A question on my mind this week…

Follow-up emails: how many are too many? It’s a question which has been on my mind this week, namely because I’ve been on holiday, and haven’t been as diligent with my replies. It’s my experience that most PRs only pitch a story once, some follow up with a nudge but hardly any (mercifully) re-nudge the nudge by emailing a third time. Those who do, I have to admit, don’t endear themselves to me. I realise that every journalist’s preferences are different, but personally, if I haven’t bitten the second time around, I’m not biting. 

Earlier this week, I received a third email about a pitch, this one increasingly desperate in tone, from a PR who sounded more than a little pass-agg. I felt vexed, but also sorry for her: I could almost hear her boss chastising her for failing to get any takers. Sadly, it was a weak story: topical, yes, but badly couched and too generic. Topicality is essential, but it alone isn’t enough, a fact that a good PR will always realise. Additionally, the PR hadn’t seemed to factor in that it was July. Holiday season. Frustrating as it might be, not everyone puts their Out Of Office on.

Given the time of year, we should all cut each other some slack in terms of how long it takes to reply to one another.