Pitching Story Ideas in the Era of Ghosting

Busy editors, fewer outlets, and lower pay are just some of the issues facing freelance writers today. But the payoff still feels great when a publication accepts your story.

How often do you find yourself like this?

Over the course of my 25-plus year writing career, many people have asked how getting published in a magazine, newspaper, or a website works. “Do you just write something and send it in?” people have asked me numerous times. I explain that either an editor I know and have written for might reach out with a story idea they want me to write.

More often, I will write up a short pitch — two to three paragraphs with the story idea, its news hook or timeliness, a suggested headline, and sources I’d want to interview — and email it to a relevant editor. Sometimes a pitch comes to mind easily and quickly, other times it takes awhile to get it just right.

“Writing a good pitch still takes time,” said Debbie Carlson, a Chicago-based business and investing journalist. “Pitching is the middle point of the process. I have to come up with the idea, dig a little to see if it's viable, and then pitch it.”

Sometimes an editor will snatch up the story idea and assign it, giving me a deadline, a word count, and the pay rate, which we may negotiate. Other times they’ll let me know it’s not a right fit. And still other times I, unfortunately, won’t hear back at all. Editors get dozens of emails every day and staying on top of replying has gotten more difficult. Or overwhelming. Or they just don’t take the time to reply.

Adding to the lack of response is that many publications have shut down or have been consolidated in the last five years, leaving fewer places to pitch and adding to the overall workload.

According to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism 2025 State of Local News study, 136 newspapers closed in 2024. Worse, in the last two decades, 3,500 newspapers in America shut down, taking with them more than 270,000 jobs. A number of magazines like InStyle, Fast Company, Men’s Journal, Elle Decor, and United’s Hemispheres have either gone fully digital or reduced frequency of print editions. Publications like Out and The Advocate, both award-winning and groundbreaking LGBTQ publications, merged into one flipbook format, each taking half the book.

Forbes has a popular contributor platform, giving independent writers across a range of topics from politics to tech to lifestyle an outlet to publish well-researched articles. In late 2025, however, Forbes unexpectedly cut dozens of those writers without warning leaving many without a home for their work. Earlier this month, I got an email saying my contributor contract would end on July 31, but was encouraged to pitch to the soon-to-launch Forbes Wine editors.

All of this has resulted in job losses, but it’s not all gloom and doom. Many startups have emerged. In the food space alone, you have outlets like Caper, Ravenous, Tomato Tomato by Alicia Kennedy, and even Gourmet, a heralded publication formerly owned by Conde Nast, relaunched in early 2026.

Newsletter platforms like Substack and Beehiiv continue to give writers space to write and publish whatever and whenever they want (similar to the rise of blogs 20 years ago). Beehiiv said its publishers sent 28 billion emails in 2025, reaching more than 255 million unique readers.

Substack had over two million active publications in 2024, with 50 million active subscriptions and 100,000 newsletters earning revenue from paid subscriptions as of April 2026, according to Best Writing.

These platforms have given space for well-known journalists — like former Today Show anchor Katie Couric and Jim Acosta who left CNN, as well as former Wall Street Journal wine writer Lettie Teague and longtime Washington Post wine writer Dave McIntyre — to speak directly to their audiences.

Hello? Is anyone there?

With the many shut downs and consolidations, pitching has gotten more competitive. In turn, connecting with editors has seemingly become increasingly more difficult.

A couple of years ago, I sent out five unique pitches to five different publications — four national and one local in Chicago — within the same week. These were all outlets I had written for and either had a direct relationship with an editor I pitched or was referred to them by an editor or friend. Despite following up with each at least once if not two times, I never heard back from any of them. It’s OK if you don’t like my story, but where’s the courtesy of a simple, “Thanks, but no thanks” answer?

I have had conversations with many of my writer friends about this over the last few years. Not a single person ever felt entirely ecstatic about the process, even if they still write fairly regularly for quality outlets.

“No matter how long I've been doing this, pitching is still so humbling,” said Maggie Hennessy, a Chicago-based food writer and author of The Burger Bible. “There are times I don't hear back, even from editors I've had relationships with for many years. Fortunately, I learned long ago not to feel sheepish about well-timed pestering.”

Hennessy isn’t alone. Christiana Roussel, a Birmingham-based podcaster, editor, and lifestyle writer, put it very simply: “I just want a reply!”

Don’t sleep on that idea

With so many people in the freelance pool today, you have to act quickly when you get an idea. Chances are you’re not the only one thinking about it.

Recently I pitched a story I have wanted to write for a while, yet sat on the idea far too long. I finally pulled together my pitch and sent it off through a publication’s online pitch platform along with a second story idea. A few days later, that second idea got rejected and I never heard about the first.

So I was shocked when that publication published the same story by another writer. Later that day, I received that rejection email. Odd timing, I thought. While I may have initially felt my idea had been snatched, I later learned from an editor they had started working on the story in May. I appreciated the transparency. The point? Don’t sleep on a story if you really want to write it.

”There are also plenty of times I'll send an idea out and then see a similar story appear in said publication days or weeks later,” Hennessy added. “Since there's very little I can do about that, I choose to take it as a compliment when it happens — like, OK, I'm on the right track with my ideas. It’s easier to force myself to move on. Grudges are far too tempting because I’m a Cancer!”

You want me to write that for what?

Believe it or not, there almost always will be an outlet where you can write a story. Whether you get paid well — or paid at all — is another story. A golden era of magazine writing once existed where you could earn a minimum of $2 per word at glossy national magazines. Then with the rise of the internet and content farms and eager younger writers willing to write 800-word articles for $50, things changed. It’s not to say you can’t earn a living, you just have to work harder.

“I've been freelancing for a decade now, and it's never been a stranger time to be a writer,” said Toronto-based wine writer and sommelier Kate Dingwall, who writes for Wine Enthusiast, Food & Wine, and more. “It's not for the weak and it definitely means writing is something you can only do if you have other income, are independently wealthy, or can turn out articles at a high volume.”

I was one of those writers that used to crank out a lot of pieces in any given month that sometimes when a story would get published, I almost forgot I had written it. These days things have slowed a bit for me, but I am also working on other projects outside of traditional journalism. With the current state of media, you have to diversify and it pays (literally) to have corporate clients and other writing opportunities. But journalism holds my heart. I love telling people’s stories (case in point: my YouTube show Family Meal) as do most people who get into this line of work. It’s why we grind it out, put ourselves through sometimes torturous times of pitching, and stick it out for the bright moments.

“I liken freelancing to the highs and lows I used to get during a slammed dinner service,” said Carrie Honaker, a Florida-based food and travel writer who regularly writes for Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure. “I remember rejection or lack thereof isn't a verdict on the quality of my ideas. And if you stay the path, often you are rewarded.”

Which still thankfully happens.

“On the bright side, I feel like there’s so much room for interesting stories and unique voices these days,” Dingwall said. “Even my wildest or most unusual stories are finding homes — ones that go far beyond the traditional definition of wine writing. The editors I work with are betting big on stories worth telling, which is pretty magical.”

So through all the frustrations and head banging, it’s worth it to keep going. And yes, a reply would be nice.

SG list: Things I’m high fiving this week

Bottlerocket Spritz on the go
Over the last few years, spritzes have exploded in popularity especially in summer. That trend joined the also-hot warm weather rosé market. So why not combine the two? Charles Bieler, one half of the team behind Charles & Charles and Bieler Family Wines, recently came out with Bottlerocket Spritz and I have to say it’s absolutely delightful. It blends rosé wine, blood orange, bitter orange, gentian root, and botanicals and it is super refreshing over ice at only 9% alcohol. It comes in full-size 750 mL bottles, but also in a handy four pack with single-serve 187 mL bottles, perfect for a quick low-ABV tipple after work, in the park, or at a picnic.

BEEF season 2
Drew and I started the first season of Beef, but fell off for no real reason. Season two? It sucked us in from the start. Hoooo boy this show is fantastic. Imagine White Lotus with a vengeance. I don’t want to say much beyond than just go watch it. It’s gripping. It’s thrilling. It has beautiful people with insecurities and baggage. There’s a reason the show got 16 Emmy nods. Now we need to go back and watch season one.

Congrats Raphael & Paula!
Sending big time mazel to my friends (and former Eater coworkers) Raphael Brion and Paula Forbes, who after 15 years together have gotten engaged. Couldn’t be happier for you two!

Hot Chip’s “Do Not Wait”
What a fun surprise hearing this song that was released in 2010 as a b-side on Hot Chip’s One Life Stand album, but it never really crossed my path. It just showed up on my Spotify release radar. It’s gorgeous and I adore it.