Maybe it’s just rotten luck, that there are too many email filters, or that people move around more than their email accounts can keep up. There’s a reason why my emails to editors with story ideas go unanswered. For every ten emailed ideas I send out that aren’t used, I get zero responses. And it’s beginning to tick me off.
Before email and Internet (was there ever a before?), the old protocol was you as a writer read closely the editor’s requirements and met them if you expected your query to be considered. Everything from addressing the editor by name to including a self-addressed, stamped envelope had to be performed. For their part, editors would respond using the provided envelope, letting you know yes or no to your idea. It was a system that worked because everyone in the process did what was expected. If you didn’t, you didn’t get an answer. If the editors didn’t, you were allowed by that same protocol to send them a follow-up or call their offices.
Where’s the etiquette with today’s type of correspondence? From where I sit, it’s nonexistent. The only times I’ve had responses was when my idea was too interesting to overlook (or frankly when their budgets allowed them a freelance story or two). I send out my best, still following their rules, making it easier via electronic means. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I’d totally understand the lack of response if I hadn’t sat on the editorial side of it myself. Yes, you’re busy. Yes, you’re overworked and doing the work of more than one former coworker. But it takes you all of one minute – sometimes less – to type a quick note saying “Thanks, but we can’t.”
It’s not that there’s an excessive amount of email queries. As a former editor at a trade publication, which are the publications I target, I got a small handful of email queries a month. I wasn’t inundated with them. My managing editor probably got more, but she never indicated it was any problem. Trades just don’t draw the masses of freelancers like consumer pubs do.
This is a new etiquette I don’t like one bit. I take the time out of my day to craft a good query, hunt down appropriate clips, and address editors by name. They ignore the email. Miss Manners would be all over them for their lack of professionalism. They’re probably saying “We’re busy!” Well, since busy people can’t seem to organize their own schedules appropriately, here’s what I’m going to do.
I’m going to continue to follow the snail mail protocol they set up pre-Internet. I’m going to send emailed queries, follow up, and even call if they’re not responding. Then I’m moving on. See, at some point when the recession ends, budgets may return (if the publishing world doesn’t go entirely belly up) and these same editors are going to want some articles written by people who know their industries.
Think the balance never shifts? I was at a conference once in which risk managers were in the sweet position of hand-selecting their insurance companies, for the market had finally tanked and these same companies that had drawn strict lines in the sand and had cancelled or turned down business from this very crowd were in the unwelcome position of asking for their business again. I had to stifle a number of grins and a few guffaws while watching CEOs being taken to task by their former customers in one particular round table session. Their arrogance of just a year ago stripped away, the CEOs were jumping through hoops to perform some major damage control. So yes, the status quo can, and often does, alter to put the underdogs on top for a while. And underdogs, like elephants, have long memories.
It’s a matter of professionals treating each other with mutual respect. While the editorial side of the equation may indeed by holding the balance of power, editors still need to rely in some small part on the writing community to fill pages and help sell magazines. At some point, I believe, this cycle will upend. Editors will have their budgets back. The only question then is will they lose great writing because they couldn’t be bothered to build a relationship in the tough times?
Have you sent out email queries lately? What’s been your experience?
It is not only in the writing industry, Lori. In business, I find a lack of response to email, phone calls, or mail. Even applying for employment, you find the "no phone calls please" and "only those selected for interview will be contacted." For the latter, what happened to the protocol of being able to ask questions about a position before applying? On the other hand, when parties are willing to communicate, email has sure made it easy to ask a quick question and receive a quick response. Checking spam folders for legit mail that has been caught needs to be a daily practise in business. I know, some gets deleted before even reaching a spam folder, and that can be a problem. That's why the courtesy of an acknowledgement is very much appreciated by me.
I don't do business by phone, because I loathe the telephone. Everything is in writing.
I give 2 weeks beyond the stated guidelines, then send a follow-up. If I don't hear within a week of the follow-up (although 48 hours is what I was told is proper etiquette to respond to business email), I send another email clearly stating that I'm pulling the query and selling it elsewhere.
Everything I've got needs to earn its keep in a timely manner. And the email stating it's pulled either gets immediate response or, at least, if the editor kicks up a fuss when it appears elsewhere, I've got documentation that I pulled it.
Editors don't have jobs without writers. It's co-dependence. Neither side has all the power.
It's not just e-queries, Lori. Over the years I've sent out thousands of snail mail queries, with SASEs, and maybe 10% of those SASEs ever made it back to my mailbox. I've always pictured editors or editorial assistants stockpiling SASE stamps for their own use. At least with unanswered e-queries I'm not losing money by subsidizing the publishing industry's postage needs.
Most editors call or e-mail when assigning a story, so why pay 44-cents for each potential rejection? It's never made sense to me, but I still send a SASE when required.
You're onto something with the spam filter angle, though, Lori. When querying by e-mail, be careful what you put in the subject line, since spam filters catch words like "opportunity." I remember reading an article in Freelance Writer's Report or on Writers-Editors.com about key words to avoid in your subject lines. Sorry I don't have a link to the specific article.
Tony, that's disturbing. It confirms a bit my suspicion that business etiquette in general has gone down the toilet. I still hope it's not so, but generally it does prove to be a trend.
Love the system, Devon. It's to the point. "Here's my query. I'm busy, too. Either accept it or I'm moving on to someone else."
I had noticed the same issue in snail mail too, Paula. I guess it's a general lack of manners all the way around. Sad, isn't it?
Good point on the spam folder. I type "Article idea" or "Article Query" in the subject line. It could be the "idea" is getting dumped in spam. Or it could be that they simply don't bother to answer, which I think is just rude.
See, this is why I don't write for magazines. The query system is terribly unproductive for writers. They want to hang on to your idea until they get around to deciding whether or not they want it, but they don't want you shopping it elsewhere in the meantime. I think the whole system is just plain rude, if not downright exploitative of writers.
That time is so much better spent building a hand-picked mailing list of prospects in your chosen industry and writing a great sales letter asking for their business. My last mailing landed me over $12,000 worth of business in the following 90 days, plus repeat business after that that comes to me instead of me going after it.
Wow, that's a great letter, Eileen!
I get why you don't wait for magazines. Frankly, I don't care what their "policy" says – I shop it to several sources. In truth, if you know what you're doing, that query should be different to almost every other magazine you approach. I never submit to one place at a time if I think the idea is timely. Given that most editors don't follow their own protocol, I don't feel badly about it at all. Time is MY money, too.
But there are times, like with fiction writing, where the crossover is common. A friend of mine just had her fiction piece accepted – by two magazines at the same time. Delicious dilemma! She took the first offer after waiting nearly 3 months to hear about the original query. Naturally, they wrote the same week and wanted to publish. I told her to send them regrets and an offer for other pieces. Now she's got two pieces running in two different magazines. That's a great outcome!
I have a question about a particular magazine. It's called "More" & it is targeted to women over 40. They have a website that encourages readers to post their own stories for others to respond to.
Do you think this is a new way of getting noticed by the editor? Is it worth posting an entire artcile idea all written up?
Could this be a magazines new way of weeding out the queries they don't want to respond to?
Brenda Susan
Hi Brenda,
I would think it's more of a way for them to fill their website with free content. Typically magazines are just asking for reader feedback – not uncommon.
I would do this – since you know the magazine, I would send the editors a well-crafted idea to their email address. The minute you post that on their site, it's their property and they owe you nothing. It's much more professional to send it to them in proposal form rather than hope for them to notice it on their website.
Thanks for asking! Did that help at all?
I agree with Tony. It's not just the publishing world that seems to have grown ruder.
Non-response to emails is one of my pet-hates. I mean just how busy can people be? A simple 'Really busy right now, will get back to ASAP' would take a second to write but would go down so well.
In my experience journalists can be pretty arrogant individuals: I'm sure ignoring emails makes them feel even more powerful than they already imagine themselves to be.
Keep on badgering!
It's been a while since I've queried magazines, but I agree with Tony that this is a trend happening across the board.
I sent out a query several months ago via mail, taking care to follow the rules laid out by the magazine, and I got a response–they declined and took their sweet time doing it, but at least they responded!
REAL mail, Amie? Can we still send letters? :))
It speaks directly to professionalism. Either you're professional enough to follow your own rules or you're not, in which case I may reconsider working with you. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt once or twice, but there's a limit to how much you can attribute to spam or busy-ness or vacations, etc.
I don't have anything substantial to add to the conversation here. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your comparison: "…underdogs, like elephants, have long memories." Brilliant!
I do the same thing, Lori: Query multiple magazines on the same/similar topic, but slant each pitch a little differently.
If it's something more specific – like a celebrity profile tied to a specific date or cause – I'll just tell them it's a simultaneous submission. On occasion, when the story is right, knowing their competitors may have received the same pitch has been known to shake editors up enough to reply quickly – and with a better offer. But it has to be an amazing story for that to happen.
That's why they pay me the big bucks, Cheryl. LOL
Good idea, Paula. Usually, my article proposals are time-sensitive, but I have some very specific targets, so the slant determines who gets what idea. Frankly, I don't tell anyone it's simultaneous. If I've worked with them before, they get first dibs. If not, I'm not taking a chance that they'll act according to an older established practice.