Marketing: Some freelancers love it, some hate it. But editors in both camps might be united in their dread of crafting a cold email: reaching out to someone they probably don’t know to offer a service that might not be needed. It’s like dropping a bucket into a very, very deep well. You just don’t know if you’ll ever reach the water, let alone pull some up.

Register to join the Academic Editing Chapter’s October Coffee Chat on Thursday, October 17, at 4 p.m. PDT / 7 p.m. EDT to discuss making the most out of the cold email:

• How can you make this marketing strategy pay off?
• How do you find the right person to email—or is a telephone call better?
• What do you say?
• How long should the letter be?
• What will the recipient need to know?
• Is it similar to a cover letter in a job application—and if it’s been a decade or so since you wrote one of those, what should you say?
• Should you include a résumé? Testimonials?
• Should you follow up, and if so, when?

It’s enough to make you want to work in a call center! (Almost.) Join us on October 17 to learn about the cold email. And if you’ve had success or hired someone thanks to a cold email, Zoom in and give us the tea!

(Alt text: A computer screen showing four people in a video call is next to a stack of books, a coffee cup, and a plant. Copyright: pongsirionkham © 123RF.com)