Believe me I know. Sending an idea to a publication or website just to hear nothing back is frustrating and demoralising. Why bother? The answer is, of course, that press coverage is such a powerful tool for increasing the success of you and your business. And it really shouldn’t be too hard to get accepted.
The thing that can make all the difference to your acceptance rate is knowing why your stories are being rejected in the first place. I’ve been a journalist/editor for 17 years and have deleted hundreds of story ideas. There’s a definite pattern to the ones I only briefly glance at.
Once you understand how an editor thinks and what they’re looking for, rejection stops feeling personal. And of course, you can work on improving anything that needs it.
Here are five reasons why you might get a ‘no’ (or no response at all – much more likely).
1 They just don’t need you right now
Some publications and magazines only want articles by experts, well-known writers/journalists and their favourite freelancers. They may also have a number of staff writers, particularly if they’re a large publication such as Forbes. You should be able to find out if this is the case by doing a bit of Internet research and searching for any contributor guidelines. Go ahead and still submit a story if it’s very much on point for them, just remember that if you don’t hear back it’s probably not anything to do with the quality of your writing or story, so don’t take it personally. Try again later.
2 Your story isn’t good enough
It’s easy, particularly when you’re just starting out to write about topics that are too common, and the story is rejected because it’s not original enough. Sure, very few ideas are, but if you keep in mind that the value of a story is the detail within it, you should stay on the straight and narrow more easily. For instance, rather than writing a generic healthy living story about how we need to get more sleep, more exercise, eat better etc. take one part of this and write about it in detail. So, you could write about how Stephen Fry reading you a bedtime story (from the Calm app) has transformed your sleep pattern. Or how research suggests that seeing the sunrise every day eases anxiety. Be specific.
3 You’ve not put the effort in
Full of errors, bad spelling, no attempt at getting the grammar spot on. If this sounds like your writing, you’re going to get a rejection, no matter how good the idea is. If you struggle with this, get your piece proof-read before sending it – this could be a friend or your partner. If your writing needs work to make it flow and ebb, then find a mentor to help you, remembering that writing is like any other skill – you need to learn it. Few people get it spot on straight away.
4 There’s no room for you
Your story may be fabulous but keep in mind that a huge number of feature ideas flood into an editor’s inbox every day and they only have so many pages to play with. They reject your story, but it’s got nothing to do with the idea or execution of it. It’s all to do with there being no room for it. It’s just bad timing – don’t let it put you off.
5 You should have done the research
This is a piece of advice you should definitely sit up and take notice of. You must research the publication before submitting an idea. Have they run the same thing recently? Do they even run stories like this? Is there a gardening section to even take your feature on growing potatoes in a cup? If you don’t know the publication in some depth, the editor will know, be insulted and never want to hear from you again. Ouch – harsh I know, but I refer you back to the sentence about how many feature ideas they get every day. Read the submission guidelines (find them online if you have to), read the publication, look at what they’ve featured in the past 12 months and don’t pitch an idea that’s already been used. Not doing these things is a waste of everyone’s time.
In the end, nothing will make an editor say yes if they really don’t want the story. But by putting in the work and viewing press coverage as an essential strategy for your business, you’re much more likely to get a bit fat yes at some point. The key is not to give in and get used to the fact that you won’t win every time. Thick skin needed!
