Cultivating Editor Relationships Bears Multi-Assignment Fruit

Cultivating Editor Relationships Bears Multi-Assignment Fruit Last week I sent a two-sentence query to the travel editor at the San Jose Mercury News about visiting specific spots in Southern California- would she be interested in an article? Her answer: â€Å"Sure. Sounds fun!† It can’t be that easy, right? Yes, it was- but only because I’d written many travel pieces for this editor over a number of years. Better yet, because my writing style and process clicked well with her needs, she’d actually created a loose category of articles (called â€Å"Trail Mix†) for me to conceive and write, of which the above was one. There will be many mixings of trails to come. Keeping in this vein, I once wrote a magazine piece about my girlfriend buying an old Airstream trailer sight unseen on eBay. The editor of a new Airstream magazine read it and contacted me about writing an article for his magazine. Yesterday I turned in what might be my 40th (if not more) article for the magazine. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve sent hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pitches that have died an un-replied death, and hundreds more that got me the one-sentence â€Å"not for us† reply. But occasionally, writers can connect with editors so that mutual trust, confidence, and suggested future work define the relationship. And don’t forget another component: getting paid regularly. Sure, Craft clear pitches: Be specific about an article’s scope and details. Include a suggested headline. Put in a succinct