Simon Whaley’s Business of Writing - September 2022
Welcome to my September newsletter!
I've just about recovered from this year's NAWGFest - a weekend conference organised by the National Association of Writers and Groups (NAWG) - that took place at the beginning of this month. I say 'recovered' because I was part of the organising committee. (It's always stressful hoping all the tutors and guest speakers will turn up on time!) Thankfully, everybody did and all had a fab time. You can see some pictures here.
I can’t believe the nights are drawing in so quickly now, here in the northern hemisphere. I’m putting on the lights at 7.30pm! At this rate, it’ll soon be Christmas 😱.
Talking about Christmas, I’ve just submitted my Christmas commissions. (Yes, it’s now January 2023 in my head!) And one of those commissions was a great example of why pitching is the best way to see your magazine articles in print.
The purpose of a pitch is to sell your article idea to an editor by explaining:
what your idea is and why their readers will love it,
why you are the best person to write it,
and why now is the best time for your idea (well, why you’re targeting the specific issue).
So, I’d pitched an idea to a magazine for their December issue about the Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Festival. The Worcestershire market town of Tenbury has held the UK’s largest mistletoe auctions for over 160 years. But when the town-centre auction site was sold for redevelopment, the town created the Mistletoe Festival to bring back the crowds into town. In fact, on festival day, the whole town goes mistletoe mad, as it creates new traditions (the crowning of the Mistletoe Queen and Holly Prince) while also celebrating traditional, historical customs (the blessing of the mistletoe by druids).
Having looked through the slots in the publication, I pitched a 350-word one-page piece.
About a week later, the commissioning editor got in touch. He liked my idea, but he wanted something slightly different. And this is why pitching can be so useful. Because, had I written that pitch up as a speculative article, the chances are it would have been rejected.
However, because I’d pitched and, therefore, not written a word of the piece yet, he could ask me to adapt my idea to fit more what he had in mind. Instead, what he wanted was:
300 words describing the wonderful atmosphere of a Christmas market/festival,
200 words exploring the Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Market,
400 words exploring the Tenbury Wells Town Trail, including a short 1-mile extension to the new venue for the mistletoe auctions.
two 50-word boxouts: one detailing some mistletoe facts and the other giving details of Tenbury Wells’ Christmas Market.
Now, those of you who can do maths will have worked out that this is a 1,000-word piece - a bit different to my 350-word pitch! And, yes, that meant more money.
This is a great reminder of the fact that although we, as writers, work in isolation, the editor is thinking about the issue as a whole. I was pitching one page of the December issue, whereas the editor was thinking about how this best fits alongside the other work he has already commissioned for that issue.
So it’s much better to pitch your ideas to editors first. If the editor has recently commissioned something similar, you’ll soon find out, which stops you from wasting time writing it. And if the idea shows promise, but the editor would like a slightly different slant, they can then ask you to make the necessary adjustments.
So pitch away!
Good luck!
