writermag.com • The Writer | 11read your words and was moved by
them. What we do can have an
impact, a concept more energizing
than any byline.
A stranger slams your work. The
flip side of writing for outlets with
larger audiences, and writing well, is
being increasingly prone to blowback
from readers. That’s the price of having
a higher profile, and I’m happy to pay
it, because editors are getting readers
and my work is eliciting a reaction
beyond indifference. It’s a good hurt.
Out of the blue, an editor invites
you to write for their publication.
This is a close relative of the previous
points, with two additional benefits.
First, this appreciation comes with
money. Second, you don’t have to
spend hours crafting a pitch or court-
ing editors; you head to the front of
the line.
An editor shuts down your pitch
but opens a window. A pitch can
be rejected for many reasons: the story
was done before, it doesn’t fit with the
magazine’s editorial mission, the edi-
tor hates the subject. But if that editor
gently lets you down and then offers
the chance to pitch her again, that’s a
tremendous consolation prize. You
have another ally, someone who
knows your name and will look for-
ward to your email. Plus, you know an
editor who responds to emails, the
Bigfoot of our profession.
You leave an inadequate client.
Knowing for the first time that you can
find more satisfying work is your bar
mitzvah. I fear new freelancers view
terrible pay or despotic editors as con-
ditions of the business, like invoicing
or W-9s. They are not. The same
tenacity that led you to this place can
be channeled into finding jobs that
don’t diminish your self-worth or your
savings account.
You get published in places peo-
ple know. It doesn’t matter how
much talent or self-confidence you
possess, it’s hard to feel like a success
when the response to places you’ve
written for is either “I’ve never heard
of them” or “Do they even pay?”
These comments shouldn’t rankle a
salty veteran like myself, but they do.
An identity crisis over a plate of pigs
in a blanket is a real thing.
These people are nitwits. Writing for
national publications is not the key to
happiness. It’s doing what you’re meant
to do, and not talking about possibilities
until they ferment into regret. As Ste-
phen King wrote, “If you wrote some-
thing for which someone sent you a
check, if you cashed the check and it
didn›t bounce, and if you then paid the
light bill with the money, I consider you
talented.” That’s as useful a measure-
ment for success as I’ve encountered.Finding work is no longer your
main priority. You have several steady
gigs. Editors know to hit you up when
they need a job done right. A quick note
to a familiar editor serves as an effective
pitch. A long-term project covers your
expenses for three months. The amount
of success you have is inversely propor-
tional to the time spent on job boards,
Indeed.com, and Sweet Baby Jesus expo-
sure is not a form of compensation! Why
is this still a thing?! It’s been years!Getting gigs becomes an expecta-
tion, not a fluke. I am aware that
many factors – from editors I’ve met to
whom I married to my family’s patience
and benevolence – have put me in this
position. But I also know that I’m good
at this. Nobody can do anything for this
long because of luck alone. Besides, luck
becomes a shabby excuse if it’s not
flanked by talent and discipline.And that work feeds your passion.
If you’re writing just for money, you will
be more than a little bit disappointed.GOTHAMWRITERS.COM
Creative Writing
Classes in NYC
& OnlineOther writers come to you for
advice. People aspiring to succeed in
a field don’t seek counsel from the
incompetent, unless “teaching via
cautionary tale” is corporate Ameri-
ca’s hot new mentorship trend. I don’t
know. I’m not on LinkedIn much
these days.You will find other landmarks for suc-
cess, ones that will cause you to sit back
and take pride in what you’ve done on
your own and the accomplishments that
lie ahead. No parking space or apple
cake can replicate that feeling.Ithaca-based Pete Croatto (Twitter: @Pete-
Croatto) is a veteran freelance writer who has
written for The New York Times, The Christian
Science Monitor, Publishers Weekly, Columbia
Journalism Review, and many other publica-
tions. He is also working on his first book.