A New Record Response Time

Back in January, I blogged about a new personal record for the amount of time between sending a pitch and receiving a response just to give a picture of how hopeless pitching can seem. The record at that time was nearly four months.

This March 22nd, I received a letter from the LA Times travel section:

Thank you for your submission to the LA Times Travel section. After consideration, we’re going to have to pass on your story.

We receive many more submissions than we have space to print so competition for every column inch is fierce. We also generally try to leave about five years between major destination pieces, except on the oft-visited places, which we do more often.

If you’d like a look at our guidelines, please go to latimes.com/travelguidelines.

Again, thanks for thinking of us and all good wishes,

C--------
travel editor

The date on my original message?

July, 25, 2008

That's right, nearly 8 months had passed between my original pitch and the response. I never said pitching was all roses.

To Blog or not to Blog

The recent interview series talked about whether blogging was helpful to getting established freelance or whether it was a liability. That article underlined the dangers of blogging; but my recent experience illuminates the positive side of blogging.

The signature of all of my emails includes a link to my blog, which friends and others access at times, especially when first meeting me. Recently, that practice paid off when an editor that I had worked with before saw the article I had written about China's fabled "Mobilephone Stone." The editor said he thought it would be a good addition to one of their light, humorous first-person columns. After a couple rounds of revision, the article made it's way to be published. It's a great day when the pitches come to you instead of from you--a big turnaround from my earliest days where I would spend hours upon hours simply drafting and sending pitches.

Freelance Ethics

One of the biggest dangers of being a freelancer is that you're on your own for ethics. Without an editor to work closely with, freelancers' articles may not be properly vetted. Furthermore, without a stable mentor, freelancers don't have an opportunity to get schooled in the basics or in the policies of particular outlets.

With that in mind, it's imperative to research general guidelines for responsible writing. It's also a great idea to ask outlets for copies of their guidelines when articles are accepted.

One set of guidelines that an editor mentor sent to me contained many basics of stringer ethics. Most of them are pretty obvious--fact check, report on an mistakes uncovered after print--but some methods are not as obvious. The best hint I gleaned from the guidelines discussed how to properly fact check stories with sources:

"Some sources may ask to see a copy of the story or column before it’s printed. The best way to handle this request is to read facts and quotes back to the subject. NEVER e-mail someone a copy of a story you’re written before it’s published. E-mails can be posted immediately on-line and could be constituted as a published story and expose the paper to potential legal action if the story contains libelous material."

That is, it's best to check the facts and quotes directly with the subject, rather than to send along the entire story, which can be tempting since it's the easiest way to do it. I, however, I had never thought of this problem before. Great advice to follow.

Experience Interview Series

Interview, Part IV
On China Challenges and Final Advice

This is a part of a series of interviews on freelancing 101 with Ned, a fellow PiA fellow who has held freelancing and stable jobs on the mainland and now works for a business magazine based in Hong Kong.

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Thomas: What are some challenges unique to freelancing in China?

Ned: Companies in China tend to be very VERY hesitant to speak to journalists....individuals seem happy to speak to you.

But "no" does not always mean no.

T: What do you mean? if they say no you try to rework it?

N: Ask again. Emphasize why this could be good for them.

T: That works? I've never done that.

N: Haha, yes, you'd be surprised! I don't mean be pushy, but you can be coaxing.

T: Any other advice, suggestion, inspiration for newbies?

N: My final advice is go with your gut, never give up - you can always get the story somehow - think outside the box, be adventurous.