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How I Turned A Rejection Into A
$275 Paying Assignment
Author: Teena Stewart
When is a rejection not really a rejection? When it turns into an assignment. Writers often show up at writers’ conferences with articles and books already written, hoping that editors will fall in love with their stories. But the written pieces are often not what editors need.
Sometimes it’s because the material is poorly written, but rejection also happens because editors have seen too much of similar material or the material simply isn’t a topic they are focusing on at the moment.
I learned a valuable lesson about this myself. A few years ago I decided to query a Christian publication called Standard with an article idea. The proposed article was on how to appreciate your pastor. Being married to a minister and having the inside scoop, I was positive I knew info that the editors were just dying to share with their subscribers. Just before I signed off my query letter, I remembered some advice I’d recently heard another writer give on a writers’ list serve of writers. She stated that she almost always included a line in her query letters about being available to write on assignment. It was so simple it was brilliant. Now, why hadn’t I thought of that?
I decided to give it a try. In my closing paragraph of my query letter, I included the words, “I am also available to write on assignment.” A few months later I opened some correspondence from Standard. It was a rejection letter on my article. The editor stated their publication simply didn’t have much room for freelance articles. They were more likely to assign articles, which brought her to her next topic. Would I be open to writing some short articles for their Around the BGC Column? The articles they needed for the column consisted of very short newsy tidbits of events happening in regional churches within their denomination that would interest the publication’s general readers.
I was given information on how to get a list of contacts, but it was up to me to ferret out these potential stories by getting in touch with some of the local churches. The pay was peanuts, a mere $25 for about a 250 to 300 word article. What could I say in 300 words? I was nervous, but agreed to give it a try and pretty soon I had several monthly contributions under my belt. About six months after I began writing for The Standard I caught wind of some news that I felt would make a much meatier piece than the short ones I’d been writing. I suggested this to the editor and I was thrilled when she came back and offered me the chance to write it. The pay for this piece was around $175.
Since that time I have been asked to write several more pieces for Standard, (now known as BGC World). Each assignment became more challenging and more lucrative. I’ve written an info graphic article (a cross between a roundup and a time line of sorts with graphics) and have also done interviews. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, plus the publication decided to increase their rate of pay to their more seasoned writers. I was pleased to be included in that pay raise. The paycheck was around $275.
All of this transpired because I remembered to include those simple words, “I am willing to write on assignment.” Without them, I would have received just another rejection. Though the original assignments weren’t all that impressive, I have learned that they can often lead to increased trust between the editor and her writers. If you prove what you can do, there’s no end to the possibilities.
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