The Freelance Writing Waiting Game

Amber Petty
3 min readApr 10, 2021

I’m Going to Write for the New York Times: Chapter 6

Photo by Camila Quintero Franco on Unsplash

This is an ongoing column about my quest to write for the New York Times. If you’d like to know the background behind why I’m doing this, check out the first installment of the series.

My life has always involved a lot of waiting. Waiting in open call auditions. Waiting for auditions. Waiting to hear if I can even get an audition.

When I switched from acting to writing, I didn’t realize that waiting, in the words of Tom Petty, would still be the hardest part.

This week, I handed in a story and have no idea when it will be published or if the editor even likes it. This isn’t unusual. Editors have packed schedules and get around to articles on their own timeline. They simply don’t have time to be like the Dominos Pizza Tracker and let me know when my story is in the oven (aka, being edited).

So, while I wait to tell you more about a story I’m excited about, here are some other updates from my freelance writing week.

Officially Rejected!

Two of my stories have now been officially rejected by the New York Times! Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised they wrote me back at all. One was a form letter that told me she couldn’t give feedback (I really can’t imagine having the…

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Amber Petty
Amber Petty

Written by Amber Petty

Writer for the New York Times, Bustle, Greatist, MTV, IFC, Snooki’s blog. Want to hear about open writing jobs? Sign up for my free newsletter at AmberPetty.com