Member-only story
Out of the Reject Pile
A Technical Glitch is Preventing Freelancers (And Job Hunters) from Earning A Living
There’s a simple solution — if bosses and editors will do just one thing
Imagine if you made your living as a plumber, but every time you reached for your tools, they disappeared from your hand.
Imagine if you were a doctor, but every time you arrived at the hospital, the doors suddenly sealed shut.
These sound like bad dreams, but a similar situation is happening right now to many freelance writers and to anyone seeking work in general. There’s a simple solution — but it’s up to some very busy folks to fix it. In the end, it will help them too.
Freelance writers rely almost exclusively on email these days. It’s rare for someone to call an editor and pitch their idea or story, or to pick up the phone to confirm a pitch was received.
After we freelance writers email an editor, we often wait two or more months for a response, unwilling to follow up because we know editors get hundreds of emails per week. In fact, there are numerous articles about how to follow up politely about the status of a manuscript and why it takes so long.
