If you have always wondered how the writers in the magazine you read got there, you may be surprised to know that most of the writers between the shiny covers of your favorite magazines are ordinary people just like you. They didn’t get there by luck, but by practicing their craft and learning about the writing business. If your dream is to see your name in print, you can get started today by taking some basic steps down the writer’s path.
The very first step is coming up with a good idea. What is a good idea? To me, a good saleable idea is first a subject that fits the needs of your intended magazine’s readership. Second, a good idea is one that is universal. That means that your article should be about a subject that the majority of the magazine’s readers can relate to.
How do you come up with ideas? I’ve often found ideas for articles just by wanting to know more about a subject myself. I’ve also come up with ideas after reading about something that piqued my interest. For example, only a few months ago I had read an article in my local paper about babymoons. Though I’m far from the baby days of my past, the concept intrigued me and I read on.
From that article I learned that today’s expectant couples are taking a trip during the second trimester of pregnancy in order to have some time alone before baby makes three. The article I read was tailored for the readers in my area but I wondered if a magazine in Florida that I worked with would be interested in this for their baby magazine. My plan was to get her interested and then show her how I would make it relevant to her readers in Florida. That would mean explaining to readers what babymoons were, how they got started, how to plan one and, most importantly, where the ideal babymoons were in Florida.
If we’re going to take this in steps, I would make step two doing your homework. By doing your homework I mean researching your idea. For the babymoon story I started by doing some preliminary research online. There was more than enough information about babymoons online. Within an hour I had learned what they were, how the trend started (think J Lo and Mark Anthony) and how to plan and pack for a babymoon. The other great benefit of the internet is the ease of finding experts on any subject. I can’t think of one magazine that doesn’t require at least one expert’s input in their articles. For the babymoon story I found two women who had taken babymoons. From their experiences, both had set up websites with information for other expectant couples. Within minutes I had written a request for an interview to both women and hit the send button.
Step three is time to craft and send your query letter to the editor you are trying to get an assignment from. There are several good query writing books available at bookstores and libraries. If you’re unsure of how to put together a query it would be a good idea to at least check a book out of your library and learn about writing one. If you are serious about making an income and getting published, buying a book would be worth the small investment. I follow a basic formula when it comes to putting together a query letter.
Though a lot of writers tend to introduce themselves in the first paragraph, I have had much more success by opening my query letter with a statistic about my subject, if applicable, or a quote from an expert who will be included in my article. For my story about babymoons, I opened my query with this: "Lisa Smith and her husband Dan said that their babymoon was like a second honeymoon for them, except for the fact that Lisa was five months pregnant with their first child." The job of the first paragraph of your query is to grab the editor’s attention and get him/her to read on.
My second paragraph explains what a babymoon is, how the term came to be and who started the trend (in this case, as often is, the trend trickled down from the celebrity world) and how the rest of the world can plan the perfect babymoon. In this paragraph I let the editor know that I have two experts who will be offering their advice and tips to expectant couples. I also always use at least one interviewee (in this case a couple)to share their experience, in this case their experience during their babymoon, with readers. If the article is suitable for a sidebar, and most are, I let the editor know that I will be adding a sidebar.
Last in this paragraph I tell the editor the length I intend the article to be BUT I always tell them that I am happy to work with their specific needs. This shows the editor that I know my subject and have a grasp on how many words it will take to get the job done. It also shows that I’m flexible and able to work with their space limitations.
My final paragraph is where I include my own personal information. If I have worked with this editor before I usually just add something as simple as "I have enjoyed working with you in the past and look forward to working on this assignment for you in the near future." If I am approaching a new editor, I will usually introduce myself by saying how long I’ve been freelancing. I’ll include names of some of the magazines I have been published in. I always offer to send them clips of my work for their reference. I close the letter with "thank you for your time and consideration" and "I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience."
As for the closing, though it seems more creative, I recommend forgoing the artsy closings (like one I saw that said "With Pen In Hand") and keeping it professional. Good old ‘Sincerely Yours’ is still alive and well.
Now that your query is complete you need to know how the magazine accepts queries. With the advent of the Internet, many magazines will accept e-queries so it may just be a matter of hitting the ‘send’ button. A word of caution: just because they are open to e-queries doesn’t mean you can get casual. Make sure your e-query is written just the way you would write a professional letter that you are mailing. This might be your only chance to make an impression on this editor. Keep it professional by including the magazine’s name, address, an attention to line and the date of the letter. If the magazine isn’t open to e-queries, then it’s time to address that envelope, stick on that stamp and send that it out into the world of snail mail.
And instead of keeping your fingers crossed, untangle them and get working on your next query. Like so many things in life, queries are a number game and the more you have out in the ‘world’ the better your chances are of landing that assignment.
