Why Do Writers Delete Pitches Without Opening Them
A quick look at the pitches that typically get cut without being read + how to make sure this isn't happening to yours
As a publicist, you put real time and thought into every pitch. You research, draft, refine, and then hit send, hoping it lands. But the reality? A large chunk of pitches never get opened, let alone answered.
It’s not personal. It’s because a writer’s inbox is overflowing. For this reason we simply can’t get through every pitch If we did, we would literally be answering emails all day.
Unfortunately, this leads to writers deleting emails on a first pass without really engaging with a pitch.
Not all of them, but there are definitely pitches that follow a certain pattern that often don’t get read.
The good news? Many of those reasons are fixable.
Here’s a closer look at the ones that get the first cut and how to avoid them.
1. The Subject Line Is Too Vague
Subject lines like:
“Following up”
“Idea for you”
“Collaboration opportunity”
don’t give enough information to warrant a click. When someone is scanning quickly, these are among the ones that are easy to delete.
Try this instead:
Be specific and informative. For example:
“Dermatologist Available to Explain the ‘Skin Cycling’ Trend”
“Survey: 68% of Parents Struggle With Screen Time Limits”
Clear subject lines not only improve open rates, they also make your email searchable later if it’s relevant to an upcoming story. And writers like myself often have tons of folders going in our inboxes where we stash story ideas and pitches to return to later.
2. It’s Too Dense
If your pitch looks like one long paragraph with no breaks, it’s likely getting skipped.
Even strong ideas can get buried in formatting that’s hard to skim. And yes, writers do skim. They don’t have time to read an entire pitch from head to toe, so they’ll often engage with it enough to be able to get a feel for who is the client and why is it timely. If that’s not immediately clear, it’s likely a delete.
Try this instead:
Make it easy to scan:
Keep paragraphs short
Use bullet points where possible
Call out key details (expert name, credentials, key stat, product info)
Think of your pitch as something someone reads in 10 seconds—not 2 minutes.
3. It Misses the Mark
A fitness editor gets a pitch about fintech. A travel writer gets a pitch about supplements.
It happens more often than you’d think…and it’s a fast delete. If a product isn’t for our beat, we’re going to move on fast.
Try this instead:
Take a few minutes to check what the writer actually covers. Read recent articles. Adjust your angle so it clearly fits their beat.
Relevance is everything.
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