If you're new to freelance writing, you'll soon discover that all job posters at job marketplaces (e.g. Elance.com, oDesk.com and Freelancer.com) require you to write a competitive proposal to bid on freelance jobs. You will realize that the process of bidding is very competitive, and the best written bid does not always land you the job.

If you haven't begun freelancing or landed a paid writing gig yet, then Freelancer.com, a jobsite for freelancers, is an excellent place to start. Along with similar jobsites like Elance.com and ODesk.com, Freelancer.com is one of the easiest job sites to navigate. Freelancer.com connects over 2.7 million freelance professionals from all over the world--enabling employers to hire freelancers in areas such as copywriting, ghostwriting, article writing, and copy editing, etc.

Unless you have an ingenuous way of getting past security checks and all the many mail stops before you get to an editor's desk, then submitting a query letter could be quite a paper chase! Just imagine how your manuscript could go unnoticed – and unread – along with the rest of the paperwork that piles up in a busy magazine office each day.

More than a letter of inquiry, a query letter is an initial sales pitch! It helps you advertise your services and market your ideas. Thus, as a freelance writer with a marketing strategy, you should write an effective query letter which grabs the editor's attention.