Pitch Imperfect: Why Your Magazine Ideas Keep Getting Rejected
At least to begin with, getting a "no" from your pitches feels like a punch to the gut. You poured your heart, soul, and a solid chunk of research into that email, only to be met with a terse – albeit polite – rejection (if one at all).
The good news is twofold: First, this is something you get used to. If I get a ‘no’ these days, I chalk it up as such, have a look at the pitch to see where I might’ve gone wrong, then move onto the next one. Secondly, it’s never personal. Editors’ inboxes are overflowing, budgets are tight, and editors have incredibly specific needs.
On that basis, you can dramatically improve your odds of that coveted ‘yes’ by understanding a few common pitfalls.
1. You Didn't Read the Room (or the Magazine)
This is, by far, the number one reason pitches fail. Editors can spot a generic, scattergun pitch from a mile away. Even if you think you know a publication well, chances are a rejection has come because you simply don’t know it well enough.
Let’s be a bit more specific here: It may be that your pitch is a 5,000-word investigative feature for a publication that only runs 800-word personal essays. Or, you pitched a serious, academic piece to a fun, conversational lifestyle magazine. Those are both extreme examples, but you get my point.
It may also be that the publication has simply run the same story, or something very similar to it, recently.
Fortunately, there are fixes for both such problems. Ultimately, it goes back to reading the publication voraciously and getting to know the sections, the tone, typical article length, audience, and so on, but also making doubly sure they haven’t covered your idea already (a Google search will help with this, obviously). Or if they have, offering a fresh angle that adds to the conversation – not repeats it.
2. You Pitched a Subject, Not a Story
"I want to write about the benefits of gardening" is a subject. "How one urban gardener is transforming vacant lots into profitable micro-farms in the heart of Hackney Wick." is a story. Make sure you’re extra clear with yourself that your pitch is one or the other, and that editors only buy stories that have a narrative focus, characters, conflict, and takeaway.
Sometimes this is a bonus, and sometimes it’s essential, but also make sure there’s a reason for the publication you're targeting to publish this story now. If your idea would still make sense in five years’ time, it’s not a priority, and won’t feel urgent to the publication’s readers. Why would their audience care, and why should they care right now? A lot of the time, the answer is offered via news and context.
3. The Pitch Itself is Flawed
If the pitch is messy, long-winded, or confusing, there’s a strong chance the editor will assume your article will be too.
Long or hard-to-follow pitch emails should be trimmed into something concise – three longer paragraphs, of five shorter ones, generally. As a rule of thumb, nothing that makes the editor scroll.
Similarly, too many typos are a bit of a red flag (though not major), but editors will be looking for signs of professionalism and attention to detail. Oh and make sure your subject line is something you’d actually want to read yourself – anything else and it’s likely you’ve lost the editor’s attention before you've even started. They should want to read it, and want to read it immediately.
4. You Didn't Sell Yourself as the Writer
The editor is not just buying the idea – they are buying the person delivering it. Offer at least some credibility, and you’ve improved your chances of them trusting you with the assignment.
How do you do that? Well, start by including direct links to your written work, if you have any. Also making sure they’re relevant – if you pitched an investigative travel piece but only linked to personal blog posts about your pets, that isn’t going to win the editor over, unfortunately.
Don’t have any relevant links? Sometimes this isn’t too much an issue. If your pitch and the idea in general and the need to have you as the writer is strong enough, then anything else isn’t too necessary.
Don't Let Rejection Stop You
Rejection is a fundamental part of a writer's life. I tend to think of it less as a personal failure and more as a helpful prompt to refine your strategy. Take the "no," pitch it elsewhere (with a revised angle, of course), and keep going. There’s an audience out there that needs to hear your story, but you still have to make it easier for an editor to say "Yes."
Want 1-to-1 tuition from an experienced food writer who’s received hundreds of rejections and knows exactly how to get much less of them? Luckily, this is an integral part of So You Want to be a Food Writer?, my pitching course for new food writers – featuring a money back guarantee.
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