Top email pitching fails

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Author

Diana Kelly Levey
March 26, 2025

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When you’ve sent thousands of pitches and read hundreds of them as a magazine editor for 10 years, you’ve seen a lot of duds and even sent a few, too.

Here are the top reasons an editor didn’t respond to your pitch. (Spoiler alert: It’s not because you suck.)

1. The Editor Doesn’t Work There Anymore

Magazines and websites are flush with mergers, layoffs, and editors moving around mastheads at a speedy clip.


✅ Do your homework. Google them. Check LinkedIn. Twitter/X. Masthead online if the publication has ‘em.

2. You Pitched the Wrong Section

Pitched beauty to the politics editor? It’s probably why the editor is ignoring you.


✅ Match the pitch to the editor or manager’s beat. Use mastheads, LinkedIn, and bios to confirm.

3. It Went to Spam

They never saw it. This is why the “follow up email” is where most of your business sales happen.


✅ Follow up. Reattach the original pitch. Keep your email and make sure it doesn’t have curses or words that could trigger a spam filter.

4. They Opened It, Then Forgot

They meant to respond. Then, 147 other emails happened.


✅ Follow up with a version of the following:
“Just checking in and wanted to see if you had a chance to review my pitch below. Thanks for considering it.”

Read the rest of the reasons an editor is ghosting you and your freelance pitch in the blog. 👇

Thanks for being a subscriber and reader.

Diana

P.S. Missed last week’s newsletter or a recent post? Check them out here.

P.P.S. Keep scrolling for jobs. ⤵️

Write Article Pitches and Letters of Introduction Editors Want to Read

Tired of spending time writing pitches that go unanswered?

Here are the pitches I wrote that sold to editorial publications like Men’s Journal, Reader’s Digest, Shape, and to brands like Headspace, Fitbit, and more.

Get my bestselling digital download of 24 Pitches That Sold.

"I used your Freelance Pitching template and got approved for an assignment! I sent an article pitch in February, followed up a week later, and I heard back from the editor that I got the assignment!" -Kaneesha Jackson (April 2023)

Customers who've used these freelance article pitch examples and the principles behind them have gone on to write for Glamour, Women's Health, Muscle & Fitness, Well + Good, Food Network, Equinox, Oxygen, and more.

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