Why editors don't reply to your pitch

I speak to a lot of writers whose pet peeve is editors who don’t reply, and who consider it bad manners. Even those who do reply with a ‘no, not for us’ are criticised for being too brief. Some people seem to want something to work on, some advice they can act on.

I haven’t pitched The Times for a few years but when I did I used to sometimes receive brief one line emails, saying something like ‘no thanks’ or ‘not for us’. And far from getting annoyed with the editor I was always pleased that he had taken the time to reply. This saved me time chasing, and allowed me to take the idea elsewhere. What is there to get annoyed about?

How many of us reply to the marketing material we receive through the post? How many of us provide cold callers with proper feedback on why we are not interested in what they are selling? But still we expect the editors to do the same. 

An editor might not reply for many reasons. He might be too busy. He might not have received it (good reason for chasing). Perhaps he is still considering it (I had positive responses from editors six months after pitching). But perhaps he thinks – why should I reply, I didn’t ask to be emailed.

Whatever the reason sending an angry follow up email will not encourage him to respond. It will however get you blacklisted by the magazine and, as editors talk and have friends who work for other publications, it may also get your name known in the business for all the wrong reasons.

Common grammatical mistakes

As a tutor I tend to see many of the same mistakes made regularly. Here is my top ten list of words I see mis-spelled, with my suggestion of ways to help you remember the correct spelling:

Stationery and stationary            

One refers to pens and pencils, the other to the act of staying still. If you confuse the two then remember – there’s an ‘e’ in pen and an ‘a’ in ‘car’.

Where and were

Where rhymes with there, which refers to a place.

Which and witch

Think of a wicked witch. There is no ‘h’ in either word.

Thankyou and thank you

The first is a noun so one word. So you would send a thankyou note, but say thank you.

Maybe and may be

The first is an adverb meaning perhaps; the second is a verb. If in doubt try replacing the word with perhaps to see if it fits.

Its and it’s

Its is a possessive, while it’s is a contraction. But let’s forget the grammar talk for a minute. If unsure which to use read it’s as it is. If it fits in then use it, if not it is likely you need to use its.

Lose and loose

When I first started tutoring I couldn’t understand why these two confused people, but they do regularly. My suggestion is to listen to how they each sound. The ‘oo’ sound in loose is longer than in lose, hence the extra o.

Let’s and lets

It is so easy to forget that important apostrophe but it is needed. Lets are rentals, as in the plural of a let. So you would ‘let’s go and check out the lets at the agency.

There and their

As above, there rhymes with where which refers to place.

Affect and effect

Easily confused, remember that effect is usually used as a verb and means a result or the power to produce a result. Affect is usually used as a verb and means to influence.

Should I write about what I know?

‘Write about what you know’ new writers are advised. If someone was to make a list of the most commonly given advice to new writers I am pretty sure ‘Write about what you know’ would be near the top of the list, if not at the top.

I write about education, nursing projects, social care, parenting, employment benefits. Oh I could go on but you get the idea. The list of subjects I write about is huge. Do I know a lot about the subjects I write about? I like to think I know quite a bit about them now, but often when I start out on the subject I know as much as the next person.

I learn as I go along. I read widely on the subjects I cover. The more I write about these areas the more I know, but I am constantly learning. Only writing about what I know would be restrictive. Writing about what you know can be a good start, but you shouldn’t limit yourself. Perhaps you do have a specialism that will provide you with plenty of material, or maybe you would just prefer to concentrate on one are, but you don’t have to.

The same goes for fiction writing. One of my favourite authors is Victoria Hislop. She has written about the Spanish Civil War, and about a Greek leprosy colony, among other subjects. I think it is a testament to how well Hislop researches and writes that her book that a TV adaptation of her book The Island was made for Greek television. Hislop thoroughly researches the topic she writes about.

So in short my answer to the question should I write about what I know is – no, don’t just write about what you know, know about what you write.

I want to write in my own style

Every so often I get a student who wants to learn (or says so anyway) but is very concerned about their ‘writing style’. They are anxious that being taught writing might influence their writing style which they view as being very distinct to them and in need of protection.

I then have to explain house style and how if they are going to write for a publication (we’re talking about magazine and newspaper writing here) then they need to adapt their style to said publication.

Now in fiction writing style is more of an issue. Compare two authors – say Marian Keyes and Zadie Smith. Yes they are both pretty different genres, but also the styles in which they write are both very different. With fiction writing you have more leeway with ‘your style’, but with magazine and newspaper writing, as with other nonfiction work, it is house style which matters.

Think about ghost writing. The ghost writer’s job is to write the book in the style of the named author. That same ghost writer may also have written a book under another person’s name with a very different style. One of the qualities of a good ghost writer is being able to adapt writing style.

  

Looking at two examples of article I have written, one in The Guardian, and one for Parentdish you will notice that the styles are very different, really because the subject matters and the publications are very different. When I am writing an article it is house style which is foremost in my mind. Yes I do have my own style of writing, but as a professional writer that has to be adaptable to the publication.

Anne Wollenberg demonstrates my point in these two articles, one in The Independent and one in The Guardian. Right they are both broadsheets, but the subject matters are very different and deserve different styles.

Editors aren’t interested in your style. They are interested in whether you can write in their style.