If you’re a writer sending a lot of follow up emails to editors after your initial pitches go out, it is always easier to save one follow up email sample, or template, and adjust it as-needed.
The goal is to make each follow up you send personalized.
For more general rules on what to include in a follow up email and when to send it, check out How to Send a Follow Up With Class.
Follow Up Email Sample for Writers
Below is a short and sweet follow up I sent to an editor, after not hearing back on an essay I pitched to her section of The New York Times.
She responded to this one and the piece eventually went live.
You can adjust this to your needs. Leave out the parts in italics. Those are just headings to help you think about how to organize your follow up email.
Anything in [brackets] is instructive, for you to fill in.
1. Subject
Follow Up: Wendy’s Story on Plant Theft
2. Introduction including specific acknowledgement of a recent project she completed.
Hi [Editor’s Name] – I was just watching the Hawk Cam!
3. Share a compliment and a detail to illustrate that you are being sincere.
It’s so cool to get all those details about baby hawk development, especially for a pet editor like me.
4. Quick and to-the-point statement of intent. Give enough detail to jog their memory.
Anyway, wanted to follow up on my Met Diary submission.
5. Thank them for their time and/or consideration. Remember, they owe you nothing, and they get a bajillion pitches a week. Good manners will make a difference!
Thanks, as always, for your time!
-Wendy
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