea to blow her away, I’d twist a topic into something I knew about intimately–a topic we were facing or have recently dealt with in my camping experience. I chose two topics (mini-lesson: always send two ideas. You can send one with a detailed outline and just mention the second, or two detailed outlines, or two general ideas, but always send two. Even if the editor isn’t interested in either, it shows that you can think broadly and not just have one great idea for the rest of your life), wrote a paragraph for each on how we were facing those and dealing with them, and sent it off. I truthfully didn’t expect them to interest her. I’m not usually at a loss for great topic ideas for articles, but that one tested me.
Got back a note last night from her: she didn’t like one of them–she liked BOTH of them! Crazy. She appreciated the thought I put into them (knowing how to deal with them on an intimate kind of basis was a good thing for both of us) and would like them both. Very cool. So now I’ve got two more assignments to add to the calendar, for a topic I love deeply. Go with what you know, and you can’t go wrong.
And don’t quit writing this weekend just because it’s a holiday!
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