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. Writers must learn to live with rejection. It happens to every writer. A publication's decision not to use a submitted manuscript or idea proposal does not always mean it is a bad one. It could mean that there were other reasons for not using it. However, many inexperienced writers do not contemplate the reason offered for a rejection, if it is specific, and give up on the idea. Freelance feature writer Richard Matthews (1991), like many other successful and persistent writers, explained the next step is not giving up, but revising, refocusing, and resubmitting to "another publication that might be receptive to the same general idea tailored to its editorial content" (p. 22). "Restructuring an idea with a different set of readers in mind often meets with success the second time around," he said. A distinction between an amateur freelancer and a real professional, Matthews believes, is how you handle the rejection pile. The worst thing to do is to let an idea sit around, he says.Kevin Robinson (1993), a veteran freelance writer, agreed that rejection is part of the business, but it should be taken personally. He explains, "To be a good writer, you must be human~ you must see and feel what those around you see and feel. More importantly, you must Page 488see and feel what you see and feel," he says (p. 27). If you do that as a writer, he maintains, you react personally to rejection. And, he says, that's perfectly okay. His own rejection rate is about 80%. "I decided long ago that there's nothing particularly noble about suffering in silence or pretending that being rejected isn't painful. But I don't get mad either." His solution, like that of so many other professionals, is persistence. The lesson: Do not give up on an idea until all options are exhausted.There are numerous reasons editors reject or substantially revise accepted ideas and manuscripts. Veteran Southern California freelance writer John M. Wilson (1990) identified at least nine reasons for failure. Manuscripts with flaws, he feels, are just unfinished works in progress. Rejected writers simply need to work more to solve the problems. He has created a presubmission checklist that can be helpful in preventing such errors the first time around:" Angle and focus of the article" Appropriate viewpoint and voice" Vivid description" Logical organization" Style in writing" Lead that attracts and a distinct, impressive ending" Appealing direct quotations" Manuscript must reflect what editor assigned" Edit and proofread thoroughlyAs a writer seeking a publisher, you must go further than discovering a subject for an article. A subject is simply not enough in the highly competitive writing world. As the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Inc., defines it, the idea is one step toward the finished product (Bloom, Bedell, Olds, Moldafsky, & Schultz, 1992). An idea is a subject combined with an approach, ASJA says. This is your property, even if you do not have the article written yet. Once you get a good article idea, you have to decide when and where it is best to market it.Writers should not try to query a publication with a subject by telephone. Most professionals prepare a query letter or an article idea proposal. Some freelance writers combine a letter and proposal into a single document but, for your purposes as a novice, you should consider them separate steps. A query letter is briefer, less detailed, and Page 489an abstract of a fuller proposal. If you have refined the idea, then develop a separate proposal running 500 to 750 words that summarizes what you plan to do. Your basic strategy is to develop the idea to describe to an editor what you will do, or have done without writing or sending the entire article. This is a more detailed outline of the article you plan to write. Editors find these helpful in determining whether your work would fit their plans for an upcoming issue.Perlstein (1993, personal communication), a freelance writer and author in Minneapolis, sold his first freelance article to The New York Times. Now he writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines. He recommends humaninterest features as a type of article that may increase your chances for success:When pitching human interest pieces, writers have to tailor their queries to particular markets~ editors scan through query letters very quickly, and unless a human interest piece pegs their niche exactly they'll drop a preprinted rejection slip in the SASE [selfaddressed, stamped envelope] and be done with it. When I'm on a hot streak I get maybe one hit in 20 or 30 queries, many of them human interest pieces.San Diego freelancer Rathbone (1998, personal communication) pitches his ideas to editors this way:First, get the publication's proper name, address, and writer's guidelines. Usually the weary receptionist will recite these over the phone. Next, grab as many back issues as you can find at local thrift shops or a condominium's magazineswappile. Your story must fit into a magazine's specific area, or the editor won't take it. Next, write a query letter with a grabbing first graph, followed by a short description of the story, as well as the reason why you are the best person to write it. Rules? Make sure it all fits on one page. If you can't sum it up in one page, you haven't found a decent angle for the story. If they haven't followed up in a month, send a followup letter. After 45 days, I'll give them a phone call. Don'ts? Don't call the publication unless it's to get their address and current editor's name. Editors don't like being bugged over the phone. And for crying out loud, don't spell anything wrong, either! Editors don't want to work and if they see any misspellings, they know they're in for some serious revisions on the manuscript.Another veteran freelance feature writer, Steele, writes about medicine, computers, chemicals, and drugs. Steele, from Ithaca, New Page 490York, advocates being prepared when entering the query process. This is especially true of ''cold" queries:My basic rule in querying is to do a lot of homework beforehand. When an editor who knows you calls up and gives you an assignment, it's usually just an idea the editor had: How are lawncare pesticides affecting the squirrels, or whatever. And you can approach an editor with whom you work regularly with something like that
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