It’s summer in Delhi and I’m spending a lot of time indoors in the air conditioning hoping I won’t melt. Which means, of course, that it’s time for another session of the Local Journalist, Global Journalism e-course.

The eight-week class will start on July 1, 2013 and I have limited seats. If you’re interested in freelancing internationally and breaking into the big names, check out the course page.

Can’t wait to see you in class!

In my writing, I’ve battled many foes. I’ve battled the lack of confidence and come out on top (well, mostly). I battled with the idea of marketing myself, of seeing myself as a brand, and eventually came to accept it and even embrace it. I hated writing queries and now I quite enjoy that process. I like to believe that my attitude has improved as well, that instead of thinking “I can’t do this” or “How the heck am I going to pull this off?” I say instead, “Let me try.”

But the one foe I haven’t yet been able to conquer is impatience. I should have broken into Nat Geo by now (never mind that I’ve never once pitched them), I should have sold my book by now, I should be making more money than I am by now. I don’t know where it comes from, this sentiment of “should… by now” but it’s there, we all have it.

So what can you do about it? Try the following:

1. This is going to sound fairly obvious, but try taking a good look at what you have done. Last week when I was putting together my portfolio for my website, I realized that I actually had to delete at least half of some of my best clips because there’s just not enough space for all of them. I wanted to showcase my best work and I ended up with 100+ articles that I count as “very good” not to mention the hundreds that I did just for the money or the clip. That’s not bad.

2. Take a step forward. You haven’t broken into Nat Geo by now, so what can you do today to change that? Read a few issues. Maybe tomorrow you can think of story ideas and next week, you could look up the name of an editor. If you haven’t sold a book by now, why is that? Is there anything you can do about it?

3. Be proactive. Traditionally, writers have had to sit around waiting for agents, editors, and publishers to get back to them, and this creates a lot of impatience and aggravation for us. It’s not like we’re talking days. These things take weeks, sometimes months and years. But modern-day writers do not have to sit around and wait. We are fully in control of our careers if we’re willing to do the work and take the risk. So if you’re tired of sitting around waiting for agents, editors, and publishers, have you considered taking the initiative yourself with your own (self-hosted) blog or self-published book?

Do you agree? What do you do when you’re feeling impatient about your career and how do you move forward? Share your successes (and your failures) of taking the initiative below in the comments.

Quick, answer the following questions:

1.   What’s the name of the journalist who ranted about not getting paid by The Atlantic?

2.   What’s the name of the woman who wrote the piece “I am not Adam Lanza’s mother”?

3.   What’s the name of the freelance web designer who posted an angry letter on a client’s website because he didn’t get paid?

You don’t remember, do you? Well, not all of those people anyway.

My point? Even if you’ve made a mistake, it’s unlikely that an editor or an agent is going to remember you. With hundreds and thousands of pitches they receive each week, they just don’t have the bandwidth for it. The only time someone does remember and hold it against you is when someone has worked with you and you’ve pissed them off and failed to accept responsibility or apologize. It’s only when unprofessionalism and stupid things affect us personally that we remember the names of the people who did them. Other times, those typos, those small mistakes, they DO. NOT. MATTER.

Kapish?

I got totally derailed over the last couple of weeks due to a website redesign. I was expecting for it to take a day or two, not two weeks of hitting my head against a wall. Now I have to make up for that lost work and income and well, what’s better than sending out pitches to some top markets?

Query #8: Marie Claire

I’ve written for Marie Claire, US, before but the piece ended up not being published because it was no longer timely by the time it could be scheduled (don’t worry, I was paid in full for my work and they were more than fair to me). I’ve been meaning to pitch them again for a while, but my editor left the magazine and I don’t know, I just never got around to it (you sensing another pattern here?) Well, seeing as that was 2009, my editor has since changed three jobs and I still don’t actually have a Marie Claire, US clip (I have been in other editions), I decided it was time to break the jinx and just do it. I pitched them the story of a woman I’ve been wanting to write about for years and has an amazing life story, so I think I’ll be pressing the Refresh button every four seconds until they respond because it’s a story that I know will work for them.

Query #9: National Geographic Traveler

I had a bit of to and fro with a Nat Geo Traveler editor in 2009 when I’d just returned from the US, but nothing since then. India is, let’s be honest, an overdone travel destination and I felt I didn’t really have anything interesting to add. But I realize now that I’m selling myself short and that the reason it is an overdone and popular travel story is because people continue to be interested in it. So, what the heck, I pitched an India story.

Query #10: Brain, Child

This is a literary parenting magazine (yes, they exist) that I enjoyed reading even before I was a parent. It’s under new ownership now so the website has changed but the soul of it remains the same, so today I sent them a story that is very personal to me and is something I’ve been involved with since the birth of my son. There’s a test that can save the lives of thousands of babies each year and I’ve written letters, talked to the management of the hospital where I gave birth, and dug through thousands of pages of medical association documents to try and get that test offered to more parents. Now I’m ready to write about it.

That’s my update for the day. How are you faring on the 30 Days, 30 Queries challenge? 

 

I’m really excited about the progress I’m making on my queries (if you haven’t started yet, what are you waiting for?) and last week, I figured I was just going to have to have a marketing day. I sent out queries, but I also wrote newsletter editorials and blog posts. I used to set aside time in my day for marketing, but I’ve realized now that it’s easier if I just set a day in my week to do it. Here’s how it went.

Query #5: Mental Floss

This publication totally gets my geek on and I’ve had the perfect idea for it forever. For some reason—don’t ask me what because that would require some logic—I didn’t pitch them this perfect idea but something else a few weeks ago. They got back to me with a very nice rejection last week and so now I’ve sent them the “perfect” idea. I’ll obviously weep if they reject it.

Query #6: Psychology Today

I want to tell you a little story, but there’s a point to it, so bear with me. Almost a decade ago when I first became a freelancer, one of my goals was to write for Psychology Today. I never did because I have never, not once, pitched this magazine. In 2007, I came up with an idea that I thought would be a perfect fit in the print magazine but never got around to researching and sending it. I read this magazine all the time but I never sent even a single query. Last week, I did. I sent that idea that I thought up in 2007 and the editor really liked it. She went back to check with her staff and they have something very similar coming up in a future issue. Damn. That’ll teach me to sit on good ideas for five years. The editor liked my work, though, and offered me a blog on the Psychology Today website. (First few posts up, read it here!) The magazine is still the holy grail, though, so now I’ve sent her another pitch (which she also likes) and is checking with her staff about assigning. Moral of the story? Send those babies out. Now.

Query #7: Popular Science

You might be beginning to see a pattern here. I love science in all its forms and I love maths. I always say that if I hadn’t chosen a career that involved working with words, I would be in a career that involved working with numbers. The wonderful thing is that as a writer, I can work with facts and numbers if I choose to, and while I do have some science credits, it’s an area I’d like to explore a lot more.

How’s your marketing going?