Virtually
everything ever written about freelance writing and getting published says that
you need to write query letters. Yet in the Internet Age, the truth of the
matter is that query letters are almost always a huge waste of time.
Certainly some people do get work by writing query letters. But the query
process soon turns into a numbers game, almost like a direct mail campaign. You
have to send out so many queries to get meaningful responses that you won't
have much time left to do any actual work. A good query letter must be
carefully crafted and painstakingly personalized. To compose one that doesn't
sound cutesy or contrived is difficult and time-consuming.
The reality
is that you must think of editors as your potential customers. They control the
budget and whether or not to buy from you. It is NEVER a good idea to harass or
inconvenience a customer. For many busy editors, query letters are annoying.
Often they are just another form of junk mail.
Now you're probably
thinking, "If editors don't read query letters, how does anyone ever get
published?" What the writing books don't tell you is that article topics are
often defined far in advance. At many magazines, editors figure out a monthly
or yearly plan. Barring some earth-shattering catastrophe, the editors stick to
that plan. The standard query letter is usually a waste of time because with
the calendar of topics decided well in advance, off-topic queries are ignored.
In other words, your carefully crafted query letter gets round-filed, not
because it's bad, but because it had no hope of being used.
The fact
that query letters are often thrown away doesn't mean editors don't use
freelance writers; they do. But the reality is that editors tend to rely on a
stable of writers who have proven themselves experts on the magazine's chosen
topics. So if you want to be published, your task is to discover those topics
and become one of those experts.
From an editor's point of view, few
decent writers actually exist out there in the big world. Editors have simple
needs: they want articles that are original, easy to read, accurate, and on
time.
Flakey writers that don't meet deadlines are the bane of every
editor and publisher in the industry. If you meet your deadlines, every time
with no excuses, you will stand out from the pack. If you consistently send
articles that are:
* precisely focused on a topic the magazine wants
to run;
* written in the magazine's chosen style and tone;
*
100% accurate and error free;
* formatted the way the magazine wants
them;
* and arrive BEFORE the deadline;
an editor will notice
you!
Okay, so what if you've never written for that magazine before?
Instead of querying, do some research on the magazine. After you have read the
magazine and any available writer's guidelines, write a polite letter to the
editor to ask for an editorial calendar and explain your expertise.
This method is far preferable to any query letter, no matter how clever or
well-written. Why? With some concise information about you, often an editor can
tell whether or not your writing will be a good fit for my publication.
For example, if you say that you have written articles for managers about
"enterprise computing" and the editor works for a "how to use Microsoft Word
step by step" magazine, it's likely that you won't be the right writer for that
magazine.
However, if you explain that you spent two years teaching
"introduction to word processing" classes at your local YMCA, and that you
wrote handouts for your students about how to get started using Microsoft Word,
that same editor might just encourage you to submit a few articles! At the very
least, the editor might send you the editorial calendar.
Don't forget
the basics! Simple little things often make you stand out from the crowd and
help your chances of getting published. For example, when writing an e-mail or
letter to an editor, always remember that you are writing to someone who spends
a lot of time with words and probably has a degree in English or Journalism.
Double-check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Format properly. If you
don't compose your e-mail competently and professionally, editors won't believe
that you can write a good article.
And finally, be truthful. Don't
inflate your credentials. Don't fib about how much you know about a topic.
Don't gush, and don't sell. Just state your credentials concisely, clearly, and
correctly. Editors don't need to be sold and they have no tolerance for hype.
They're just too busy to put up with it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Daffron is the President of Logical Expressions, Inc. (http://www.logicalexpressions.com) and has written more
than 300 newspaper and national magazine articles. She regularly publishes
ezines on computers (http://www.LogicalTips.com), pet care (http://www.Pet-Tails.com),
and other topics.
