Writing For Print: Query Letters

After focusing on what each magazine was looking for in freelance writing submissions, I moved on to query letters. A majority of any print publications from newspapers to magazines to books required the author submit a query letter. I knew my query writing skills were not up to par so I made this Step Two in my attack plan.

The query letter is the first thing the submission editor sees. It works as an introduction not only to the author but to the article you are selling. If the query letter is the deciding factor between acceptance and rejection, then I figured the query letter better be top form.

There literally thousands upon thousands of websites that give information on writing the perfect query letter. After spending a day or two reading and making notes on the different viewpoints on a great query letter, I realized that all of the information I had been reading was based on opinions only. Every article seemed to contradict each other. I decided to compose a list that included only the important points that five or more articles seemed to agree on. Here is my initial list:

1. Query letters are the first view of your writing skill that an editor will have. Make each query letter as  top quality as you would your articles, including spelling, grammar, tone, etc.
2. Remain professional at all times. Even if it sounds cute to address your query letter to "Dear Fellow Mommies, this article is for you!", don't do it. Editors expect professionalism, no matter how relaxed or fun the magazine's tone may be. If you did the research on the magazine, you will know the submission editor's name and address the query letter accordingly.
3. Keep query letters straight to the point. Introduce yourself, including a brief listing of any experience you may have and any experience with the magazine publication itself, introduce the article you are seeking publication for, including why it would be an excellent addition to said magazine and close out the query letter professionally  by including any important details such as "the article is enclosed", "At your request, I would be happy to send in the article immediately", etc and end it by thanking the editor for his/her time.

I knew this was a good starting point and was most likely correct information, as almost every single article I read agreed that those three points were of utmost importance. But, being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted details and more details, including samples. So where did I go from here? Straight to Harlequin Romance Writer Section, of course.

Being the romance novel lover and aspiring author, I was well aware of the writer's section on the Harlequin website. I knew that writing a query letter for a magazine article was much different than writing one detailing a fictional novel. But I was also well aware that the format for the query letter would be very similar. If you haven't visited this writer's section, I suggest you do. There are tons of informative posts and links there for all aspects of writing, publishing and submitting. This includes a large bank of information on query letters, including a entire online course from a submission editor on writing a great query letter. Instead of detailing all the information here, just click the link and check it out!

Once I had made yet another large folder of information, I went to work. Yes, I am a little fanatical. I wrote a generalized query letter. Then, I went back over said query letter using the information in my folder, tweaking each and every section until I felt my query letter is at its top form.

Of course, for each and every submission, the information on my query letter will vary. But the format and tone will remain the same. Now, I have a great query letter sample that is of my own creation to use as a guideline for all future query letters!!