Pitching is an incredibly important part of freelance writing—as important perhaps as the writing itself. That being said, have you ever given thought to the timing of your query, article, or essay?
Timing your query, article, or essay for a holiday, especially the big holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, is a no-brainer. You submit in plenty of time—say July—when many editors begin planning for their November and December issues.
Here’s a little tip: During a current holiday—Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s Day, and even lesser holidays—I am always alert for stories or articles and jot down highlights of that particular holiday I feel will make interesting articles or stories for the following year’s holiday.
For example, one year I scribbled a few notes about a tractor/hay ride on a family farm, taken on Christmas Eve. I later wrote “Yuletide Tractor Ride” which was purchased by Northern Ohio Live.
On the same note, a road trip taken through Georgia one year at Christmas (jotting down notes) to visit a military son was published in Country recently, and “Aunt Gracie’s Valentine,” a story about discovering a vintage valentine card my deceased aunt had hidden away from someone who had courted her after her husband passed away, was published in Smoky Mountain Living https://www.smliv.com>contribute.
Some stories, without firmly marked boundaries pertaining to specific holidays, also benefit from timely seasonal targeting. My story, “Caboose,” for example, a story about a summer evening as a child waiting with my parents at a railroad crossing in my father’s 1950 Ford sedan for a train to pass, and “Southern Bookstores,” a story about a leisurely drive through the South checking out small independent bookstores during summer were both submitted in time for summer magazine issues because they took place in summer.
Likewise, my story about sitting around an old coal stove in winter was targeted for mid-winter and, thus, submitted in late summer. And a story for Creation Illustrated https://creation.com>creation-magazine-writing-guidelines about Canada geese nesting on a frozen river was submitted in mid-summer for the magazine’s winter issue.
There are those queries, articles, or essays for which timing rarely, if ever, applies—long-form personal essays, creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry submissions, to name a few. However, there are also publications affiliated with universities close for the summer, so submissions need to be made during the academic year as the publications will not accept them any other time.
When submitting an article query to a travel magazine, timing the proposed logistics of the article around an event in the city, town, or country in which you intend to write about is a good idea. For example, tying in Keeneland’s (as in Keeneland Race Course) fall race meet (October) or its spring race meet (April) with a proposed travel article about Lexington, Kentucky, and its surrounding area, would go a long way in securing an assignment. And, again, the timing of your query submission itself is important; it should be submitted at least six months in advance of the events.
The timing for your submissions on articles or essays about sports can be advantageous, or, in some cases, completely irrelevant. A story I wrote for Your Teen Media https://yourteenmag.com/, for example, mentions baseball throughout; however, even though baseball is played in summer, baseball wasn’t the theme, but being a good coach was. So, submission timing was irrelevant. On the other hand, a query for a short sidebar on the Packers’ tradition of players riding bicycles with children to and from training-camp practice was submitted in plenty of time to allow the article, though short, to be researched and written before the July practice season began.
Some aspect of timing comes into play with nearly every query, article, or essay you submit and can mean an acceptance or not, so it is wise (and beneficial) to always consider that facet of your marketing strategy.
BIO: Barbara Weddle is a self-taught freelance writer whose stories, articles, and essays have been published in magazines such as Earth Island Journal, The Blue Mountain Review, Unity Magazine, and many others. Twitter @BarbaraWeddle8
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