Six years ago, it was easy to pitch an editor, land an assignment (if you nailed the perfect idea), file the piece, and receive both a thank you and prompt payment. No longer. The good ‘ole days are over and we writers are living in a time of uncertainty. The number of magazines folding and editors being let go are on the increase. As a result, many editors, worried about their future, are venting their frustration on the only people they can—not their bosses, but on us.
But the new normal isn’t just based on editors wary of their future. Recently, I pitched a national magazine editor a story based in San Francisco. He wrote back, “Don’t you DARE pitch me San Francisco.” It turned out his partner, who had recently left him, was from San Francisco. Obviously the editor was mourning his loss, and while his ire wasn’t directed at me personally, I know enough to NEVER pitch him anything on San Francisco ever again.
Then, last month, the editor of a fairly new publication for whom I write, asked me for ideas and I sent him some pitches including two destination stories. He wrote back, “Don’t ever pitch me travel. I’ll be taking all those trips myself.” Another editor, who has always assigned me pieces on destinations, has now decided instead to take the trips himself. My gut feeling is that he wants to get as much out of the magazine as possible before he is – perhaps – let go. It’s a changing world out there.
Not all editors are rude and inappropriate. Recently, an editor green-lighted a story I pitched her a month ago. She wrote, “Your idea is so much fun! Thanks for the great pitch. She explained she needed it in a week and when I wrote back, “Fine, you’ll have it,” she responded, “Amazing. Huge thanks for digging right in on that. Let me know if you have any issues. Otherwise, can’t wait to read it.” When I receive an email like that, I WANT to go the extra distance for her.
I could tell you more feel-bad stories, but I think you get the point. I just looked at the brochure of a travel editor/writer conference I attended in 2014: 14 assigning editors attended the conference and now, a year later, 10 of them are no longer at those magazines. And if you want proof yourself, just take a look at www.mediabistro.com and www.gorkana.com and you’ll find even more who have been let go.
What does this mean for us? New editors, new opportunities, and for me, a new attitude. The next time I get a nasty email or don’t hear from an editor, I’m going to take a deep breath and thank the writing gods that I am a freelance writer who can never be fired, be thankful for all the great editors out there, and not sweat the few rotten ones.