When you discover you have the means to freelance, it becomes a blessing and a curse. On the upside, you have the ability to take the thoughts that go through your head and convert them into bylines and money. On the other hand, you feel like an overloaded dishwasher. With so many ideas you scramble to optimize that flow into what will best work for you. It can be overwhelming.

Whether through limited energy or actual hours in the day, you’ll always have a time budget. That limitation should be present in deciding where to devote your energy.

I write ideas down on a document called my pitch list. If I’m really inspired (because it can be extremely easy to write in the heat of the moment) I might even write some paragraphs out as my time budget allows.

After I have some ideas sketched out, I consider available publications. Can I can pitch them with reasonable efficiency? How much do I have to readjust my writing style to turn in a quality product and is that a good or bad thing? What is the pay and how does that compare to the demands in terms of research and word count?

Start with editors you already have connections with. These are your anchor publications. If you have a really great relationship with them and the pay and conditions are to your liking, then your search ends there.

But odds are you’re not in perma-lancer heaven just yet. And that’s ok. Considering the rapidly changing landscape—I’ve rarely had an editor stay in a job for more than a couple years or a publication stay the same for more than five years –it’s extremely useful to build as many different relationships as you can. In short, we should all be pitching.

Next, pitch to editors you’ve established some sort of relationship with but they haven’t accepted any level of work. It often simply starts out as obligatory rejections that are one sentence: “Sorry, we’ll pass but thank you for pitching.” If you pitch enough or give an earnest plea for feedback, you might get responses that are longer than one sentence. This is a good sign that you should invest a little more here.

After that there are the sorts of outlet that are on your bucket list. They pay the most, they have the highest pedigree, or you might have some other connection with them. You’ll want to work hardest on these pitches. Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily  mean lengthening the pitch. Just add that slight bit of specialization that shows you’ve been reading their publication.

You can even add to this list by looking up sites such as Where to Pitch or Writers Market (you might have to subscribe to the latter) to find outlets you didn’t know you wanted to write for but have since become a perfect fit.

After mapping this list out, I recommend a top-down approach if you really want to maximize your potential. Start with the unreachables. If they say no, go down to the editors who you have some relationship with, then your anchor publications, and, in a worst-case scenario, self-publish.

Of course, certain publications ask for self-disclosure if you’re pitching to more than one publication. For the most part, this requires a balance of playing things close to the chest so you’re not misleading these editors, while also making these editors feel like you have their full attention. It’s the same kind of dance that a job interviewee has with the tacit understanding that you are also interviewing for other positions.

On the off-chance that you get a piece accepted by more than one, profusely apologize to the publication you don’t want to go with and offer them something else. They will likely have enough entries that they’ll be able to fill in the space anyway, but you will gain the chance to publish more pieces.

A big part of pacing yourself and setting your goals daily. The goal is not to make all your big ideas come to fruition immediately, but to get a little pitching done every day as time permits so that publication, income, and success happen along and along, aiding you in making this business manageable.

BIO: Orrin Konheim has been a freelance journalist since 2011 with bylines in the Washington Times, Washington Post, Mental Floss Magazine, Today I Found Out, and over three dozen other publications. He primarily writes in the Washington DC and Richmond markets and primarily enjoys film and television writing, local journalism, and the intersections of politics and culture. https://muckrack.com/orrin-konheim/articles