Here's why you should track your pitches

Plus: Illuminate Your Biz program starts next week!

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Food For Thought: Track Your Pitches

Do you track your pitches? Do you have a way to keep track of what story ideas you sent to what editor? I’m here to tell you that you should – and you should create your pitch tracking system today, even if you don’t have any story ideas to send out. 

(Is this your first time hearing about tracking your pitches? Don’t be dismayed! These are some of the diverse reactions I saw on Twitter when someone was asking about it)

I have my pitch tracking system to thank for landing an extremely well paid story for Thrillist after my pitch had been rejected by FOURTEEN DIFFERENT EDITORS. 

What kind of system am I talking about? Something really simple and streamlined. I use a spreadsheet. You could use good ol’ pen and paper. I’m sure there’s some kind of fancy app that would work as well. You simply need an easy way to note what story you pitched, who you pitched it to, and when you pitched it, plus some room for any notes you might like to make (like who you could send it to next). 

Why does this system matter? Why is it worth your time, attention, and effort? Here’s why:

• It’s easier to remember what you sent and who you sent it to. If you’re serious about acing the freelance game, you can’t be juggling just two or three pitches at a time and you have to expect that the most desirable outlets will get pitched a lot – which means there’s a high chance of rejection and you’re going to pitch that story many times to find its well-paying home. Checking your email isn’t efficient, especially when you might be juggling several pitches with similar keywords but distinct angles (making email searches inefficient). 

• You can turn some pitch days into lazy days. I usually follow up on my pitches after two weeks. Having the dates easily recorded in front of me makes it easy to remember who I need to follow up with and when. So occasionally when I’m having a rough day and I don’t feel like dealing with new pitches, I take a lazy day, go through my list, and fire off my follow ups. Maybe I’ll take some rejected evergreen pitches and send them out to a new editor. As such, even on my “worst” pitch days, I’m keeping stories alive and staying organized.

• It helps you make the most of ‘calls for pitches’ emails. That turtle hospital story? I placed it in Thrillist when I saw a call for road trip story pitches. The turtle hospital would never have come to my mind but because it was in my pitch tracker, I saw it and it triggered my memory that it’s just a short road trip from Miami.