This is part two of a two part series answering commonly-asked freelancing/writing/editing questions from my inbox.

Hello again! Welcome back.

Last time, I covered these 15 questions:

1. “Is it really okay to e-mail someone as an ‘interview?'”
2. “How do you deal with rejection?”
3. “What do you do to feel more professional when working from home?”
4. “What field of writing brings in the most money?”
5. “Most important skill as a freelance writer?”
6. “How do I figure out my rates?”
7. “What’s been your biggest challenge owning your own freelance writing business?”
8. “What’s a question you’re tired of answering?”
9. “Do you know a place online anywhere that fellow bloggers/editors hang out? I’m feeling really green and I could use some camaraderie…”
10. “How do you get rid of an annoying client?”
11. “I think my rates are too high for the company I’m interviewing for – should I lower them or keep them the same?”
12. “Do you ever write sponsored guest posts for clients looking to promote their product/service?”
13. “Why don’t you use ads/affiliate marketing on your site?”
14. “Why do editors sometimes accept a pitch but then reject the post?”
15. “How can you tell when a client’s going to be no good?”

This time, I’ll cover 15 more! Sound good? Good. Here we go! (Feel free to scroll to the questions/answers most relevant to you).

16. “How do you get old fogies to respect blog writing?”

Continue reading “30 Writing + Freelancing Questions from My Mailbag (Part 2)” →

Rejection is part of being a professional writer… But, don’t get yourself rejected for any of these reasons.

When you’re a freelance writer looking to get published on blogs or in magazines, the process will generally look like this:

1. Send in a pitch/query that wows the editor.
2. Send in your article/guest post.
3. Get published.
4. Rejoice.

Or, if things don’t go as well, it might look a bit like this:

1. Send in a pitch/query that doesn’t wow the editor.
2. Get rejected.
3. Think up a better idea.
4. Try again.

Sure, one scenario is more pleasant than the other; but they’re both perfectly normal outcomes. Getting published is part of being a professional writer, but so is rejection.

Unfortunately a lot of writers get rejected for really, really dumb reasons.

Despite What You Might Think, Editors Aren’t Against You!

If you look at the scenarios I’ve listed above, Step One is always the pitch/query. Pitches are extremely important! They’re also where most writers either excel…or get it so, so wrong. And usually they only have themselves to blame.

I’ve been working as the Associate Editor and Community Manager for Be A Freelance Blogger for just shy of a year now. In that time, I have read hundreds of pitches. And I have rejected most of them.

Honestly, it’s the worst part of a nearly-perfect job. I don’t relish rejecting writers. On the contrary, I get so extremely happy when I get a great pitch, I will often call out to my significant other in the next room to say “Someone wrote a good one!!” It’s exciting because, as a writer myself, I know how elated the writer on the other side is going to be when I write back and say “This is awesome.”

I want you to succeed. In fact, I’ve already written a few articles on the pitching process to try to help you succeed:

• “Q is for Querying”
• “Why Your Guest Posts Keep Getting Rejected”
• “Video Answer: Why Do My Pitches Keep Getting Rejected?”

But, I feel like I haven’t written enough. I’m still rejecting far too many pitches. And I’d like to change that. Hence this article.

This time around, I’ve gotten permission to share a few of the e-mails I’ve gotten. That’s right: You’re getting a behind-the-scene’s look at a pitching editor’s inbox.

Here are six ways to NOT get published: Continue reading “How NOT to Get Your Guest Post Published” →