Dear Ed,
I pitched an idea to a magazine and the editor wrote back immediately saying the idea had a lot of potential, but he asked to see a manuscript first. So I sent one. After a week and a half with no word, I wrote a follow-up. No response. Two weeks after that I wrote once more. Nada. Did I do something wrong? Is it possible they’re going to print it without telling me? What should my next move be?
Strung Along, New York City
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Dear Strung Along,
Sometimes, an editor will have you write an article on spec, meaning he doesn’t know if he can officially assign it to you and pay you for it, so he asks you to write it—for free—to see if it’s worth buying from you. It sounds like that’s what happened here. It seems, unfortunately, he’s not interested in the story. Still, he should get back to you let you know. There’s a chance that your manuscript is still circulating with the editors, and he doesn’t know if he has permission to assign it to you yet. It can take six to eight weeks for an editor to hear back from their editors, so two weeks may not be enough time to give you an answer.
It’s unlikely, though not impossible, that he is going to run your story in some form without your consent. Give him a few more weeks to get back to you, then try contacting him again: Ask him if he could please let you know either way if he’s planning on using it. Keep calling until he picks up (don’t bother leaving multiple voicemails). If you submitted the manuscript via snail mail, you can ask that it be returned to you (though that wouldn’t stop him from making a copy of it, and he may have thrown it out already). If you can’t get him on the phone, try calling editorial assistants at the magazine to see if they know anything about the status of your story or if they can find out for you. They may be able to run and ask the editor while you’re on hold.
Love,
Ed