“Freelancing is a treadmill of pain. As writers we just hope that someone will come along and give us work so all the running can amount to something.”

Yikes! A treadmill of pain? I think that’s a little harsh, otherwise no one would ever want the job.

Honestly, I don’t take it too personally when I don’t get a response. A few others have mentioned these things, but I tend to send out queries in bulk and NOT expected a reply. I also follow up if it’s something I really wanted, but I don’t worry about it if it wasn’t. I always have plenty of work, so I don’t worry about it overly much.

I’ll take your advice and e-mail most of them. Honestly I’m shocked when job searching when I can’t fax or e-mail for regular jobs so to speak. Thanks.

I wouldn’t use mail, I’d use e-mail then follow up with a phone call. E-mail might get lost in the shuffle, but snail mail certainly will.

Also make sure you know the pub’s policy. Some use no outside help (even if they did at one time).

I am still looking for a steady gig (fingers crossed) and not giving up is the best answer

They don’t tend to pay as well as a print publication or an ezine, but if I can get about four more clients such as the ones I already have, I won’t be stressed out every time I receive no response at all to the writing gigs I apply for every single day.

Sometimes it’s more beneficial to a writer to get steady small income over a large one-time payout. It helps mentally as well. The pay scale for most blog sites is $50 per post, and most posts are only about 400-500 words, so you don’t have to kill yourself trying to come up with wordy and witty articles on a daily basis.

If it is a job you really want, send a follow up email (giving a decent waiting period, of course — I usually give a couple of weeks). State that you are following up on the initial email and include the initial email in the follow up.

I found the response rate increases dramatically on follow ups. I think most editors appreciate the initiative of a writer who will take an extra step. But I also know I’ve gotten responses from editors who have said they never received the first email (spam filters are weird — I learned to constantly check my bulk folder). Or editors may have planned to write you back but got busy. Or they were reviewing the emails from everyone before responding.

I also learned to never give up. It’s not unusual to get an email out of the blue from an editor you contacted months ago.

But I do have to admit, it is frustrating when the editor contacts you and engages you in a dialogue and then never answersot even the follow ups. That’s the one I don’t understand.