Every year around Labor Day, most publicists receive some version of the same message from clients: “Great, now that summer’s over we can really push.” And every year, we talk them off that ledge a little. September isn’t a light switch. It’s more like a slow reboot, and if you pitch it like the slow season already ended, you’re going to be disappointed by week two.

Here’s what’s actually happening on the other side of that inbox right now.

Reporters are still digging out

Newsrooms don’t snap back to full strength the Tuesday after Labor Day. I’ve had reporters tell me flat out they’re still working through emails from three weeks ago. Vacations that started in late July stretch into the first weeks of September for a lot of people, and the ones who are back are often buried in unread pitches, half-written stories, and their editors throwing new story ideas at them.

You’re not just competing with today’s pitches. You’re competing with everyone else’s summer backlog too.

So no, a slow response in the first two weeks of September doesn’t mean you got a soft no. It might just mean you’re pitch number 140 in someone’s inbox, sitting behind 139 others they haven’t opened yet.

Everyone else is pitching hard too

Here’s the part that makes it trickier. September also brings a wave of announcements that got held all summer, funding rounds, product launches, new hires, the stuff companies sat on because nobody was reading in July. So at the exact moment reporters are catching up on old email, they’re also getting slammed with new pitches. Competition spikes right as attention is at its most stretched.

A few things I’d actually do about it

Don’t read silence as a no, at least not yet. A pitch that goes quiet in the first week of September is a different situation than one that goes quiet in November. Give it more room than you normally would before writing it off.

Wait longer than usual to follow up. I’d normally say follow up within a few days. In early September, I’d stretch that closer to a week. Anything faster and you risk looking impatient with someone who’s realistically still catching their breath.

Lean into anything timely you actually have. If there’s a real fall hook, back-to-school, Q4 planning, something tied to the season, put it right in the subject line. Reporters rebuilding their calendars are looking for things that slot in easily, and a pitch that clearly fits a moment beats a generic one every time.

Check before you send. Takes two minutes to glance at a reporter’s recent posts or bylines and see whether they’re actually back, still out, or have moved to a new beat since June. Better to know than to guess.

Resist the urge to pile on. If someone at an outlet hasn’t responded, don’t immediately loop in two of their colleagues that same week. Everybody’s behind right now, and piling on reads as pressure, not persistence, no matter how well-intentioned it is.

Where this leaves us publicists

September is less a fresh start than a transition, reporters shaking off summer at the same time they’re getting buried in fall pitches. The publicists who come out ahead this month aren’t the loudest ones. They’re the ones who read the room and adjust, rather than pitching September like it’s already October.

Give it a couple of weeks. The backlog clears, the pace evens out, and things go back to feeling normal. Until then, patience is doing more work for you than volume ever will.