Why I Stopped Pitching in 2020 and Started Writing

Facing rejection does make you stronger — but it can also make you lose the will to write

After graduating in January 2020, my mind soon turned to all the time I would have to pitch to editors and work on my writing. After landing a job as a part-time bookseller and barista, I was excited to use the year to hopefully land my first commission.

Once I overcame the nerve-wracking anxiety of sending my first pitch, the rest got easier, but the rejection never did. I believe rejection can make you stronger — but this continuous process sucked away any desire I had to write in the first place. After months of pitching, re-drafting and receiving rejection emails, I decided to stop altogether and spent the remainder of the year writing for myself.

I was spending so much time on writing emails and reading rejections that I never had time to write. It was a draining process, and I wasn’t getting anywhere. I knew I had stories in me and I wanted to write them — but the outlets I craved weren’t possible. So I decided to craft them myself. First, through a blog, and then later, through Medium.

Once I stopped pitching, I started writing — more than ever. I developed a daily habit of writing (anything) and consistently posting on this platform. As a result, I rediscovered my love of writing and also started to earn money for it for the first time in my life.

What Began as an Outlet for My Failed Pitches turned into an Income Stream

When I first started using Medium, I had no idea about the publications here, or how much money you could potentially earn. I simply began to use it as an outlet to dump all my failed pitches that weren’t commissioned.

During my first month on this platform, I earned $1, and I was over the moon. After blogging consistently on WordPress since January, I had earned something ridiculous like $0.11 for the whole year. It turns out, that Medium has a far better relationship with Google.

As low as that mere $1 was, it made me believe that writers could earn money here on Medium. From that point on, I started to post on here consistently throughout September, October, November and December and slowly but surely, started making more every month. Of course, it doesn’t compare to the kind of income I could potentially earn at national outlets, but it takes away the time consuming and draining process of pitching which I had began to hate.

My total earnings for 2020 on Medium amounted to just over £1000 for four months. But for me, it was never about that.

Through posting on Medium and finding publications I love, such as Mind Cafe, I have rediscovered my love of writing and what it means to me. Every day, I come to write an article on Medium and I am full of inspiration and it keeps on coming.

Pitching is harder. It’s draining, and all your efforts are focused on crafting an email rather than the story. Only to be faced with more rejection, than commission.

Pitching is Part of Medium, But It’s Different

Major publications here on Medium, such as Better Humans, Mind Cafe and The Ascent, have a rigorous acceptance process and it can take some persistence to get a piece published. But I have found it to be so much better than merely pitching into a void.

Medium editors will leave you comments on pieces, suggest what changes you can make and give you reassurance. There’s an open pathway to communication and publications readily want to take on new writers. Medium isn’t just an online publishing platform, but a community of supportive writers and readers, I’ve never experienced anything like it.

Although it took me several attempts to get into Mind Cafe, I had feedback and support from their editors along the way, something you don’t get from pitching outside of Medium— as there’s more competition. Even when I do a pitch or send a submission to a publication that ends up getting rejected, the process is far less time consuming, and I still get to write and publish it at the end of it.

On Medium, you don't have to publish within publications and you can still have the chance of earning something for your articles. It gives you the opportunity to build an audience and a portfolio — even if you are not earning megabucks or getting bylines.

Why Did I Stop Focusing on Pitching?

Pitching last year was terrible for my mental health. I’ve never been able to handle rejection or criticism well — but the emptiness and lack of response from some editors ad publications were draining. And having to do the whole process, again and again, sucked the life out of me. I was spending days crafting perfect emails rather than stories, and it seemed such a waste.

These stories that I was pitching had to go somewhere — and they had to be written. Medium and non paid outlets I have written for, such as Backbench, The Indiependent and FWRD Axis — gave them a home. Writing in 2020 became a necessity for me, to cope with the pandemic and the change around me. But also, to fill the empty days I had in front of me, having been furloughed for 10 months.

Looking back, I know I couldn’t have spent all that time pitching, on top of living through a pandemic, it would have been too draining. I had to write and being on Medium gave me that. It ignited that creative spark and gave me some self-belief.

So What’s the Plan for 2021?

Getting a paid commission or a national byline, is still my dream. I’m going to be sparingly pitching to publications this year, but at the same time, I’m no longer going to be placing pressure on myself to do so.

Also, I’m not going to determine my self worth as a writer by the number of bylines or commissions I get.

As long as I keep writing, build up an audience of people who appreciate my work, and manage my mental health along the way — I will be satisfied. Sometimes, if a story is inside you, it’s just got to be written. And it doesn’t have to accompany a fancy byline or hefty paycheck.

In 2021, I want to continue writing and developing my skills. I want to produce work which is honest, revealing and insightful. Last year, I spent most of it playing around with articles to find out what did well on Medium — and I didn’t get to the bottom of it because there is no set formula for success.

But I want to write in order to stay true to myself and write the stories that I have to.

This piece was not written to try and give pitching a bad name, but to merely, reflect on my experience with it. Of course, everyone is different, and if pitching works for you, then great. I'm not going to be giving up on pitching altogether but changing my relationship with it this year by not letting it determine my self worth as a writer.

From my experience so far, I’ve realised what matters to me most is being able to write the story. Being paid is just a bonus.