Format: E-book (PDF)
Pages: 130
Publication Date: January 2005
Tired of all the beginner
send-your-query-to-the-right-editor advice that keeps coming your
way? Need a guide that can tell you exactly how to craft a query
letter that will create the maximum impact? Do you need a blueprint
to get your magazine writing career on a fast track to success? Then
this book is for you.
This humorous and inspirational guide is chock-full of examples,
actual query letters and tips that will take the brainwork out of
query-writing, making it a fun, enjoyable experience. If you want to
promote your magazine writing from hobby to career, increase your
income or get a headstart into the business, look no further. This
130-page e-book contains all the information you need about matching
ideas to markets, pitching to national and international magazines,
determining a magazine’s focus, finding media-savvy experts, getting
and keeping an editor’s attention, and everything else that goes
into the writing of a successful query letter.
Mridu Khullar teaches you how to:
-
come up with your own fail-proof
techniques for generating saleable article ideas;
-
find and organize markets
efficiently and with minimal effort;
-
determine a magazine's focus and
even write for a magazine you've never set eyes on;
-
get an expert to give you juicy
details even when you don't have an assignment in hand;
-
seem like an expert despite no
prior writing experience;
-
benefit from the "secret" of
writing magazine articles;
-
avoid the 15 mistakes that can
harm your writing career;
-
send dozens of article pitches
each week;
-
and more...
What People
Are Saying About This e-Book:
"... a great tool for writers looking to
break into freelance writing. Mridu Khullar gives detailed and
professional advice and includes generous examples. This is a
must-have reference book on quality queries!"
- Shaunna Privratsky, author of Pump Up Your Prose (http://shaunna67.tripod.com)
"[Mridu] went into great details outlining every possible
way for a writer to get his foot through the door of
nonfiction publication. This book is a must for anyone who is
contemplating writing a nonfiction article."
- Lea Schizas, Editor-in-Chief, Apollo's Lyre (http://www.apolloslyre.com)
About The Author:
 Mridu
Khullar is a full-time freelance writer and has written hundreds of
articles for magazines and other online publications. Some of her
recent credits include Writer's Digest, Byline, Freelance Market
News, Wedding Dresses, Yahoo!, New Woman, Business World, College
Bound, Next Step, Senior Connection and Woman This Month.
She is also a contributor to the best-selling Chicken Soup for
the Soul and A Cup of Comfort series.
Mridu is the editor-in-chief of
www.WritersCrossing.com, a free online magazine for
freelance writers, which reaches people in over a dozen countries.
Inside the e-Book
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Idea Factory
- 10 questions that generate unlimited article
ideas
- A day in the life of...
- Brainstorming for ideas: 11 fail-proof
techniques
- Finding a perfect fit for your target
magazine
- Ready-to-go ideas
Chapter 2: On the Market Hunt
- The markets: what's your scope?
- 11 free and almost free resources
- Where to spend your hard-earned cash
- What if a magazine doesn't publish
guidelines?
- 4 ways to find magazines you've never heard
of
- How to organize your markets
Chapter 3: Know Thy Market
- 7 questions that help determine a magazine's
focus
- Deciphering the demographics
- What to look for in a media kit
- The importance of the editorial calendar
- 5 tips for studying a magazine you've never
set eyes on
(for international writers)
Chapter 4: Schmoozing for Quotes
- What comes first: The query or the expert?
- 8 ways to hunt down the experts
- 8 ways to find profile subjects
- Hooking up with celebrities
- How to make a source open up to you
- E-Interviews
- Cleaning up the quotes
Chapter 5: Pieces of the Puzzle
- 7 ways to attract the editor's attention
- A step-by step outline of how to craft a
query letter
- Everything you need to know about clips
Chapter 6: Get the Oomph
- 8 factors that make your query stand out from
the crowd
- Digging up the dirt: researching on the
Internet
- The "secret" of writing magazine articles
- A note on overstuffed queries
Chapter 7: Off they Go
- Formatting fundamentals
- All about e-mail
- Free e-mail addresses: do they cut your
chances?
Chapter 8: The "Other" Types of Queries
- The one-sentence pitch
- Multiple pitches
- Complete submissions
- Querying for a column
- Querying for reprints
- Answering general "writers wanted" ads
Chapter 9: Hit or Miss? Pitch Blunders to Avoid
- 15 mistakes that harm your career
- When not to follow writers' guidelines
- Page count: Is one enough?
- How not to be a fact-checker's nightmare
- Why "I can complete this article in two
weeks" works against you
- What's the deal with simultaneous
submissions?
- To follow-up or not to follow-up?
- Why to get personal with an editor, and how
- Deciphering an editor's "signals"
Chapter 10: 5 Queries a Day?
- Is it possible to write 5 queries a day?
- When you simply CANNOT adopt this routine
- 10 ways to send 5 queries-- daily!
Appendix A: Just the Freelancing Facts Ma'am
Appendix B: Sample Query Letter
More Reader Testimonials
"Your section on, coming up with ideas, is
invaluable. Your instructions about what to look for when studying
the magazines are more detailed than anything I have seen. Your
information on doing interviews and getting expert quotes totally
demystifies the process; and of course the mechanics of writing a
query is exactly what I needed to present a polished professional
image."
- Pamela Hatheway
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