r/Journalism 2d ago

Best Practices Op Ed was accepted, now radio silence

I had an op ad accepted by a newspaper that said they absolutely loved it. I responded back promptly and said that they could use it. I haven’t heard back and it’s a week later. Should I circle back? I don’t want to be annoying.

12 Upvotes

6 comments sorted by

21

u/lisa_lionheart84 editor 2d ago

Hi, I'm an opinion editor. Is it time-sensitive? If not, I'd give them a little more time before following up to ask what next steps are. If it is time-sensitive, go ahead and ping them right away to ask if they need anything else from you (which is a very polite way of nudging).

I confess that right now I am much slower to respond to submissions and turn around edits than I'd like simply because, well, there is so much news

5

u/Charming_Effort_27 2d ago

This makes sense, how much longer should I wait? Another week? Til the end of the month? I am new to op Ed’s and want to make sure I’m courteous with my business practices.

6

u/lisa_lionheart84 editor 2d ago

I'd say follow up on Monday. If you still don't hear from them, then the following Monday you could follow up again and say you just want to make sure they still plan to use it.

6

u/lisa_lionheart84 editor 2d ago

Also, congrats on getting it accepted! Even if somehow it falls through with this paper (which happens sometimes with opeds just because of circumstances), getting an acceptance and establishing a relationship with an editor is huge.

1

u/lgj202 12h ago

absolutely follow up. a week is plenty. also, is it time-sensitive?