Tuesday 10 November 2015

Why didn't I think of that? Oh. I did.

I saw an article in Writer's Forum recently - an interview with a fantastically successful self-published gentleman from my writing group. I thought, "Talk about missing an opportunity. Why didn't I think to pitch that interview idea?!"

Then I realised that I had thought about it. Once in 2013 and once in 2014, when I pitched similar ideas to interview the same author, to the editor of the same magazine. At the time, both suggestions were met with rejection, and I hadn't given it any further thought since.

So was my timing poor? Was my pitch shoddy? Perhaps the other writer wrote a better pitch! That wouldn't surprise me. I was writing so many pitches, they couldn't all be fantastic.

However, I do recall the interviewee being coy about his achievements in 2013 and 2014, which made it difficult to convey just how fantastic his achievements were. Apparently by 2015 he'd overcome this modesty, or perhaps been persuaded it was good for business to be a bit less bashful about it all.

Anyway, the experience gave me a kick in the butt to resubmit some old ideas to the same magazines who'd rejected them before. I received two new assignments the very same day. I'm now grateful for that kick up the butt. Just because an article idea is rejected by a magazine one year, doesn't mean it will be rejected by the same magazine a year later. If you know it's a great idea, keep plugging away.

It seems to have worked for me!

2 comments:

  1. I often tell my students never to discard anything they've written or worked on in the past, which has been rejected - it always stands a chance of doing better in the future, perhaps when updated or given a topical spin. Plundering your unsold 'back catalogue' can prove fruitful!

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    1. Definitely. Thanks for the comment Alex. :-)

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