ASK THE EXPERTS
Expert advice for writers
How can writers craft a better query letter?
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"Communicate the story idea and how you plan to develop the focus. Select vocabulary and use diction to demonstrate that you are a confident writer, not a show-off. The editor may respond with a version of 'Go ahead. We'll look at it on spec.,' which means you can go ahead and write the piece and the editor will at least read it." |
L. PEAT O'NEIL is the author of Travel Writing: See the World. Sell the Story (Writer's Digest Books). L. Peat O'Neil is a travel writer and foreign service staff member at the Office of eDiplomacy of the U.S. Department of State.
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"As a beginning or intermediate writer, expect that you'll be writing query letters a lot. More experienced writers can often circumvent the process because they're either getting regular assignments from an editor or have a strong enough relationship with the editor that they can simply shoot her an e-mail saying, 'Hi Jane, I have an idea for an article. What do you think?'" |
WENDY BURT-THOMAS is the author of The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters (Writer's Digest Books). She is the author of more than 1,000 published articles, reviews, essays and short stories.
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"Make the actual first paragraph of your article the first page of your query letter. Make it a traditional lead paragraph that will draw the editor in and make him want to read the entire article. Help the editor envision your work as a finished article by crafting this paragraph as professionally as possible. Make it colorful, engaging, and interesting." |
ROBERT W. BLY is the author of Getting Started as a Freelance Writer (Sentient Publications). He has been a professional writer since 1979 and a full-time freelance writer since 1982. His annual gross income from freelance writing is more than $600,000.
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"A successful query letter accomplishes two goals. First, it pitches an article idea that is so right for a publication that the editor can't possibly reject it. Second, it convinces the editor that the would-be contributor has the ability to turn the idea into a publishable article." |
DAVID E. SUMNER is the author of Feature and Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes (John Wiley & Sons). He has taught magazine journalism at Ball State University in Indiana since 1990. He has written three books about magazines in the past five years.
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"Before you begin your query letter—in fact, before you begin creating any component of your query package—be sure to read the target publications' writer's guidelines, which can be found in your resource books or obtained on the publications' websites or through other means... These guidelines will specify if any of the publications want a detailed and therefore longer query...." |
SHIRLEY KAWA-JUMP is the author of How to Publish Your Articles: A Complete Guide to Making the Right Publication Say Yes (Square One Publishers, Inc.). She has written more than 2,500 articles for national and local magazines, trade journals, and newspapers.
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"When l started freelancing fulltime almost 10 years ago, all my queries were sent via snail mail. Today, I'm more likely to send them by email instead. If you've worked with an editor before, if you know the editor prefers email queries, or the guidelines tell you to email, then email your queries. If none of the above apply, choose snail mail. (Believe it or not, there are plenty of editors out there who still prefer snail mail!)" |
KELLY JAMES-ENGER is the author of Ready, Aim, Specialize!: Create Your Own Writing Specialty and Make More Money! (Square One Publishers, Inc.). She is a full-time freelance writer, publishing articles for Redbook, Woman's Day, Family Circle, and many other major national magazines.
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"Knowing what weekly sections and special editions a paper offers will enable you to time your query and target your audience so that you'll have a better chance of acceptance. If you have an article idea that you think would fit into a paper's special edition, call the newspaper and ask them what month the special edition appears, so you can get your query in about six weeks before the publication date." |
MOIRA ALLEN is the author of The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals, Second Edition (published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.). She is the author of seven books and more than 300 published articles.
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"When you are writing a query letter, you are acting as a salesman. Your product is your story idea, and you want the editor to buy it instead of all the other story ideas stuffed into query letters on her desk. Even more important, you want the editor to see the value in buying your story idea quickly." |
KIM KAVIN is the author of The Everything Guide to Magazine Writing (published by Everything Books). She is an award-winning writer whose articles have been published in many magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Elite Traveler, and Robb Report.
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"The body of a query letter will tell editors more about the subject and how the writer plans to develop the story or idea. A brief outline or a general discussion on the structure of the article is necessary for editors to gauge whether the idea fits with the publication in which it will appear. This can be done by showing a high-level outline or using headings and subheadings as a way to cover the intended content and perspective of the piece." |
DIANE MARTINEZ is the author of Kaplan Technical Writing: A Resource for Technical Writers at All Levels (published by Kaplan Publishing). She is an online composition and technical writing instructor, course developer, and course leader for Kaplan University, and has been with the University since April 2004.
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"If you've never been published before, it's best to ignore the subject of past credits and discuss instead your qualifications to write the article at hand. Discuss only those aspects of your background that relate to your subject. If you're proposing an article about how small businesses use computers, for example, mentioning your computer knowledge through education or employment would be a plus." |
JANE FRIEDMAN is the author of Beginning Writer's Answer Book (Writer's Digest Books). She is the editorial director of Writer's Digest Books and Writer's Market annuals.
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"Explain your story idea in specifics, in just a few sentences. If you can't, it's a sign you haven't thought it through closely enough. For a story with recipes, list the titles or make suggestions. State the length, whether it will fit in a particular section, and give a working title and a summary. If you have thought of other elements such as sidebars and tip boxes, mention them." |
DIANNE JACOB is the author of Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More (Da Capo Press). Since 1996 Dianne has been an author, writing coach, freelance writer, freelance editor, and teacher.
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"Get the facts straight. Editors hate lazy writers—those who want to see their byline in a publication but refuse to do research or get their [acts straight. Put a lot of hard, nuts-and-bolts information in your letter—facts, figures, statistics—to show that you know your subject. Most query letters (and articles) are too light on content." |
ERIC YAVERBAUM is the author of Public Relations for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons). Eric Yaverbaum's PR firm, Jericho Communications, has represented IKEA Home Furnishings, Domino's Pizza, Progressive Auto Insurance, and many others.
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"Whenever you submit a query or other material ...you are making an implicit promise that you're telling the truth about yourself and your work. That means you don't claim to be a published author if you're not, you don't claim to have endorsements that you don't have, you don't try to pass off someone else's material as your own, and you don't agree to deadlines that you can't meet." |
MEG SCHNEIDER is the author of The Only Writing Series You'll Ever Need Get Published (Adams Media). She is the author of many parenting titles as well as self-help and fiction books for teens.
