6 Questions to Ask Before Following Up with Freelance Writers

Is it just me, or are people sending and receiving WAY more emails than they used to—even two years ago? I was always an inbox-zero person, striving to hit that goal by the end of every week. But now? What a joke. Even with email as our full-time jobs, I bet most of us couldn’t achieve that these days.

Email overload is a critical way to start any discussion about the art of the follow-up, especially when it comes to pitching freelance writers. That’s because your friendly check-in can very quickly cross over into bothersome, then annoying, then downright irritating (to the point of risking a relationship) when you blow up a writer’s inbox over and over.

Here’s what to consider before following up with a freelance writer.

1. How long has it been since your first email?

If the answer is less than seven days, leave it alone. We live in a culture where so many people (read: New Yorkers, no jab intended) expect a response within 24 hours—and in turn, many of us feel that if we get back after that time frame, a “sorry for my delay!” is necessary. Some writers are great about shooting back a note that lets the sender know it was received (I used to be one of those people but, alas, not anymore). Others may read your email and file it away for reference for a future story topic, or perhaps read it (then mark it as unread, and repeat that a few times) and need to contemplate a bit before getting back. Patience is key here. I understand you want to share positive updates with your clients, but I have to say this: Editor emails are priority for freelance writers, and notes about assignments and revisions will always take precedence over PR pitches.

2. Did you personalize your initial pitch to that writer?

The worst emails are “just checking in to see if you can share this with your audience!” emails sent as a follow-up to an email blast. If you didn’t take time to make the pitch relevant, or specific to actual publications they write for, there’s usually a reason the writer didn’t respond to the first one.

3. Do you have something new to add?

There’s an opportunity to redeem yourself from an email blast if your follow-up to the writer includes something personalized. Rather than a “just checking in” note, take a minute to review where the writer was recently published, and add a note about how the subject of your pitch might be relevant to that publication’s audience. This happens very rarely, but I applaud publicists who do it. If your client requires you to send blast emails, this is a way to increase their effectiveness.

4. Has this writer ever responded to you before?

If the answer is no, then you might be barking up the wrong tree. If that writer is usually good about responding, then consider the fact that he or she might have a lot on their plate at the moment and is unable to think about pitching your idea—and give him or her a little more space. Though you may never meet in person, emailing and communicating with a freelance writer is building a relationship. Respect each other’s boundaries and the fact that you both need each other, just maybe not always at the same time.

5. Have you made your pitch easy to accept?

Last week in my newsletter, I mentioned I was looking for pitches for a new publication I just started writing for. I got a lot of pitches from this—yet nearly all of the publicists who sent them seemed to have forgotten to click the link and spend a few minutes actually reading the site. This was a major missed opportunity: Since the site is so new, the editor is quite open to a lot of story ideas, yet very few publicists actually pitched me client ideas and angles that had a chance of passing muster with the editor (note: the fact that a product or company exists is not a story angle). If anyone had pitched me story headlines and angles that were in the tone of this publication, it would have been a slam-dunk (read more on that strategy here).

6. Are you truly interested in working with this writer?

Or… are you simply desperate for coverage? Even the best pitches or clients may not be the right fit for a particular writer. If your follow-ups get to the point of becoming stalker-ish (this has happened: When publicists send multiple emails then follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram—it’s too much, too fast), and a writer still doesn’t respond, you might want to consider pitching someone else.

Now tell me: Besides no response, what are the things that frustrate you most about follow-ups? Would you rather receive a “no, thank you” from a writer than nothing at all? How often are you doing blast emails versus personalized pitch emails?