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The query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only: to seduce the agent or editor into reading or
requesting your work. The query letter is so much of a sales piece that you should be able to write it
without having written a single word of the manuscript. For some writers, it represents a completely
different way of thinking about your book—it means thinking about your work as a product. And it
helps to have some distance from your work to see its salable qualities.
8 Elements to Create the Best Query Letter
1. Header
Most articles I have read recommend a simple header. I recommend your name, address, phone
number, and email address. Mine is centered at the top of the page in 10 point, Times New Roman
font, bold. Other options, if you are actually making money, is to invest in letterhead. Most articles I
have read caution against a logo or images of any sort. While it might look good for a Writing.com
sig, it seems to scream “amateur.” Keep it simple. Also, I recommend you take a moment to visit
the Post Office (www.usps.gov) and look up the fourdigit extension to your zip code, which you
should use on all SASEs. This seems to speed up the mailing process, and could shave time off the
long, drawnout wait for a response.
Quick note: For email queries, I do not use a header, simply because it doesn’t look right at the top
left, and I’ve yet to find a standard way to center or right align it for email. Rather than look
foolish, I include it at the bottom, under my “signature”. Thus, my ending reads (with /equaling a
line break): Scottiegazelle/scottiegaz@writing.com/1234 Peachtree St/Atlanta GA 12345
6789/7701234567
Scottiegazelle
Lastname scottiegaz@writing.com 1234 Peachtree St Atlanta, GA 123456789
7701234567
2. Date
I also recommend including the date at the top left, one line above the address of your editor. This
will help the reader know when the letter was sent, and keep them in a rough time frame for
responding.
30 June 2005
Address This is where you put the editor’s mailing address. How, you ask, do I find
this information? The easiest (but not always most correct) method in the United States is to look in
your most recent Writer’s Market (also available at www.writersmarket.com). Here you will find
names, addresses, phone numbers, and often web sites for a large number of fiction and nonfiction
magazines.
What if you don’t have access to Writer’s Market? Check the magazine! Frequently, addresses and
phone numbers will be listed in teeny tiny print near the front, with all the editors names. Use a
magnifying glass andsearch it out. Another option is to check the website. Frequently, you kind find
important information in the “About Us” or “Contact Us” section (sometimes you can find Writer’s
Guidelines here, as well).
Once you have the editor and the address, should you slap it on an envelope? Not necessarily.
The next best step is to take the phone number listed (or look on the website to obtain it) and call
the office. Then, take a deep breath, and tell the operator, “Hi, my name is ScottieGazelle, and I’m a
freelance writer. I would like to submit a query letter to your _____ department (or for the
_____ section, or as a feature/short story), and I wanted to confirm which editor I need to send it to.
Here, you may be told that the editor listed has moved away, been fired, or is really not the query
letter type. I also like to take advantage of the moment to ask, “Does (s)he prefer to be queried by
regular mail, or is email better?”. Sometimes, a heretoforeunknown email address will surface.
This is also a good time to ask, “And of course, I assume Jennifer is
a woman.” With some of those names, you never know (so says a woman ‘named’ Scottie).
Story Master, Features Editor Writing.com Magazine 1234
Story Lane, Suite 567 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 123456789
3. Greeting
Never, never, never take liberties with an editor, with the possible exception being if they were
already your best friend. Never greet them with “Wassup?”, never call them by first name,
never give them random nicknames (“Jen” for “Jennifer”, “SM” for “Storymaster”, etc). Remember
that your query letter is a business letter, and treat it accordingly.
Never assume “Ashley” is a woman, or “George” is a man. If you have confirmed on the phone (see
previous section), then “Mr. Storymaster” is okay. However, don’t assume marital status.
Apparently, some female editors get upset with “Ms.”, which boggles me since I was always told it
could represent either. In some places, however, it is short for “Miss”, which could offend a
married editor; similarly, “Mrs.” could upset that young, swinging single. Frankly, I prefer to go
with a firstandlastname greeting. After the editor has published you a few times and perhaps calls
you to chat, you may be able to go down to a first name basis, but not before then.
Dear Story Master,
4. First Paragraph
No matter what you are writing, your first paragraph must grab the editor’s attention quickly.
After all, most editors go through a large stack of query letters each month. Make yours stand out. I
like to start with the first paragraph of my proposed story (or a similar one), since in both fiction
and nonfiction both, you must be interesting enough to prompt someone to keep reading.
Never never never start with any of these lines: I have written an article/story… I am a professional
writer… My friends told me I should send this to your magazine…
If you do not want to start with the entire paragraph, or if you feel it will not give the flavor of your
story, you may want to summarize. I recently did a query for a math puzzle, which completely
lacked a paragraph! Instead, I tried to slant the first paragraph to describe the puzzle enough to
catch the editor’s attention.
Finding adequate writing resources on the web can be difficult at best. Receiving honest
feedback for your writing can also be a challenge. However, if you land at Writing.com,
you can count on resources, feedback, and a whole lot more!
5. Second Paragraph
The job of the second paragraph is to let the editor know what they are in for. This is where you
describe your story or article. You don’t have to give all of the details, but you want to give enough
that the editor has a firm grip on what will happen, where the story/article is heading, and what
makes it unique. For nonfiction articles especially, I like to reference what column or section I feel
the article would best fit under, letting the editor know that yes, I read the magazine. I try
to reference why this piece will be interesting to the readers. Obviously, a magazine on writing
won’t be interested in an article on scrapbooking – or will it? What if I am submitting an article on
scrapbooking your rejection letters?
It depends on the magazine, of course, but make sure you help the editor catch your vision. I also
suggest giving them an estimated word count (final if it is already written), so they can determine
how to fit it into the magazine. However, make sure your proposed count is similar to the articles
already contained within the section you are querying. That is, don’t submit a query for a 1000
word piece in a spot usually occupied filled with 500 words or less.
Finally, if you can let the editor see you have already done some research, they will see you as
responsible. If you have already spoken with someone about an interview – or have already done
one – they will recognize your enthusiasm. Also, if you have any photos or illustrations, this is
the time to let them know that they are available.
Readers of Writing.com magazine will enjoy learning about a fantastic and helpful
website that will provide them with the input they need on their journey to becoming
a published author. I propose an 8001,000 word article for your “Online” section detailing
how to make the most of your Writing.com experience. Readers will be intrigued to learn
about methods for obtaining honest, fromtheheart feedback, participating in various forums
and realtime chats around the site, and, for fun, playing around with word searches and mad
libs. I would like to interview various members of the site to get their feedback, and I have
already spoken with the site owner and his wife, both of whom are open to an interview. I
have several pictures of owners, members, and moderators available.
6. Third Paragraph
The third paragraph is the “why me” paragraph. This is where you get to strut your stuff, to show
off your credentials. If you’ve been published in fifty magazines, why are you reading this? I mean,
list only a few; perhaps those that are closely related. If you only have a single claim to fame, list
that bad boy! If you’ve never been published, do not I repeat do not say this. Instead, list your
credentials. If you are doing an article on kayaking, let them know that you’ve been an instructor
for ten years, or that you’ve been kayaking for ten years. Tell them you’ve led groups or organized
something. Your article is for a teen publication? Mention that you’ve organized the local Boy
Scout kayaking trip for the last five years, or taken your church’s youth group. You haven’t
done any kayaking with teens but you’re a high school teacher? Let them know you have influence
in the teen world. Obviously, the closer you can slant towards your magazine’s market, the more
professional you can come.
Another
thing to never say: my mom/my friends/my neighbors/everyone I know or even everyone on
writing.com says I am a good writer and should be published. Very much the amateur. Remember,
you are professional, whether you have been published or not.
This is also the place to mention “clips”, those pesky little things mentioned in my previous
paragraph. Having chosen the clips I plan to submit, I usually reference them parenthetically. If you
have no clips, then I suggest making one up. No, don’t lie; instead, let them know you are
submitting a “clip on xyz” subject (preferably related) to give them an idea of your writing style. If
you are submitting your query to a teen magazine, write the clip skewed toward teens; if to a
children’s magazine, skew towards kids; if to an executive, skew it towards…an executive! You get
the idea. This is where Writing.com can be especially helpful. I like to submit my unpublished clips
online and get feedback, enabling me to polish them up before sending them out. I put a note at the
top to that effect and ask pointblank if the piece works for addressing my audience.
I also recommend letting the editor know how quickly you can get an article to them. For
magazines, I honestly believe that, if I can get ahold of anyone I need to interview, I can have an
article completed in a week, probably less. However, I try to allow for real life, and tend to pitch for
three weeks. My goal is to finish in two weeks and submit early in all cases, thus causing the editor
to view me as an early finisher. If I wind up sick, or one of my interviewees is harder to get
ahold of, I should still be able to meet the deadline.
I have been published in various magazines, including Let’s Write and Online
Journaling, and am enclosing clips from both. I have been a member of writing.com for
the past two years, and a moderator for one month of that time. I have a great deal of
interaction with site members, and believe I could return a finished article to you within three
weeks of assignment.
7. Final Paragraph
I like to leave the editor with an upbeat, positive conclusion. If I am sending the query by snailmail,
I will also note the enclosure of an SASE (a musthave if you want a response; otherwise, you may
as well save yourself the trouble of crafting a query letter).
Enclosed is a SASE for your response. I look forward to working with you.
Signature Again, be professional. No “cya later” or “take care”. I would try to stick with the plain
old boring
Sincerely,
For a letter, go down four lines and then type your first and last name. For an email, I just put one
line break, and then the info taken from the header (remember, I don’t send a header in an email).
Scottiegazelle
8. Enclosures
Finally, I list my clips. For a snailmail query, I list the enclosures at the ending. One thing I’ve
noticed about clips. If you have been published, make several copies. If you have a scanner, a nice
(inexpensive) solution I found to the copy machine is to scan your article(s) and save them as a tif
file. This is huge, but the best resolution. Then you can print the clip at your leisure. However,
despite it’s location on the computer, do not email it. Most editors will not open an attachment.
(3) Enclosures: 1 pg Let’s Write 1 pg Online Journaling SASE
For email, instead of enclosing the clips as a separate file, list them within the body of the email. I
like to make a note where they were published at the conclusion. This gives them the opportunity to
check it themselves if they feel the urge to verify.
Published with Write & Telescope, August 2004, pg 7
This article is obviously slanted towards nonfiction. But whatever you write, in order to get
published, a query or cover letter is a must have. Make sure you keep your letter professional and to
the point, and you will improve your odds on getting published.
A query is a professional business letter that introduces your work to an agent or editor. These
days, this letter is sent by email rather than snail mail. In the query letter, you will have something
called a pitch paragraph. The query letter will also contain an introduction and the author’s bio or
credentials. It will be onepage long.
A pitch is the verbal delivery of the main pitch paragraph from your query letter. In other words,
you need to have a quick way to sum up the opening plot catalyst of your novel in a sentence or two
while talking to someone. That way your audience gets a clear and immediate gist of what your
novel is about.
ou have an idea for an article you want to publish to a commercial magazine or journal. Instead of
writing the whole thing, you send a relatively short email — usually no more than 500 words — to
an editor proposing what you’d like to write for them. This email is your pitch. You’ll outline what
the piece is about, what it will include, why it’s timely to publish now (if applicable) and why
you’re the very best person to write it.
Pitching a topic instead of a story is one of the biggest mistakes writers make when pitching editors.
Remember, the most important part of a pitch is the story you want to tell, and you want to make
your story clear in a sentence or two at the beginning of your pitch.
The writing in your pitch is like an audition. You’re letting an editor know how you write and you
want them to love your voice and how you approach the topic. While your final article may not
match the tone and style of your pitch, how you present yourself in your pitch shows how you write
and goes a long way to getting a reply from an editor.
Do you want to write on spec?
Sometimes, an editor will ask you to send the entire piece so they can read it and decide. This is
called “on spec.” It means they’ve made no promises to publish your writing, but they’ll decide
after reading.
You may not have written the piece before sending your pitch. In which case, you have to decide if
you want to write the whole thing immediately or if you’ll just pass and find another place to
publish. Many writers feel having to write a piece on spec without even knowing how much you’ll
be paid if they approve your work for publication isn’t worth the time and effort. For others, it will
depend on the publication. So if the New York Times or The Atlantic or another magazine for
whom you’ve been dying to write gives you an option on spec, you might want to test the waters.
It’s your choice.
What’s a submission?
When you submit a piece of writing, you send a finished piece to the editor or publication for their
perusal, usually a publication that focuses more on the craft of writing or a literary magazine.
Submissions can be for short and long pieces, fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose. It’s usually
not for books.
Submission differs from on spec in that the publishing outlet only accepts completed pieces for
consideration. They don’t accept pitches at all.
Editors want to read the entire piece before deciding if it’s right for them or not and if it fits a theme
they may have for the magazine. Your email is a cover letter. It’s not an audition in the same way a
pitch can be. Instead, your email introduces you, your work and the piece you’re submitting to the
publications’ editors and readers. Each publication has a different way of asking you to submit your
work. Read and follow their guidelines carefully.
Many publications use the Submittable interface for you to send your work. Your cover letter is
built into their system and they include all the information you need to submit — due dates,
formatting, type of writing — right on the Submittable page. Submittable also has a regular
newsletter that will keep you up to date on their latest news and also upcoming submission
possibilities.
What is a query?
A query is a one page, few paragraphs intended to entice a potential publisher or agent to want to
read (and eventually publish) your book. A query begins with a hook to make your reader want to
read more. Then you follow with a brief overview of your book and your bio. Simple short and
sweet, but one of the most difficult things to write well.
The goal of a query letter? You want your reader to ask for more. What your reader asks for will
differ. It could be ten pages, fifty pages, maybe even the whole book.
For fiction or memoir, you want to complete and polish your book before sending the query. Why?
Imagine you send it in and an editor wants to read the whole manuscript, but you don’t have it yet.
Then what? You’ve lost an opportunity and may not get another chance.
Nonfiction is a bit different in that you don’t have to write your book first. You can instead send a
proposal.
A nonfiction book proposal includes different sections, such as a chapter overview, other books
that are like it, market research and sample pages. This isn’t an exhausting list of what you’ll want
to include, but it does show you that the marketing aspect and audience for your book needs to be
clearly outlined in a way you don’t need to do with a pitch or submission. What each publisher or
agent wants varies. Always follow the guidelines you’re offered.
What a pitch, submission and query have in common
Know your publisher, agent or editor. Read the writing the publisher produces and understand
the kind of writing they represent.
Follow the prescribed guidelines to the letter. Each publisher, agent, editor or press requests their
guidelines for a reason. You run the risk of your writing being ignored if you don’t.
Research what each has published previously. Make sure you’re not offering a piece of writing
they already have or would never publish.
Your writing speaks for you. Whether you’re presenting a short synopsis of your book, a pitch for
an article about cows in Argentina or a short story based on an exhausting night you once spent in
Iceland, your writing will always be more important than who you are or what you’ve done in the
past. While yes, a well published and popular author will catch the eye of a publisher more easily, if
their writing doesn’t work, it’s unlikely their words will end up in print. But a firsttime author who
has written a piece that hits all the right notes? Well, I can’t 100% promise anything, but I’d bet
good money you’re publishing days are coming soon.
Discussion
The query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only: to seduce the agent or editor into reading or
requesting your work. The query letter is so much of a sales piece that you should be able to write it
without having written a single word of the manuscript. For some writers, it represents a completely
different way of thinking about your book—it means thinking about your work as a product. And it
helps to have some distance from your work to see its salable qualities.
This post focuses on query letters for novels, although much the same advice applies for
memoirists as well; nonfiction book queries are addressed here.
Before you query
Novelists should have a finished and polished manuscript before they begin querying. Even though
I repeat this recommendation again and again, numerous writers ask if they’re the exception. “But
what if I’m twothirds of the way done?” Or, “What if the manuscript is currently being copyedited
and it’s almost finished?”
Well, sure, you can query if you want. But what will you do if the agent/editor immediately asks for
a partial or full manuscript, and you don’t have it? You may end up rushing your writing or editing
process (undesirable to say the least), or admitting to the agent/editor that it will take you X weeks
or months to follow up, which makes you look foolish.
To avoid creating a highpressure or awkward situation, I recommend you wait until you feel the
manuscript is totally done—the best you can make it. That doesn’t mean you have to hire freelance
editors or copyeditors or proofreaders, but it does mean fixing or revising anything you know needs
attention.
5 basic elements of every query letter
I recommend that every query letter include these elements, in no particular order (except the
closing):
• What you’re selling: genre/category, word count, title/subtitle
• Hook: the meat of the query; 100200 words is sufficient for most novels
• Bio: I consider optional for unpublished fiction writers
• Personalization: also optional, where you customize the letter for the recipient
• Thank you & closing
This post elaborates on each of those elements—keep reading!
Opening your query letter
You should put your best foot forward, or lead with your strongest selling point. Here are the most
common ways to begin a query:
• Maybe you’ve been vouched for or referred by an existing client or author; mention the
referral right away.
• If you met the agent/editor at a conference or pitch event, and your material was requested,
then put that upfront.
• When you’ve heard the agent/editor speak at a conference, or you read an interview or post
that indicates they’re a good fit for your work, mention it.
• Starting with your story hook is a classic opening, but of course the hook should be
compelling (more on this later).
• Published or credentialed writers may mention their track record, especially if they’ve
won awards or received an MFA from a wellknown school. However, very few fiction
writers begin their query by talking about themselves because most are unpublished. (This
isn’t a problem, though.)
Many writers don’t have referrals or conference meetings to fall back on, so the hook becomes the
lead for the query letter. Some writers start simple and direct, which is fine: “My [title] is an
80,000word supernatural romance.”
Personalizing the query letter: yes or no?
Your query is a sales tool, and good salespeople develop a rapport with the people they want to sell
to, and show that they understand their needs. It’s helpful when you can show that you’ve done
your homework, show that you care, and show that you’re not blasting indiscriminately.
However, you will not be rejected if you don’t personalize your query. Still, it can set you apart
from the large majority of writers querying—if it’s done meaningfully, and that’s the point. Here’s
an example of a decent, personalized lead.
In a January interview at the Guide to Literary Agents blog, you praised The Thirteenth Tale and
indicated an interest in “literary fiction with a genre plot.” My paranormal romance Moonlight
Dancer (85,000 words) blends a literary style with the romance tradition.
If you personalize the query by saying, “I found you in Writer’s Market,” and you add nothing else,
that’s not a meaningful context. You need to go further than that, and say something that can’t be
added to every query letter you send. Here I comment further on whether to personalize your query.
Identifying what you’re selling
Your book’s title, word count, and genre can be stated upfront, although sometimes it’s better to
wait until the end of the query to spell out this information.
• Title. Everyone knows your book title is tentative, so you don’t have to explicitly state the title
is tentative.
• Word count. If your novel’s word count is much higher than 100,000 words, you have a
bigger challenge ahead of you. Eighty thousand words is the industry standard for a debut
novel. See this post for a definitive list of appropriate word counts by genre. If you have an
offputting word count, some agents recommend withholding this fact until the end of the
letter, once you’ve potentially hooked them.
• Genre. If you’re unsure of your genre, you can leave out any mention of it; however, in such a
case, I recommend drawing a comparison between your book and another (hopefully recent)
title. You can say that your book is written in the same manner or style as another specific
book or author, or that it has a similar tone or theme. Just be careful of overdoing it. One or
two comparisons should be more than enough, and the more thoughtful the comparison, the
better. Comparing yourself to a current New York Times bestselling author can come across
as arrogant or too easy; it’s better to demonstrate a nuanced understanding of where your
book falls in the literary landscape.
Crafting the story hook
For most writers, the hook does all of the work in convincing the agent/editor to request your
manuscript. You need to boil down your story to these key elements:
1. The protagonist(s)
2. The protagonist’s conflict and/or the choices the protagonist has to make (the stakes)
3. The sizzle
Sometimes it’s important to clarify the setting or time period; science fiction and fantasy writers
may need to add a bit of worldbuilding context (not much, just a feel).
You can think of the hook in terms of: what does your character want, why does she want it, what
keeps her from getting it? As you convey this information, you want to give a sense of why we care
about this character and why we’re going to be compelled by them.
The “sizzle” is that thing that sets your work apart from others in your genre, that makes your story
stand out, that makes it uniquely yours. Sizzle means: This idea isn’t tired or been done a million
times before.
How do you know if your idea is tired? Well, this is why everyone tells writers to read and read
and read. It builds your knowledge and experience of what’s been done before in your genre, as
well as the conventions.
When a hook is well written but boring, it’s often because it lacks anything fresh. It’s the same old
formula without distinction. The protagonist feels onedimensional (or like every other protagonist),
the story angle is something we’ve seen too many times, and the premise doesn’t even raise an
eyebrow. The agent or editor is thinking, “Sigh. Another one of these?”
This is the toughest part of the hook—finding that special je ne sais quoi that makes someone say,
“Wow, I’ve got to see more of this!” And this is often how an editor or agent gauges if you’re a
storyteller worth spending time on.
Sometimes great hooks can be botched because there is no life, voice, or personality in
them. Sometimes soso hooks can be taken to the next level because they convey a liveliness or
personality that is seductive.
In Laurie Scheer’s The Writer’s Advantage, she well demonstrates the difference between a boring
story hook and an exciting one:
I have heard an eternity of pitches featuring women as victims, survivors, single mothers, etc. If
someone pitches me a story about a 43yearold unmarried woman who has had a successful career
in advertising or law or pharmaceuticals or whatever, and decides at the last minute that her
biological clock’s ticking and she wants to have a child … I will wait for the writer to tell me the
rest of the story.
And there is no rest of the story, because in their mind, that is their story.
To which I say, “Who cares?” Seriously, who will care about that storyline? No one. We have seen
numerous stories about women wanting to have children later in life. I could produce a list at least
two pages long consisting of books and movies with this plot line.
However, if one of the main characters is a 43yearold single businesswoman having her first child
and, at the same time, her 22yearold niece is also having her first child—because the niece does
not see the benefit of having a career and only wants to be supported by a rich husband—I suddenly
see some conflict here.
Whenever I teach a class where we critique hooks, just about everyone can point out the
hook’s problems and talk about how to improve them. Why? Because when you’re not the writer,
you have distance from the work. When you do come across a great novel hook, it feels so natural
and easy—like it was effortless to write.
Examples of brief story hooks
Every day, PublishersMarketplace lists book deals that were recently signed at major New York
houses. It identifies the title, the author, the publisher/editor who bought the project, and the agent
who sold it. It also offers a onesentence description of the book. These hooks are inevitably well
crafted, and can help you better understand what hooks really excite agents/publishers. While your
query hook would get into more detail than the following two examples, these hooks help illustrate
how much you can accomplish in just a line or two.
Bridget Boland’s DOULA, an emotionally controversial novel about a doula with a sixth
sense [protagonist] who, while following her calling, has to confront a dark and uncertain future
when standing trial for the death of her best friend’s baby [protagonist’s problem] [a doula with a
sixth sense? cool.]
John Hornor Jacobs’s SOUTHERN GODS, in which a Memphis DJ [protagonist] hires a recent
World War II veteran to find a mysterious bluesman whose music [protagonist’s problem] —
broadcast at evershifting frequencies by a phantom radio station — is said to make living men
insane and dead men rise [twist]
Check for red flags in your hook
How to tell if your hook could be improved:
• Does your hook consist of several meaty paragraphs, or run longer than 200 words? You may
be going into too much detail.
• Does your hook reveal the ending of your book? Only the synopsis should do that.
• Does your hook mention more than three characters? Usually you only need to mention the
protagonist(s), a romantic interest or sidekick, and the antagonist.
• Does your hook get into minor plot points that don’t affect the choices the protagonist makes?
Do you really need to mention them?
• Does your hook talk about the story, rather than telling the story? Don’t get bogged down in
how you wrote the book or what its themes are. Focus on what happens instead.
Writing about your background (your bio note)
For novelists, especially unpublished ones, you don’t have to include a bio in your query if you
can’t think of anything worth sharing. But it’s nice to put in something. The key to every detail in
your bio is: Will it be meaningful—or perhaps charming—to the agent/editor? If you can’t
confidently answer yes, leave it out. In order of importance, these are the categories of pertinent
info.
• Fiction writing credits. Be specific about your credits for this to be meaningful. Don’t say
you’ve been published “in a variety of journals.” You might as well be unpublished if you
don’t want to name them. If you have no fiction writing credits, you don’t need to state that
you’re unpublished. That point will be made clear by fact of omission.
• Nonfiction writing credits. Many novelists wonder if it’s helpful to list nonfiction
credits. Yes, mention notable credits when they show you have some experience working
with editors or understanding how the professional writing world works. That
said: Academic or trade journal credits can be tricky, since they definitely don’t
convey fiction writing ability. Use your discretion, but it’s not going to be deal breaker
either way. I’d leave out credits like your church newsletter or credits that hold little to no
significance for the publishing industry professionals.
• Selfpublished books. Sooner or later this information will have to come out, so it’s usually
just a matter of timing. Lots of people have done it, and past selfpublishing doesn’t really
hurt your chances with a new, fresh project. However, if you’re trying to get an agent or
publisher for a book or series that’s already been selfpublished, my advice is to not bother
trying. If your selfpublished book were successful enough for a traditional publishing deal,
you probably would’ve had agents or publishers already knocking on your door. Do not
make the mistake of thinking your selfpublishing credits make you somehow more
desirable as an author, unless you have really incredible sales success, in which case,
mention the sales numbers of your book and how long it’s been on sale.
• Your profession. If your career lends you credibility to write a better story, by all means
mention it. But don’t go into lengthy detail. Teachers of K12 who are writing
children’s/YA often mention their teaching experience as a credential for writing
children’s/YA, but it’s not, so don’t treat it like one in the bio. (Perhaps it goes without
saying, but parents should not treat their parent status as a credential to write for children
either.)
• Writing cred. It makes sense to mention any writingrelated degrees you have, any major
professional writing organizations you belong to (e.g., RWA, MWA, SCBWI), and possibly
any major events/retreats/workshops you’ve attended to help you develop your career as a
writer. You needn’t say that you frequent suchandsuch online community, or that you
belong to a writers’ group the agent would’ve never heard of. (Mentioning this won’t hurt
you, but it’s not proving anything either.)
• Special research. If your book is the product of some intriguing or unusual research
(you spent a year in the Congo), mention it. These unique details can catch the attention of
an editor or agent.
• Major awards/competitions. Most writers should not mention awards or competitions
they’ve won because they are too small to matter. If the award isn’t widely recognizable to
the majority of publishing professionals, then the only way to convey the significance of an
award is to talk about how many people you beat out. Usually the entry number needs to be
in the thousands to impress an agent/editor.
If you have no meaningful publication credits, don’t try to invent any. If you have no professional
credentials, no research to mention, no awards to your name—nothing notable at all to share—don’t
add a weak line or two in an attempt to make up for it. Just end the letter. You’re still completely
respectable.
On the other end of the spectrum: avoid cataloguing every single thing you’ve ever done in your
writing life. Don’t talk about starting to write when you were in second grade. Don’t talk about how
much you’ve improved your writing in the last few years. Don’t talk about how much you enjoy
returning to writing in your retirement. Just mention a few highlights that prove your seriousness
and devotion to the craft of writing. If unsure, leave it out.
If your bio can reveal something of your voice or personality, all the better. While the query isn’t
the place to digress or mention irrelevant info, there’s something to be said for expressing
something about yourself that gives insight into the kind of author you are—that ineffable you.
Charm helps.
Novel queries don’t have to address market concerns
Don’t be tempted to elaborate on the audience or market for your novel. This is often
misunderstood since nonfiction writers do have to talk about market concerns. However, when it
comes to selling fiction, you don’t talk about the trends in the market, or about the target audience.
You sell the story.
Also, novelists don’t need to discuss their marketing plan or platform. Sometimes you might
mention your website or blog, especially if you feel confident about its presentation. The truth is the
agent/editor is going to Google you anyway, and find your website/blog whether you mention it or
not (unless you’re writing under a different name). Keep in mind that having an online presence
helps show you’ll likely be a good marketer and promoter of your work—especially if you have a
sizable readership already—but it doesn’t say anything about your ability to write a great
story. That said, if you have 100,000+ fans/readers on Wattpad or at your blog, that should be in
your query letter.
Close your letter professionally
You don’t read much advice about how to close a query letter, perhaps because there’s not much to
it, right? You say thanks and sign your name. But here’s how to leave a good final impression.
1. You don’t have to state that you are simultaneously querying. Everyone assumes this. (I do
not recommend exclusive queries; send queries out in batches of three to five—or more, if
you’re confident in your query quality.)
2. If your manuscript is under consideration at another agency, then mention it if/when the
next agent requests to see your manuscript.
3. If you have a series in mind, this is a good time to mention it. But don’t belabor the point; it
should take a sentence.
4. Resist the temptation to editorialize. This is where you proclaim how much the agent will
love the work, or how exciting it is, or how it’s going to be a bestseller if only someone
would give it a chance, or how much your kids enjoy it, or how much the world needs this
work. Basically, avoid directly commenting on the quality of your work (whether to flatter
yourself or criticize yourself). Your query should show what a good writer you are, rather
than you telling or emphasizing what a good writer you are.
5. Thank the agent, but don’t carry on unnecessarily, or be incredibly subservient—or beg.
(“I know you’re very busy and I would be forever indebted and grateful if you would just
look at a few pages.”)
6. There’s no need to go into great detail about when and how you’re available. At the
bottom of your letter, include your email address and phone number.
7. Do not introduce the idea of an inperson meeting. Do not say you’ll be visiting their city
soon, and ask if they’d like to meet for coffee. The only possible exception to this is if you
know you’ll hear them speak at an upcoming conference—but don’t ask for a meeting. Just
say you look forward to hearing them speak. Use the conference’s official channels to set up
an appointment if any are available.
Appropriate query length
In its entirety, the query shouldn’t run more than 1 page, single spaced, if printed, or somewhere
around 200 to 400 words. I recommend brevity, especially if you lack confidence. Brevity gets you
in less trouble. The more you try to explain, the more you’ll squeeze the life out of your story. So:
Get in, get out.
The following stuff doesn’t belong in the query
• Your many years of effort and dedication
• How much your family and friends love your work
• How many times you’ve been rejected or close accepts
• How much money you’ve invested in editors or editing
• Quotes of praise from anyone, or mentioning how suchandsuch wellknown person has read
your work and/or offered advice on it. Perhaps it’s boosted your ego or confidence that some
VIP has read your work or offered a critique. But agents/editors will make up their own
mind, and if your VIP really believed in your work, why aren’t they offering you a referral
to their agent or editor?
Full query letter example
Special advice on email queries
Email queries tend to get read and rejected more quickly than snail mail queries; with that in mind,
you may want to create two separate versions of your query letter, one for email and another for
printing. Here’s a formatting process I recommend:
• Write your query in Word or TextEdit. Strip out all formatting. (Usually there is an option
under “Save As” that will allow you to save as simple text.)
• Send the query without any formatting and without any indents (block style).
• Use CAPS for anything that would normally be in italics.
• Don’t use address, date headers, or contact information at the beginning of the email; put all
of that stuff at the bottom, underneath your name.
• The first line should read: “Dear [Agent Name]:”
Some writers structure their equeries differently than paper queries—they make them shorter or
add more paragraph breaks. Consider how much the agent can see of your equery on the first
screen, without scrolling. That’s probably how far they will read before responding or hitting delete.
Adjust your query accordingly. Usually the hook should go first, unless you have a strong
personalization angle.
If you have an email address for an editor/agent who doesn’t accept email queries, you can try
sending your query on a hope and a prayer, but you probably won’t receive a response. In fact, I’ve
heard many writers complain that they never receive a response from email queries. (Sometimes
silence is the new rejection.) This is a phenomenon that must be regrettably accepted. Send one
followup to inquire, but don’t keep sending emails to ascertain if your equery was received.
You’ve sent your query—now what?
If you don’t hear back, follow up after the stated response time using the same method as the
original query. If no response time is given, wait about 1 month. If querying via snail mail, include
another copy of the query. If you still don’t hear back after one followup attempt, assume it’s a
rejection, and move on. Do not phone or visit.
If an agent asks for an exclusive read on your manuscript, that means no one else can read the
manuscript while they’re considering it. I don’t recommend granting an exclusive unless it’s for a
very short period (maybe 2 weeks).
In nonexclusive situations (which should be most situations): If you have a second request for the
manuscript before you hear back from the first agent, then as a courtesy, let the second agent know
it’s also under consideration elsewhere (though you needn’t say with whom). If the second agent
offers you representation first, go back to the first agent and let her know you’ve been made an
offer, and give her a chance to respond.
This article is obviously slanted towards nonfiction. But whatever you write, in order to get
published, a query or cover letter is a must have. Make sure you keep your letter professional and to
the point, and you will improve your odds on getting published.
A query is a professional business letter that introduces your work to an agent or editor. These
days, this letter is sent by email rather than snail mail. In the query letter, you will have something
called a pitch paragraph. The query letter will also contain an introduction and the author’s bio or
credentials. It will be onepage long.
A pitch is the verbal delivery of the main pitch paragraph from your query letter. In other words,
you need to have a quick way to sum up the opening plot catalyst of your novel in a sentence or two
while talking to someone. That way your audience gets a clear and immediate gist of what your
novel is about.
ou have an idea for an article you want to publish to a commercial magazine or journal. Instead of
writing the whole thing, you send a relatively short email — usually no more than 500 words — to
an editor proposing what you’d like to write for them. This email is your pitch. You’ll outline what
the piece is about, what it will include, why it’s timely to publish now (if applicable) and why
you’re the very best person to write it.
Pitching a topic instead of a story is one of the biggest mistakes writers make when pitching editors.
Remember, the most important part of a pitch is the story you want to tell, and you want to make
your story clear in a sentence or two at the beginning of your pitch.
The writing in your pitch is like an audition. You’re letting an editor know how you write and you
want them to love your voice and how you approach the topic. While your final article may not
match the tone and style of your pitch, how you present yourself in your pitch shows how you write
and goes a long way to getting a reply from an editor.
Do you want to write on spec?
Sometimes, an editor will ask you to send the entire piece so they can read it and decide. This is
called “on spec.” It means they’ve made no promises to publish your writing, but they’ll decide
after reading.
You may not have written the piece before sending your pitch. In which case, you have to decide if
you want to write the whole thing immediately or if you’ll just pass and find another place to
publish. Many writers feel having to write a piece on spec without even knowing how much you’ll
be paid if they approve your work for publication isn’t worth the time and effort. For others, it will
depend on the publication. So if the New York Times or The Atlantic or another magazine for
whom you’ve been dying to write gives you an option on spec, you might want to test the waters.
It’s your choice.
What’s a submission?
When you submit a piece of writing, you send a finished piece to the editor or publication for their
perusal, usually a publication that focuses more on the craft of writing or a literary magazine.
Submissions can be for short and long pieces, fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose. It’s usually
not for books.
Submission differs from on spec in that the publishing outlet only accepts completed pieces for
consideration. They don’t accept pitches at all.
Editors want to read the entire piece before deciding if it’s right for them or not and if it fits a theme
they may have for the magazine. Your email is a cover letter. It’s not an audition in the same way a
pitch can be. Instead, your email introduces you, your work and the piece you’re submitting to the
publications’ editors and readers. Each publication has a different way of asking you to submit your
work. Read and follow their guidelines carefully.
Many publications use the Submittable interface for you to send your work. Your cover letter is
built into their system and they include all the information you need to submit — due dates,
formatting, type of writing — right on the Submittable page. Submittable also has a regular
newsletter that will keep you up to date on their latest news and also upcoming submission
possibilities.
What is a query?
A query is a one page, few paragraphs intended to entice a potential publisher or agent to want to
read (and eventually publish) your book. A query begins with a hook to make your reader want to
read more. Then you follow with a brief overview of your book and your bio. Simple short and
sweet, but one of the most difficult things to write well.
The goal of a query letter? You want your reader to ask for more. What your reader asks for will
differ. It could be ten pages, fifty pages, maybe even the whole book.
For fiction or memoir, you want to complete and polish your book before sending the query. Why?
Imagine you send it in and an editor wants to read the whole manuscript, but you don’t have it yet.
Then what? You’ve lost an opportunity and may not get another chance.
Nonfiction is a bit different in that you don’t have to write your book first. You can instead send a
proposal.
A nonfiction book proposal includes different sections, such as a chapter overview, other books
that are like it, market research and sample pages. This isn’t an exhausting list of what you’ll want
to include, but it does show you that the marketing aspect and audience for your book needs to be
clearly outlined in a way you don’t need to do with a pitch or submission. What each publisher or
agent wants varies. Always follow the guidelines you’re offered.
What a pitch, submission and query have in common
Know your publisher, agent or editor. Read the writing the publisher produces and understand
the kind of writing they represent.
Follow the prescribed guidelines to the letter. Each publisher, agent, editor or press requests their
guidelines for a reason. You run the risk of your writing being ignored if you don’t.
Research what each has published previously. Make sure you’re not offering a piece of writing
they already have or would never publish.
Your writing speaks for you. Whether you’re presenting a short synopsis of your book, a pitch for
an article about cows in Argentina or a short story based on an exhausting night you once spent in
Iceland, your writing will always be more important than who you are or what you’ve done in the
past. While yes, a well published and popular author will catch the eye of a publisher more easily, if
their writing doesn’t work, it’s unlikely their words will end up in print. But a firsttime author who
has written a piece that hits all the right notes? Well, I can’t 100% promise anything, but I’d bet
good money you’re publishing days are coming soon.
Writing a KickAss Query
To break into most magazines, you need a query letter, also known as a pitch. It’s basically a sales
letter telling the editor what your idea is, why it’s important to readers, and why you’re the best
person to write it.
ere’s what you’ll need:
A FANTABULOUS IDEA.
Read over your target magazine to help you brainstorm ideas. If you can’t find physical copies of
the magazine, check out their online archives. Sometimes the content differs, but you’ll get a good
idea of what the magazine runs.
hat’s because we tend to think in terms of topics, not story ideas. A topic is a broad idea that could
really be a book, and has probably been done already, in some form, in both books and magazines.
A story, on the other hand, has your own unique angle or slant that a jaded editor hopefully hasn’t
seen before. For example:
Topic: How to stay healthy this summer. (See how that could be a book?)
Story: Summer bummers: The top 5 health snafus that can ruin your summer, and how to solve
them.
Story: How to stay healthy this summer with items you already have in your pantry.
Story: Special precautions people with condition X need to take to stay healthy during the summer.
Get the idea?
Great. Let’s jump into the next most important part of a great query:
A SUPERAWESOME LEDE
A lede (yes, that’s spelled right) is the first paragraph or two of your query, and it’s typically written
in the same style as the ledes you see in articles in your target magazine. So you might start with an
anecdote, a compelling quote, a startling stat — or you may do something more literary in style.
1. The anecdotal lede
When McKenzie Smith, 32, went to the beach last summer, she envisioned lying around on the sand
reading a romance novel while her kids played in the warm waves.
What she didn’t envision was developing an itchy condition called sea bather’s eruption, which is
caused by stings from tiny, larval jellyfish.
2. A stat lede
Beset by bug bites? Feeling sick from a summer picnic? You’re not alone. According to a new study
by the National Institutes of Health, nearly onethird of Americans over the age of 18 have to miss
work each summer due to seasonal snafus like these — and other recent research has found that
45% of us avoid going outside in the summer because we’re afraid of bee stings, poison ivy, and
sunburn. [Note: I totally made those stats up.]
A NUT GRAF
I know — what’s with all the funny spellings, right?
The nut graf is the paragr
aph right after the lede where you quickly summarize what you’ll be offering. For example, let’s
take my stat lede above and add on a nut graf:
Beset by bug bites? Feeling sick from a summer picnic? You’re not alone. According to a new study
by the National Institutes of Health, nearly onethird of Americans over the age of 18 have to miss
work each summer due to seasonal snafus like these — and other recent research has found that
45% of us avoid going outside in the summer because we’re afraid of bee stings, poison ivy, and
sunburn.
Summer doesn’t have to be that way. In my article “Summer Bummers,” I’ll interview top docs to
give your readers solid, littleknown advice on how to combat the top seven seasonal health woes:
poison ivy, dehydration, food poisoning, sunburn, sea bather’s eruption, bug bites, and heat rash.
See?
It’s the point in your query letter where you pivot from the idea into your actual pitch. The
transition should be smooth, the lede flowing right into the nut graf, just like the one above.
Next, we need…
A BODACIOUS BODY
The body is where you get into the nuts and bolts of your pitch. You don’t want to make the editor
guess at what you’re offering: Give her some examples, written in the style you’d write the article
in.
And yes, that means you’ll have to do your homework. Probably more than you’re used to.
Most blogs are opinionbased: You write what you think, and nobody is looking over your shoulder,
expecting you to back it up. Magazines, on the other hand, are evidencebased. Unless you’re an
expert writing an opinion piece, editors will expect you to show supporting evidence.
Sometimes, that means conducting a couple of quickie preinterviews. You can find potential
sources to interview at universities, organizations, and think tanks, and on LinkedIn, online forums,
Twitter, Facebook, and sourcefinding sites like ProfNet. And don’t discount the value of your
email list!
So here’s the body of the query I started above.
For example, I’ll offer doctorapproved advice such as:
* Food Poisoning
If you downed questionable shrimp salad at the office picnic, you may find yourself faced with
nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. “One thing you shouldn’t do is take an antidiarrheal medicine,
because the diarrhea carries the toxins that are making you sick out of your system,” says Daniel
Jones, MD, an associate professor at Harvard School of Medicine. Instead, sip a sports drink,
which helps replace the electrolytes you’re losing. Until you feel better, avoid solid food and drink
your usual liquids plus a quart of sports drink per day.
* Dehydration
The bad thing about dehydration isn’t that your mouth is parched and you crave Frappuccinos– it’s
that dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion, which can in turn lead to heat stroke. The worstcase
heat stroke scenario is that your blood pressure drops dangerously, resulting in organ damage.
Here’s advice from Liz Johnson, MD, a physician at The Wellness Institute in Boston: If you notice
decreased sweating, lightheadedness, or dizziness, get to a cool place and rehydrate with a sports
drink. Anticipate and head off the problem by deepsixing the caffeine, which can make you sweat
more and therefore lose more water, and drinking more than usual if you plan to be out in the heat
or if you take a diuretic such as blood pressure medication.
Don’t skimp on your research! This is where you prove to a skittish editor that you do indeed have
the goods.
Then and only then can you…
BRAG ON YOURSELF
My writer friend Kelly JamesEnger calls this the “why I’m so great” paragraph. This is where you
tell the editor why you are the best person to write the proposed article. So if I were 100% a blogger
and had never written for magazines, I might write:
I’m a freelance writer in Sacramento who writes on health topics on my own blog,
TheBestBlogEver.com; I’ve also written for blogs like X, Y, and Z. As a former nurse, I understand
medical concepts and terminology — and as I writer, I know how to translate them into readable,
fun prose.
Even if you don’t have a lot of writing credits to toot your horn about, there are other bragworthy
things you can use — like a deep personal knowledge of the topic (your spouse is a doc? mention
that here!), an educational background in the topic, or exclusive access to a key source.
You’re a writer, so spin what you do have into the best possible light!
A CLOSING
In the closing of the pitch, I usually do two things:
1. Show I understand the magazine’s readership.
Explain why your article will be important to the magazine’s readers. For example:
Your readers are young women who want to relax and enjoy the sun all summer long — without
being waylaid by pesky summer health troubles. My article “Summer Bummers” won’t disappoint
them.
2. Ask for the sale.
One mistake many writers make is they forget to wrap up in a clear way by asking for an
assignment. They let the pitch simply peter out, and leave the editor wondering why the writer
bothered.
You can ask for the sale in a lot of ways: “I look forward to hearing what you think about my idea
for Magazine X!” “I look forward to your reaction.” “Does this idea sound interesting to you?”
“May I write this article for you?”
And that’s it! You’re finished!
What’s Next?
Send your query letter via email directly to whichever editor you think would handle your topic.
At big magazines, that is often a senior, deputy, or associate editor. At smaller magazines, like
many trades, you can pitch directly to the editor.
Can’t decide? Give them a call and ask.
To find the editor’s email address, first search the website, and try Google searches on the editor’s
name and “contact.” You can also search for the editor on LinkedIn; sometimes you’ll find an e
mail address right on the editor’s profile.
If those tactics come up short, try calling the magazine. Don’t be afraid! I promise no one will yell
at you.
As a last resort, try to decipher the magazine’s email format (it’s often on the Ad Sales page) and
use that to figure out your editor’s address. You can take advantage of one of the many free online
email verification systems like VerifyEmail.org to determine if the address you guessed at is
correct. This isn’t foolproof, but it helps.
Once you zap off your query, don’t just wait with bated breath for a reply, because it can take a
loooong time. Send your pitch to other magazines as well (you may need to tweak your pitch a bit
for each one), and get to work on your next query. Pitching a numbers game, and it’s all about
volume.
Keep pitching…
Once you learn to write a query, you’ll get better and better at it, and the process will take less and
less time. You’ll start to develop relationships with editors — yes, even a nice rejection asking you
to pitch again can be the start of a beautiful (and lucrative) friendship. And some of those
relationships will lead to regular gigs.
But you have to keep pitching.
Too many talented writers fire off a query or two and then quit. Maybe the rejection is too painful,
or maybe you’re just too busy.
Regardless, the writers who make it are the ones who send a lot of pitches. Preferably at least one or
two a week — with each of those going out to multiple publications — at least for the first few
years.
Here’s why:
You have to do the work to write for magazines
Writing for magazines is the same as anything else. You have to do the work.
At first, you suck. Then it gets a little easier. Then one day you look at your work and realize you
actually know what you’re doing! Heck, when I started out as a fulltime freelancer in 1997, I
would print out each pitch, go over it with a red pen, have my writer husband go over it with a red
pen, enter in the edits, and repeat the process until the pitch was as clean and perfect as possible.
These days, I can write a full pitch in under an hour.
You just have to keep going. You have to keep writing. You have to trust it’ll all pay off
It’s certainly paid off for me, and I believe it can pay off for you too. Not only through money,
although that’s certainly nice, but through connecting with people who need your wisdom.
The world is full of people with questions who aren’t searching blogs for answers. To help them,
you have to reach outside of your medium and connect with them where they already are.
SamplesWhen Writing a Query Letter Do …
Address the agent by name. When sending query letters to an agent, you always want to use his or
her name. Generic letters addressed to “To Whom it May Concern” or “Dear Literary Agent” are
much less likely to connect with someone at an agency. By using an agent’s name, you not only
personalize your message but also show you’ve done a little research—and agents take writers who
do research a little more seriously than writers who do not. Just make sure you spell the agent’s
name correctly.
Cut right to the chase. Don’t waste the opening paragraph of your query letter introducing
yourself. Save that for later. Much like a book, you want to hook that agent with your first sentence.
The best way to do that is to introduce the hook of your manuscript right away.
Sell your manuscript. The summary of your book will ultimately make or break your chances of
landing the agent. Write this section the same way you would write the copy that would appear on
the back of the book jacket—one or two paragraphs that sell the heart and soul of your book.
Remember, this is the most important part of your query. Spend the most time on it. (Looking for a
professional editor to tell you if your summary is strong enough? I recommend a 2nd Draft Query
Critique.)
Explain why you’ve chosen to query this specific agent. When salespeople go out to make a sale,
they attempt to learn everything they can about a client before making their pitch. The more you
know, the more likely you are to target the right person and find success. When pitching to an
agent, it’s important you know a little bit about that agent—namely, what other books they
represent. In your query, be sure to mention one or two of these books and briefly explain why you
think your book is a good fit in that group. (NOTE: If your book isn’t similar in genre or scope to
others the agent represents, you’re likely pitching to the wrong agent.)
Mention your platform (if you have one). Have a blog that gets 20,000 pageviews a month?
Mention it. Speak at writing conferences 10 or more times a year? Mention it. Have a Twitter
following of more than 30,000 followers? Mention it. Basically, having a platform can only
enhance your opportunity to reach an audience of readers—which enhances your opportunity to sell
books. If an agent knows you have the resources to reach an audience on your own, it makes you a
more attractive client. And if you don’t have a platform, don’t worry (and don’t mention it). But
consider starting to build a platform now. (Here is a great resource on everything you need to build
your writer platform.)
Study other successful query letters. Thousands of others have found success when querying
agents. No need to reinvent the felttipped pen. Spend time studying actual query letter examples
that other writers—many of whom had no previous writing credits or platform—have used to land
their literary agents. Here are several query letter examples that may help.
When Writing a Query Letter Don’t …
Be arrogant. Never say anything in your query like “my manuscript is a bestseller in the making”
or “you’d be lucky to represent my book.” (You laugh, but some people do this.) Save all bragging
until the end, and even then it should be focused on meaningful writing credits and authoritative
credentials (the final “don’t” on the list covers this).
Include your age. There is no real upside to this. In fact, it often can create unintentional bias and
make it more difficult for you to sell your book.
Tell agents that you value their time. I learned this from my agent, Tina Wexler. Many writers
waste a sentence or two in their query explaining that they know how busy the agent is and that they
value their time. There’s no need for this, as agents are well aware of how busy they are. More
important, though, is that this is wasted space in your query that could be used to give more
information about (and sell the idea of) your manuscript.
Include writing credits that aren’t meaningful. Unless you’ve had books published through a
publishing house before or have had work appear in something prestigious, like The New Yorker,
it’s best to not say anything. Just stick to selling your story and your concept. Now, if you have
other nonwriting credentials that are valuable—such as you’re writing a nonfiction book on
financial planning and you’ve spent 15 years working as a financial planner at a major financial
firm—you want to mention that. Anything that makes you an authority on your topic is worth
noting.
w to study the magazine
As I uncover new markets, I study each magazine thoroughly so I have a better chance at selling an
article.
1. I study the magazine’s tone. Is the tone formal or informal? Is it conversational, or serious? Is it
technical or expressive?
2. I study the magazine’s audience and readership. Who reads this magazine, and why? Why are
readers eager to pay for a subscription? They must know they will get some value and benefit from
each issue. What is that value and benefit which readers seek?
3. I study the magazine’s advertisers. A magazine with more advertisers usually pays higher
freelance rates. Plus, the type of businesses that advertise their services or products can tell you a lot
about the magazine’s readers.
4. I study the magazine’s writers and what they write and how they write. An editor has decided to
publish these writers. Why?
5. I study what the magazine has already published. You do not want to pitch articles that the
magazine has recently covered or topics that are overdone.
6. I study the magazine’s frequency. A monthly or biweekly magazine needs more articles. A
quarterly or bimonthly magazine needs less. Pretty obvious.
7. I study the magazine’s thickness. What is the ratio between content and advertisements? How
many pages are devoted to articles? This will help you judge how much content an editor buys.
All of these elements help me write a more focused query letter to address the needs of the editor.
Following the writer’s guidelines
Magazines provide their own “writer’s guidelines” to tell writers what the editor wants and doesn’t
want; what type of articles and departments are open to freelance writers; typical word length;
response times; and how to submit material.
Follow the magazine’s guidelines exactly. Editors receive hundreds of submissions monthly.
Laziness on your part will likely result in a rejection. I type my query letter or finished article in 12
point Times New Roman or Courier New and doublespace. I put my name and contact information
in the upper lefthand corner. I like to use 1.5″ inch margins. A magazine’s guidelines will tell you
if the editor prefers query letters or finished manuscripts.
Pitching an article to an editor
I generally make a list of potential markets based on pay and response. As long as magazines do not
ask for exclusivity, I email a number of queries at once. I doublecheck the writer’s guidelines for
each magazine to see what information I should include in a query letter. I address each editor by
full name and title, and keep my query letters as short as possible.
Generally, a query letter contains four paragraphs that sell your article and convince the editor to
publish your article.
• In the first paragraph I hook the editor, usually with a short passage from my article.
• In the second paragraph I support my hook by discussing a solution or solutions to the
problem.
• In the third paragraph I tell the editor why my article will interest readers.
• In the fourth paragraph I tell the editor my credentials and why I am the best writer to write on
the topic. For example, if I had written an article about Apple’s newest iPad and I have a
background in designing mobile applications, I would mention that fact.
Here is an infographic that shows the components of a query letter.
The hook
I mentioned that I “hook” the editor in the first paragraph. This is important in every query letter. It
is your first chance and first impression to sell your article. You can “hook” the editor in numerous
ways, depending on your article. For example, if I say I want to write an article on childhood
obesity in America, that doesn’t sound unique or interesting.
However, what if I say I want to write about the emotional stress that obese children face because of
constant bullying at school? Here I am more specific. I have tied together two popular, timely topics
to make my article more appealing. In my hook, I tell the editor about this national problem and
how my article will address this concern and offer solutions to the magazine’s readers. That’s a
more interesting approach.
However, what if I say I want to write about the emotional stress that obese children face because of
constant bullying at school? Here I am more specific. I have tied together two popular, timely topics
to make my article more appealing. In my hook, I tell the editor about this national problem and
how my article will address this concern and offer solutions to the magazine’s readers. That’s a
more interesting approach.
I just want to write
Writers aren’t sales people, nor do they want to be. Writers just want to write. Unfortunately, a
freelance writer has no choice but to act as his or her own marketer and sales person. With solid
research, a convincing query letter, backed up by persistence and
motivation, I am able to sell most of the writing that I do. So can you.
he Editor’s Job
A magazine editor is a person who enjoys bringing new writing to the world in a publication that
will be seen, read, appreciated, and talked about.
This is the first fact anyone submitting to a magazine should understand. There may be two editors,
or five, or a rotating group of a dozen studenteditors on a board, but for purposes of this essay, let’s
consider one who, if not totally in charge, has a large say in what goes on. This editor is committed
to the magazine, to it reaching a readership, to its identity and survival.
The editor wants nothing more than to read something so fresh and powerful and polished there is
no question it must be in the journal.
Instead the editor, having read 17 things this morning, keeps going, thinking: A runon sentence in
the first line! Oh no, another story with the character waking up hungover and getting a phone call.
Why must they flash back before anything interesting happens? That isn’t really funny. We don’t
publish travel articles. Does no one read the guidelines? This one gets good in the middle, but then
the character just sits down and thinks about stuff. Wonderful minor character but the main one is
selfpitying. Almost. Good scene. Pretty good. Not quite. Please can’t somebody just dazzle me so I
can pick something and stop this?
The editor reads till unable to process any more, goes to get some more coffee, and starts again,
resolving not to give in to the temptation to say no as fast as possible in order to shrink the pile on
the table, or the long list of files on the computer. The editor knows that because of the
accumulation of negative thoughts, it is possible to miss something wonderful and make a mistake.
The editor, despite this, notices some good pieces, puts them aside to reread, sees in the light of
second reading what holds up, and then passes the work along and meets with the other editor, or
four, or eleven, and listens to their views, argues, surrenders, prevails, until there is enough for an
issue that matches their vision of the magazine’s identity. The editor then moves on to overseeing
the production of the issue (online, downloadable pdf, broadside, stapled, perfect bound, whatever
it may be, this is hard, detailed work), while at the same time commencing to read for the next,
trying to get together the money needed to keep this thing going, and getting the word out about the
issue that just came out. Unless the magazine is a big commercial enterprise, the editor is
continuously reading, selecting, working on production and layout, trying to get money or workers
or both, and trying to get the magazine seen.
The editor is tired and busy.
Much of the editor’s work is invisible. What gets published may, possibly, go on to win awards or
be anthologized, which helps to cast some reflected glory back on the magazine, but recognitions
for an editor are few. One pleasure is sending out the acceptances, and knowing somebody is made
happy. At the same time, the editor sends out flotillas of form rejections. This is a job to delegate, if
possible, it’s so depressing. Those who think the editor is rejecting with some pleasure in hurting
are entirely wrong. The editor, with an eye to the long run and a pang for those who come close,
may send a few rejections that contain a word or two of encouragement, or even a longer letter. (See
below for how to handle each of these possibilities.)
Yes, the editor is a gatekeeper, controlling entrée to something you want, but that is really of more
importance to you than to the editor. The editor’s eye is on the magazine.
Your Job
You, of course, are a writer. Let’s say you are just starting to send out. You are thinking, Am I any
good? Will this make people I love believe I’m worthwhile? Is that third paragraph unnecessary as
R said in workshop, but I still like it, and if I keep it, and my story gets published then that will
show R, but what if R is right after all? Is this my first step to fame and glory? Am I a genius? Am I
in fact too good for this magazine I’m sending to or not good enough? Am I an idiot? Will my
parents stop suggesting other jobs I could do given my education? Will strangers want to sleep with
me because of my prose? Etc. etc.
None of this is of interest to the editor. Remember the editor’s deepest wish: Send something
perfect for us, please.
So your job is to help the editor by sending work that is developed, complete, thoroughly revised,
and—of great importance—appropriate for the magazine.
To do that last part of your job well, you have to read the magazines.
Yes, you do.
Not long ago, within a few days, three aspiring writers stopped me (in the office, in the parking lot,
and at an airport gate) to ask: “Where should I send my story which is over 20,000 words long?”
“Where should I send my work where it will be accepted as fast as possible? The agent I
approached about my novel says I have to have a track record.” “What magazine likes grownup
fables that are a little weird?”
They were asking for a shortcut. It’s natural to want one, when you feel small in a big unknown
world, and impatient, wanting results immediately. But I said, to each: “You can’t expect to be a
professional if you don’t do your own homework.”
When I was starting out, I told my questioners, I spent at least one day each month in a library,
reading literary magazines and taking notes on index cards. Yes, those were ancient times. It’s
easier now, but you still need to read magazines and I still advocate having a set time to do this
research, keeping it apart from your writing. And then you’ll be ready to send your work out.
Three out of three went on to say, “But does anybody ever read these magazines?” (Implying that
because they haven’t, no one does.)
Yes, I said, people do. Writers do. Writers who want to learn what kind of writing gets published
where, what it takes to break in. Writers who want to learn their craft. You’ll see things that you
don’t like and things that stun you and teach you. In addition, other editors, agents, and even some
people who just like to read, read magazines. When I edited Gulf Stream, a couple of smart agents
and more than one editor wrote to ask for the contact information for contributors whose work they
liked.
I told my questioners, if they didn’t believe me, to look at Dan Chaon’s interview in The Review
Review, and read the reviews there, to look at New Pages.com, AWP Chronicle, Poets & Writers,
and Facebook (where journals have community pages which will send you helpful reminders of
when they are reading), and start to make a list of magazines to investigate. Then, I repeated,
choose some to read. If they are online and free, it’s easy. If they’re print journals, you may see a
sample on the website, but you should go ahead and order the magazines whose samples intrigue
you.
A good tip: go in together with four other people and each subscribe to a couple of journals, and
then share them. So cheap! Then you can discuss the work that was chosen, which can be a great
amplification of your usual workshopping. What do these pieces have (or not have) compared to the
work you and your friends are writing? How unified, inventive, and polished does a story have to be
to be published? Which editors like what?
Odds are you have read the work of your classmates, and the work of masters. Now you want to see
the work of the people who are just maybe a step or three ahead of you. Read the contributors’
notes, which can lead you to find where those whose work you like are publishing and so follow
trails through the literary world. Identify magazines you love, ones where the work excites you and
speaks to what you want to do. Start to create a list, making pecking orders of ones you are
interested in, based on their visibility, circulation, reputation, pay, attractiveness, or whatever
factors matter to you.
Then you are ready to begin sending your work out.
Submission
Keep good records of what you send where, when.
Make sure your submission is done in the format asked for on the magazine’s website, and pay
attention to the reading period. If a cover letter is part of the setup, use the right name for the editor
you are approaching, spelled correctly. You can include one sincere sentence about the magazine to
show that you have really read it. “I especially enjoyed Soandso’s story or poem in your Spring
issue, because of: say something specific here.” You have no idea how ridiculously rare this is.
(Note, if you do not like any work in a magazine, you should not be sending there. You and the
editor are not going to be on a wavelength.)
Other than demonstrating that you have done your homework, essentially a cover letter or uploaded
statement conveys information about what genre your submission is in and who you are. If you
have credentials include them, but be simple and succinct. Many magazines are interested in
discovering people, so there is no shame in saying, “If you select this story, it would be my first
publication.” I think it is better not to list things that almost happened. It’s fine to cite winning a
contest, but 12th place just says 11 were ahead of you.
Don’t assume the letter is a sales pitch. Upon arrival, your information may be read by someone
opening the mail or logging files. That somebody may flag a previous contributor, a person whose
submission has been solicited, or someone who has been asked to send again. But you cannot
expect the editor will definitely see the letter, nor will a letter make the editor read the story
differently than other work in the pile. What you send should not be full of explanations, plot
summaries, testimonials (“my friends love it”) and pleas (“Even if you must reject, please send me
comments.”). Put your creativity, humor, and sensibility into the work you submit. You are writing
a business letter to a busy person. I think the best closing for a query letter is a simple, “Thank you
for your time and consideration.”
Send out and get back to work writing and reading.
How To Receive A Rejection
A standard rejection slip will have a wording that was worked out, sometimes long ago, to let
people down and move on. It is in no way personal. Do not brood over it. Note the rejection in your
records. If you have established a pecking order of magazines, you sent the submission to one high
on your list. Now simply move on to the next one. (If you simultaneously submit, it should be in
groups of magazines you think are equivalent. You are going to have to live with the first
acceptance you get.) You want to have many tiers on your list. To go straight from The Paris
Review to your school literary magazine is to miss the area you most need to explore.
If, while the work was away, you thought about it and saw things you really want to do to improve
it, do so. Then send it to the next place you want to try. Never send it back to the rejecting editor.
(Let alone sending it back unrevised. Despite apocryphal tales, editors do remember what they have
seen before.) You shouldn’t have sent to them before it was ready. Lesson learned. Move on.
Luckily there are loads of journals.
Do not take the rejection slip, underline words or phrases on it, and send it back with a scrawled
note saying: “‘Doesn’t suit your needs at this time?’ YOUR needs? Well, who cares about you and
your pretentious magazine that I never liked anyway, etc., etc.” When people do this, editors post
the missives in the office, to be mocked as coming from an immature writer who completely
misunderstands how impersonal this is. You may set fire to rejection slips, show them proudly to
your friends, use them as coasters for consolatory margaritas, but do not write anything in response.
How To Respond To A Minimally Encouraging Rejection
If you get a standard rejection with something addition written on it—“Sorry” or (better) “Try us
again”—you should rejoice. And try there again. You were in the top 5% or 2% or 1% of the work
rejected. Ideally, you have other work on hand to submit, but if not, do not feel you must act
instantly. Let’s say you have a year. When you do send to this journal, start your cover letter with,
“Thank you for your encouraging note about my story ‘G.’ As you suggested, I am trying you again
with the enclosed story, ‘H.’” Then go on as usual. Don’t describe G to remind them! Don’t talk
about what you have since done to G! This cover letter, which reminds them they liked you before,
may let “H” get flagged as one to look at a bit more carefully.
How To Respond To A Longer, More Personal Rejection
If you get anything longer—a signed note, a letter—again, rejoice. You have come very close. Yet
this does not mean the editor wants to see a revision. The editor wants to help you understand why
you are close, or promising, but not there. Unless the editor specifically says, “Please do this and
send me the revision,” the response called for is to send something else, ideally after having
considered the something else in the light of the qualities the editor has described as good and what
was lacking in the old one. Your cover letter should begin by thanking the editor for taking the time
to write a personal letter. You may say it was helpful. But don’t go into the issues it raised.
Unfortunately, and paradoxically, the more an editor writes in a letter, the more likely there is to be
some phrase that burns the writer’s sensitive soul. It’s still a rejection and may contain detailed
criticism. You need to be strong, stay calm, and understand that the editor has taken trouble for you.
You are not to rebut the letter, nor to go off hurt. You need to try this editor again. (I confess, I once
got a note that said a story of mine “had its moments,” but that the topic was one the editor saw too
often. I was very young and never tried him again. I now know this was foolish and selfdefeating.
The topic was common, the magazine a top one, and an editor’s bluntness is valuable.)
One of my friends once showed me a file of over 20 items—rejection slips, rejection slips with
words on them, short notes, and long notes— that he’d received from one editor before he got a
poem accepted by him. The collection showed how steadily and patiently he conducted himself in
this process. He learned about the editor’s views along the way, and the editor may have learned to
read his poetry better (certainly more slowly and attentively), too.
And what about the item that got the editor’s note? Be encouraged (it was good enough to get an
editor’s time and thought) and send it elsewhere. Of course if the editor’s comments make sense to
you, you may revise before you send on. But, revised or not, send it to the next place on your list,
something close to the rejecting one, perhaps. My story that had its moments was published by the
next journal I sent it to. My friend’s poems were published. What happens is that a piece of work
finds its level, and then, with new work, you keep trying to move up.
There is also some transformation that happens when a piece is published: it is read differently. I
heard once from an editor who had rejected a story of mine, with a long note, and then, since editors
read magazines, saw it in the journal that took it soon after. He liked what I’d done with it, he said. I
hadn’t changed more than a few words. I’d just found a better magazine for that particular story,
and their typesetting, the work around it, the glow of approval, made it look different to him.
Acceptance: Dos and Don’ts:
When you get an acceptance, you should be in a position to say, immediately, “Thank you, I’m
delighted,” and then you should notify any other journal that has the work under consideration. (It
New Yorker will take it.
is not possible to hold up the accepting editor while you see if maybe The
This is why you should only simultaneously submit to magazines you think of as equivalent. First
responder wins.)
If you have simultaneously submitted and already been accepted elsewhere and not notified the
journal, you have not only wasted their time, but you may have caused someone else’s work to be
bumped while they chose you. No, you cannot now write and say, “Oops, how about if I send you
this other thing instead.” You have to apologize, say you screwed up, and if I were you I’d wait a
little while before I sent there again, because they are likely to be sore. So this situation is to be
avoided. Keep records, inform editors promptly.
When your work is accepted, say, “Thank you, I’m delighted,” and send the editor anything
requested: contact info., signed permission form or whatever is required. (Make and keep copies for
your files.)
Do not immediately send the editors a revision! The piece accepted is what they wanted. You could
say, perhaps, “I have since done another draft, in case you’d like to see it.” But they may look and
prefer the original. On the other hand, the accepting editor may ask for some changes (generally
simple ones—editors get so many submissions that they can pick ones that work and not deal with
ones that need extensive editing, though there are sometime exceptions). You should not get
defensive about your sacred work. Try to listen to what you are being told and give it full
consideration. Of course if it represents something you cannot live with, you’ll have to say so, but I
find that this is really extremely rare.
If you get galleys, do them promptly and only correct errors. You cannot now rewrite. (Which
again goes to show that you should really have done your revising before you send out.)
Make sure the editor has your uptodate information if you move or change email address.
How To Greet The Issue Your Work Is In
Read the magazine (not just your own piece!) and send the editor a thank you note that remarks on
the issue, whether the look, the cover, or some other work in it. Email is fine, but a real letter is
more memorable.
Do not, as one person did, upon receiving her copies of an issue I edited, write a note saying, “Why
wasn’t mine the first story in the magazine? Mine was better than Q’s.” This revealed the seething
ego of the writer and her failure to understand the many factors that go into ordering a magazine,
including wanting a piece that is catchy or short or that sets a tone or theme up front. Layout is full
of many decisions invisible to the author.
Ask, if you haven’t been told, whether it will be possible to order some copies (if it’s a print
publication) with author discount, and if so, order them. What, pay for copies? Yes, and give them
away: just a couple of copies will help the magazine and help you. Send them to you former
teachers or friends who have read your work, thanking them. Whether the journal is print or digital,
use whatever platform you may have to announce the publication and link to the magazine. At this
point, your interest and the editor’s overlap: you both want the magazine to be seen, enjoyed, and
respected. Start listing the magazine in your bio, as you go on to submit and publish elsewhere.
Last Advice
Try editing. Volunteer to read submissions for a magazine near you (or, with web journals, far
away). Start a little magazine or a onetime anthology with some friends. Seeing how much is sent
when it is not ready and how a single work reads amid a mass of submissions will teach you a lot.
You may not enjoy it or you may get hooked. But once you have been an editor, you understand
their arduous devotion.
Which comes first, a “query” or an article? You could wait 68 weeks for a response to a query;
why not devote that time to writing an article, and submitting the completed article instead of a
query? I don’t understand the benefit of waiting so long for a nonbinding indication of interest — or
perhaps I don’t understand the purpose of a query.
Answer
When trying to make this decision, it may help to remember that “query vs. article” isn’t so much a
question of what you should write first, but how to best market what you write. In some
cases, writing the article first may be your best choice, either because you risk losing enthusiasm for
the idea if you wait, or because you aren’t sure exactly how the piece will turn out.
Even if you do write the article first, however, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the query
process. Think of the article as your product — and a query letter as the marketing tool that will
help you sell that product. Simply put, a qury letter is a sales pitch for your article.
Aspects of a Quality Query
To be an effective sales tool, a query should contain the following information:
• A “hook” — perhaps the opening sentence or two of your article — to grab the editor’s
attention and indicate why the article would appeal to the publication’s readership.
• A concise summary of the article. I usually provide a title, then four or five bulleted point.
Don’t tease; give enough information to help an editor determine what the piece will be
about (and to prove that you know what you’re talking about).
• An indication of why the article is appropriate for this particular audience. (Avoid phrases like
“Your readers will love this story;” be specific about audience benefits.)
• Your qualifications for writing the article — e.g., credentials, education, writing experience,
personal experience, etc. If you don’t have any writing experience, don’t say so; instead,
describe some other qualification that will demonstrate your knowledge of the subject.
• A suggested word count and delivery date (e.g., 30 days after receiving the assignment).
• Needless to say, it’s also essential to make your query look as neat and professional as
possible; typos in a query are the kiss of death (as are cliches!). Keep it to one page if
possible, and don’t forget the SASE.
Reasons For Sending a Pitch
But if you’ve already written the article, you may ask, why bother sending an advance sales pitch?
Why not let the article “sell itself”?
There are several reasons:
• Most editors prefer queries — so why not give them what they want? From a query, an editor
should be able to learn the following things without having to wade through a 10page
article:
◦ Whether the material is appropriate for the magazine. Does it address a relevant
topic, from an angle or slant tailored to the magazine’s audience? Does it sound
interesting or useful? (Nine out of ten queries don’t; similarly, nine out of ten articles
aren’t. The folks who wrote the queries, however, saved themselves, and their
editors, a lot of time.)
◦ Whether the topic has been covered recently or is in the works. This is a key reason
for writing queries: You don’t know what articles the editor has on hand or has
contracted for. Why waste weeks writing an article just to discover that someone else
had a similar idea first? (And no, this doesn’t mean that editors read queries and then
rush to assign “your” ideas to “their” writers.)
◦ Whether you are capable of presenting a welldeveloped, wellwritten proposal, and
by extension, a wellwritten article. A query helps an editor assess a writer’s abilities
quickly. Besides issues of grammar and professionalism, an editor will also look at
tone and style, so polish your query as you would a finished article.
◦ Whether you have the qualifications to write the piece. Some magazines won’t
accept technical articles from nonprofessionals. Others are willing to work with
writers who can interview professionals. Use your query to develop a convincing
argument as to why you should be given this assignment.
• Many publications now accept queries only, due to the time and cost involved in reading
unsolicited submissions. Consequently, a query may be the only way to be considered at all.
• Many publications pay more for assigned articles than for unsolicited articles. Thus, while you
might be able to sell the piece “cold,” you might also be able to get more for it if you query
first.
• Queries save you time and effort. Compare the amount of time involved in researching and
writing an article to the amount of time required to write a query. Can you seriously afford
to spare valuable writing time on material that may not sell — especially when research is
involved?
The Question of Commitment
Chances are that even if you receive a positive response, it will be “nonbinding” — e.g., “go ahead
on speculation.” Is that worth waiting for?
Yes. Although “on spec” isn’t a promise, it is a commitment on the part of an editor to give your
article careful consideration. Most editors won’t give such an assignment unless seriously interested
— and though we’ve all heard horror stories, most won’t reject an onspec piece unless it
is seriously flawed.
Those flaws, however, are the reason for onspec assignments. Every editor has been burned at one
time or another by a writer who made glowing promises but didn’t deliver. New writers, therefore,
are rarely given “firm” assignments. Instead, they are given an opportunity, on speculation, to prove
that they can deliver wellcrafted material.
If you can prove this, you’re well on your way to “real” assignments. Better yet, editors may start
calling you with their own ideas. You’ll also need to spend less time on queries to editors who
know your work; you don’t have to dazzle them with your style or your credentials, but can simply
pitch a brief summary of your article idea. (Such as: “How about an article on the basics of query
letters?”) But don’t try this in the beginning!
Unless a magazine’s listing says email queries are OK, don’t use this method to approach an editor
for the first time. Instead, wait until you have a relationship (or permission) before emailing
queries or submissions.
Ten years ago, it was much easier to approach the market with an unsolicited manuscript. Today,
queries have become an industry standard; they are expected of the professional writer. Rather than
viewing queries as a timeconsuming “middle step” between writing and selling, think of them as
a tool that will help open doors to your writing — doors that might otherwise remain firmly closed.
Copyright © 2001 Moira Allen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Moira Allen is the editor of WritingWorld.com (http://www.writingworld.com) and the author of
more than
300 published articles. Her books on writing include Starting Your Career as a
a Freelance Writer and The Writer’s Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals.