My husband frequently says, “my favorite thing about Amy is she never gives up and my least favorite thing about Amy is she never gives up.”
The truth is, without that dogged perseverance I wouldn’t be writing this newsletter. Nearly two decades after my 7th grade English teacher said, “you’ll never be a writer,” I launched my freelance writing career.
What my teacher didn’t realize is that persistence may be even more important than writing prowess when it comes to getting published. It turns out my inability to call it quits, or heed someone else’s ideas about my limitations, has served me well.
Instead of giving up on a story after getting a few rejections, I tend to revisit them repeatedly—often tweaking and revising—until I snag a sale. The end result: I have several stories that waited in the wings for years before they were finally published, and at least a few of them involve Good Housekeeping.
- My Father’s Words Helped Me Survive A Brutal Attack and Kidnapping Attempt: I interviewed Ashlee for this story in 2012 and landed a story in SELF Magazine that was later killed when a newly hired editor-in-chief said, “it’s not going to work for the ‘new’ SELF.” My editor paid me in full and said, “feel free to pitch it elsewhere”—and I did. I sent the story to Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Oprah Magazine. But it wasn’t until nearly a decade later when my editor at Good Housekeeping said she was looking for real-life dramas that I finally found a home for the story.
- Suzanne Had Cancer. It Was Her Precognitive Dreams That Saved Her Life: In 2016, after reading a study authored by Dr. Larry Burk about women who dreamed about their breast cancers before they were diagnosed, I pitched a story about precognitive dreams. Several editors were interested, but no one snapped it up. I understand why. It’s scary, off-putting stuff. But in late 2021, I sent the idea to my Good Housekeeping editor (after the same call for real-life dramas mentioned above), and she assigned the story.
- I Skipped the Santa Claus Tradition with My Three Sons and They Still Have Christmas Spirit. I first wrote this story in 2016 when my then 2-year-old asked about “Santa Claus” and I pitched it to Good Housekeeping. Turns out, the publication was planning a feature storyabout the mother-daughter duo behind “The Elf on the Shelf” in their holiday issue. Needless to say, my story about ditching Santa wasn’t a good fit for that particular issue. So I pitched it to The Washington Post(a publication that has a much shorter lead time). The editor liked the idea, but she wanted to focus on the “door dash” portion of our Christmas tradition, so I rewrote the story. Then, a year later, I circled back to Good Housekeeping with my original story—and landed an assignment.
It turns out I’m not alone in sticking with stories long after they’ve been written and rejected. Several of my students have similar success stories. Here are just a few:
I Married a 9/11 Widower. Sometimes I Still Feel Guilty About Our Second Chance at Love By Sharon Goldman
When did you write the first version of this story? I wrote the essay 11 years ago and tied it to the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.
Which publications did you send it to? I aimed high and sent it to The New York Times “Modern Love” column. To my surprise, Dan Jones responded with interest, but he said they had something similar running in another section of the paper. He had to pass. I considered it a win that I didn’t get Modern Love’s form rejection letter. But since the 9/11 anniversary was rapidly approaching, and that was the news hook, the story sat untouched on my hard drive for nine years.
When—and where—did you finally place it? During the pandemic, I took a workshop on essay and memoir and decided to revisit and reframe the story. A few weeks before 9/11 in 2021 (the 20-year anniversary), I sent a new version of the essay out to a few different publications. Shondaland bought it just two days before I received an email of interest from The Washington Post.
Sweet Child O’ Mine: How My Son Won My Heart Through Guns ‘N Roses By Sharon Waldrop
When did you write the first version of this story? 2017.
Which publications did you send it to? I sent it to 10 different markets, tweaking it slightly after each pass. It made the rounds at Good Housekeeping, Working Mother, Huffington Post, The Girlfriend, and The Washington Post, among others. I stuck with it because I believed in the story and received positive feedback from a few of the editors I pitched. One said she saw Guns ‘N Roses in the 90s, was still a fan and wished that she could run it!
When—and where—did you finally place it? I sold the piece to Next Tribe in 2021, four years after I wrote the first version. The editor had just attended a concert where Woodstock was held, so she was in a nostalgia/classic rock mode.
The Summer I Spent Inspecting Public Toilets By Jessica Wozinsky Fleming
When did you write the first version of this story? I first wrote this piece about 15 years ago as part of a writing class where the instructor encouraged us to write about a humiliating moment or time in our lives. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a clear takeaway that made the experience meaningful, so the essay sat on my computer for a decade before I brushed it off. I workshopped the essay in a writing group, used that feedback, then didn’t touch the essay again for two years! I was struggling with the wrap-up and finding a timely lead. Then, just this summer, I read about how teenagers were forgoing traditional summer jobs and decided to return to my piece and play off that news hook.
Which publications did you send it to? I sent it to The Washington Post’sInspired Life Section and The Guardian’s Op-Ed section since they often publish essays on Fridays. I never heard back from either publication.
When—and where—did you finally place it? It finally found a home on TODAY.com. I love that the editor commissioned an illustration of me inspecting toilets! I kept many of the same details from my earliest versions and focused on giving the story a meaningful takeaway. Finding the “point” of the essay or why anyone should care about my experience was what prevented a sale before. In the Today.com version, I focused on my personal transformation; at first, I dreaded the position, but then I enjoyed it. Playing that up helped give the story the narrative arc it needed.
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