Getting published begins with a query letter or pitch. If you’ve never worked with an editor before and have an idea for an article, no matter how long or short the piece, you must query for it.
A query letter is a specialized form of cover letter. It’s a solicitation or sales letter sent to a publication. But instead of selling something tangible (like bananas), it sells a story idea.
Before you send a query letter or pitch to any publication, first become acquainted with the publication. For example, if you’re interested in getting published in Men’s Health, you’ll want to read Men’s Health before you query the publication. If you were to send Men’s Health an idea on pap smears, no matter how good the idea is, it will likely get passed over.
The more time you spend studying a publication, the better prepared you will be to write a query that’s structured in a way that appeals to an editor at that publication. Robert Irion has had much success with helping his students land assignments at a number of large consumer publications. Here’s his advice:
“We look at several sample articles from a given publication in detail and look at the style points within those articles … so that when a young writer approaches a new publication for the first time with a story proposal, if they write that proposal in the style of that publication, they are much more likely to get an assignment, and if they submit the first assignment—the first draft—in the desired style, the editor will come back to them.
“Some of the style points that we look for [in the publication] are story structure; [the number of] paragraphs a typical story contains; the length of those paragraphs; [if] they have a short, sharp lede or ever use first person; [if] they use one source, two sources, three sources; the relationship between story length and source expectations; dispassionate, personal, playful puns; [whether the stories are] snarky; what units [of measurement] they use; [and] British spelling. We typically go back six to twelve months.” (In other words, Irion and his students typically review six to twelve months of back issues.)
With respect to journalism, snarky can mean “playfully irreverent.” For countless examples of snarky voices, check out The Onion, a satire news publication. For example, consider the following lede that deals with the very simple premise of a dog being walked by his owner on a leash:
According to neighbors living near local French bulldog Ruggles, the humiliation-loving canine apparently derives intense pleasure from being stark naked, clipped to a movement-constricting leash, and paraded around in public.
Witnesses say that Ruggles, who is reportedly totally shameless about his demented, anything-goes lifestyle, seemingly takes some sort of twisted glee in wearing a thick harness and walking around on all fours while being fully subdued by his owner, 34-year-old Brian Paulson.
Editors at many publications, including Esquire, Entertainment Weekly and GQ, love a snarky voice. Here’s an example of the snarky voice from GQ. It’s the lede from a tongue-in-cheek service article titled “You Named Me … What?”
Congratulations, your wife/girlfriend/au pair is pregnant! A little bundle of colicky delight awaits you mere months from now. And one of the great joys of this period of anticipation is brainstorming all kinds of kick-ass names for your offspring.
Keep in mind that when you write a query letter, it’s a formal letter (typically an e-mail) that begins with a formal salutation, and, if possible, should be addressed to the appropriate editor. (If two or more editors could accept your query letter, target the editor who is lowest in the editorial hierarchy. For example, choose an associate editor over an editor or editor-in-chief.) If you’re having trouble tracking down the appropriate editor, look at the masthead: a list found on the publication’s editorial page. Alternatively, you could turn to the Writer’s Market or a site like Mediabistro (www.mediabistro.com).
Today most query letters are sent as e-mails. When sending a query letter via e-mail, make sure to include a copy of the query letter in the body of your e-mail. Most editors are wary of opening attachments from unknown senders. Additionally, make the title of the e-mail informative, relevant, and catchy—as if it were a headline. In order to avoid the appearance of spam, you might want to specify “pitch” in parentheses and designate the department you’re querying. Of note, some publications allow you to submit a pitch through their websites.
Begin your query letter with an attention grabber: an interesting tidbit, a question, a humorous observation—whatever you feel grabs the reader’s attention. Many writers write the entire first paragraph of a query letter as if it were a potential lede, especially if they’re querying for a longer piece.
Margaret Guroff, features editor at AARP The Magazine, has had years of experience fielding query letters and has a reputation for being particularly attentive and responsive. Guroff states, “What you’re trying to do with a magazine query is give the editor a sense of what the story will look like. Beginning with an anecdotal lede that draws the editor into the story … you want to suck the reader into the query enough to get them tantalized, and then you can say a little more about what the story will actually be and why you’re the right person for the story.”
Holly G. Miller, a senior editor at The Saturday Evening Post, recommends that a query letter exhibit personality. “A query letter,” says Miller, “has to ooze personality. … It’s not good enough to be correct or even flawless. If it doesn’t have personality and color, it’s no good.”
The body of the query letter should expound on the idea you’re pitching. If possible, briefly provide factual information on the subject—you can even do so using a bulleted list. Explain the hook or why the story is newsworthy to a particular publication’s audience. Make sure the angle of the query letter is similar to the angle of other stories in the magazine itself. If you have potential sources, including people to interview and relevant journal articles, go ahead and list them. Furthermore, explain why you are the right choice for this story. In light of decreasing financial budgets at many publications, it may also be a good idea to offer to provide professional-quality pictures with the article. Securing pictures for your piece may not require that you actually take any pictures—simply contacting a media-relations specialist with a request for pictures may do the trick.
If an editor has never worked with you before, be sure to explain who you are and cite previous work. Refer a potential editor to your website and platform (see Chapter 15) for more information. You want to convince the editor she can trust you to do this piece based on your professional history. Finally, you should give the editor an idea of the planned length of the piece and how long it will take you to complete it. Editors have strict budgets, or space allotments, within a magazine and must be careful when making decisions about which articles to run.
Try to keep your query letter to 500 words (about one page double-spaced in Microsoft Word). Most editors receive several pitches a day, and an editor doesn’t want a query letter that’s several pages long. An editor wants to see that you can concisely explain your idea in an engaging manner. Don’t send a pitch that’s longer than the piece you plan to write! Some writers suggest that a pitch be no longer than 300 words, while other online publications have gone so far as limiting pitches to a mere 100 words!
When writing a query letter, be as specific as possible. Incorporate information and statistics from sources like journal articles, archival research, magazine articles, newspaper articles, census data, data from public polling (Gallup polls), and more. Oftentimes such work requires the writer to search through library databases and databases like LexisNexis and Google Scholar. In other words, a cursory Google search won’t suffice.
The tone of your query letter shouldn’t be cocky, sketchy, wordy, egotistical, intrusive, inappropriate, or careless. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep or otherwise mislead an editor. For example, if you know that you can’t interview a celebrity because his publicist declined you access, don’t promise the interview.
If you think there’s no way your story will be accepted until an editor sees it in its entirety, consider offering your query on spec. The term on spec is journalism jargon for a story that’s accepted by an editor only after it’s written in its entirety. In other words, if you were to offer a story on spec you would have to do all the work up front, tender a completed article, and hope that the editor accepts it for publication and thus pays you for it. More than likely, if the article is good and an editor has agreed to take it on spec, you have a good shot at getting it published. Nevertheless, you could end up doing a lot of work for neither recognition nor pay. Of note, pieces that are written as memoirs or first-person narratives are often so idiosyncratic that they must be offered on spec.
Sometimes you can establish a relationship with a publication without sending an initial query letter at all. For example, if you look through Mediabistro, you may notice that many reputable publications actually solicit freelance writers when they’re in need. Editors at these publications (blogs, magazines, and newspapers) will request a cover letter, resume, and writing samples, and if they like you, they’ll set up a phone interview. During this phone interview, they’ll explain their publication and the type of article they want, thus giving you an excellent understanding of their editorial needs. After explaining their needs, these editors will often ask you to send along a few query letters. Because these editors are requesting query letters, if your query letter meets their needs, there’s a very good chance you will land an assignment.
In many ways, when editors come looking for freelancers to house their stables, it’s like they’re offering you a job. Treat the opportunity with the requisite respect. Learn about the publication before you get on the phone with your potential suitor, and read through whatever articles are available. (Editors may send along clips to demonstrate what type of work they desire.) And don’t forget to ask good questions that will help you assess a publication’s editorial needs.
A big mistake some authors make is writing a query letter that’s better than the final product. This practice annoys editors to no end—sometimes enough for the editor to issue a kill fee and pay you a small amount of money to discontinue the assignment. In order to avoid this disheartening repercussion, strive to send in a completed article that’s at least as good or even better than your query letter!
Resist the temptation to concurrently query several publications with the same pitch using a “gang” query. Doing so can place you in an awkward and unethical situation: What happens if more than one publication accepts your query letter? Writing the same article for two places will result in self-plagiarism and possible legal wrangling. One way to avoid this dilemma is to query the same topic using different angles. For example, when pitching a piece on for-profit education, maybe one query letter could deal with the income generated by these institutions and another query letter could deal with attrition rates. Another way around this dilemma is to put an expiration date on the query. Write something like, “If I don’t hear back in two weeks, I’ll assume that your publication has passed on this story idea.”
Many new writers fear that an editor or publication will steal a pitch. Although it’s possible that an editor will steal your story idea or pitch, it’s highly unlikely. Even if a publication were to run an idea that you had queried about, it’s likely that either somebody at the magazine or another freelancer thought of the idea, too.
It’s tempting to think that getting a pitch accepted is based more on luck and connections than merit. The truth is that a strong query letter that’s on target always stands a good chance of getting accepted. When creating a pitch, it’s important to take your time and carefully consider the publication. Do your homework! Remember that pitching is not a numbers game. Taking a couple of weeks to create one or two good pitches is infinitely more productive than sending out a ton of subpar pitches. Remember that editors know a garbage pitch when they see one.
Another reason you don’t want to send out garbage pitches is because the rejection can wear you down and discourage you. This discouragement will likely cause you to quit sending out queries altogether—to stop trying. Avoid the despair of repeated rejection by doing your homework and sending out quality pitches every time.
When submitting a pitch, it’s important to be patient. It can take days, weeks, or months before an editor accepts your pitch and contracts you for a story. In addition, the lead time between when your pitch is accepted and when your piece is published may be several months. Don’t pester an editor about your pitch—doing so is an instant turnoff.
When possible, it’s a good idea to pitch a story rather than an idea. A story has a time line, conflict, main characters, story arc, and so forth. Make the pitch exciting, especially if it deals with people who are dynamic.
Keep in mind that it’s almost impossible for a newbie to land a full-length feature in a national consumer or major association magazine. Sometimes the best way to break in is to query for a short piece in a specific department. For ideas on which departments may be willing to entertain pitches, check out the “How to Pitch” features on Mediabistro.
Inspiration for story ideas can come from anywhere. For example, I sometimes write about medicine; consequently, I like to flip through the pages of recent issues of peer-reviewed journals like The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, and American Family Physician. Occasionally, I find newspaper or magazine articles that serve as a strong news peg or basis of a story. I also like to check out EurekAlert! for press releases that could serve as news pegs.
But the inspiration for a piece may be more mundane than the literature. For example, I once spoke with an editor who picked up a piece on middle-aged men who dye their hair. Apparently, the writer who queried had been inspired by rumors that President Obama may have dyed his hair. The editor picked up the piece because she liked the potential “shock” factor of the story.
Editorial calendars are remarkably useful when trying to successfully pitch a story idea to a prospective publication. An editorial calendar outlines the themes or topics that a publication plans to cover in coming issues. You can use an editorial calendar to figure out what types of story ideas to pitch or whether your story idea will match any publication’s future needs. Keep in mind that when sending a pitch to a publication, lead times vary. An online or weekly publication may accept query letters weeks in advance of publication whereas a monthly or quarterly publication may need several months.
There are several ways to get your hands on an editorial calendar. First, Media-bistro offers its members an Editorial Calendar Guide. The Guide covers about fifty publications, including Seventeen, Ebony, Shape, W, and Woman’s Day. Second, you may be able to find the editorial calendar for a specific publication online. Pull up the publication’s website, and try looking in the advertiser’s section. Alternatively, you could look in a publication’s media kit, which also contains advertising rates and demographic information. This demographic information can also prove valuable when trying to understand a publication’s audience. Third, you can always e-mail or call the publication’s media or advertising department and request a media kit.
A smart approach to querying involves pitching stories about holidays. Magazines have a long history of running holiday-related fare. Be sure to approach holidays in a novel way. For example, many companies dole out Christmas bonuses, but what would happen if, instead of a gift card or money, one company decided to give away golden retrievers? When querying for a holiday piece, be sure to send your pitch several months before publication. The lead time or time between green-lighting a query and publication is typically six months for larger publications, so if you want to write a Christmas feature, query for it in July.
Another smart approach to querying involves anniversaries. A good query letter can revisit a newsworthy topic on its anniversary—one year, ten years, fifty years, or even one hundred years after it occurred. Search the Web for reference materials to figure out when an anniversary will occur. For example, 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of the Iraq war. An enterprising journalist may query a piece related to the Iraq war—maybe on how Iraqis are faring ten years after the United States and Great Britain invaded.
According to the Writer’s Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing, “To snag an anniversary assignment, you’ll need three things: an interesting occasion, a unique angle, and pitch-perfect timing.” It also recommends two resources that are useful when researching anniversaries: the “On this Day” archive at The New York Times and a quirky book titled The Optimist’s Guide to History. Wikipedia also has a section titled “On this Day …” (Make sure to verify anything you pull off Wikipedia!)
One of the best ways to develop story ideas is to keep abreast of news, trends, press releases, and social media. Spend an hour each day surfing the Internet, and then read through a general-interest publication such as The New York Times. Doing so not only gives you a greater foundation of knowledge from which to develop story ideas but also introduces you to the writing of other authors. Remember, a good article writer is a voracious reader of books, magazines, blogs, and more.
Movies—especially documentaries—can provide fodder for a query letter. For example, in the documentary titled Something Ventured, which dealt with the history of venture capitalism, one of the final frames of the movie lists trends and state-of-the-art technology that could serve as bait for venture capitalists. The list includes holography, implantable electronics, quantum computing, gesture technology, eco-manipulation, cyber drugs, location-specific computing, smart buildings, robotic surgery, organ replacement, intelligent fabrics, and wireless energy. This simple list hints at dozens of story ideas for the tech or business writer.
You can also stumble on story ideas after reviewing quotations, maxims, idioms, aphorisms, memes, and so forth. These pithy statements often hint at more global, newsworthy, and interesting ideas. For example, the media had a field day with the song “One Pound Fish,” which was written by a Pakistani fishmonger intent on enticing people to buy his fish. After the song went viral, this lede from a syndicated article written by Sebastian Abbot played on the old adage “Give a man a fish … ”: “Muhammad Shahid Nazir is a testament to the age-old adage that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to sing about fish, his song will shoot up the British pop chart.”
When considering ideas for a story, it may be helpful to assume a contrarian perspective. Warren Buffett, a multibillionaire, made his fortune as a contrarian. He consistently invests in stocks that other people undervalue. For example, in 2011, Buffett invested $5 billion into the beleaguered Bank of America, and by 2013, the stock nearly doubled its value.
A contrarian will look at a story in a way that others would find counterintuitive or perverse; it’s the classic “man bit dog” story scenario. For example, stories about sexual abuse and clergy always make for media fodder because, although not as shocking as it once probably was, the basic premise is contrarian. No one expects that a religious figure—who is supposed to protect and advise the community—would abuse others.
In the wake of the financial crises of 2007 and 2008, Bitcoin, a form of digital or virtual currency, was introduced. The currency is neither backed by assets (gold) nor a central government (fiat currency), and Bitcoins are virtually untraceable and anonymous (which apparently makes them a perfect currency for dealing illegal drugs on the Internet). It may seem strange that anybody would take their greenbacks and turn them in for a potentially unstable virtual coin; nevertheless, many speculators who support the idea of currency that is immune to economic turmoil brought about by government and banking institutions bought into the Bitcoin craze, and in 2013 a bubble developed. This contrarian mindset—that people spend real money to purchase virtual money—made for great copy.
Here’s an idea for a story inspired by contrarian thinking. When most people think of 7-Eleven, they think “iconic American institution.” Lots of people associate 7-Elevens with the Slurpee, their flagship product, and—at least where I came from—many young people regularly spend hours loitering in the parking lots smoking cigarettes. But, however surprising this fact may sound, 7-Eleven is a Japanese company. It would be interesting to examine whether the idiosyncratic Japanese corporate culture has influenced employment practices at 7-Eleven.
Here’s a list of contrarian story ideas that made for entertaining copy:
Finally, remember that no matter how good you think a story idea is or how much time you put into it, some story ideas will never see the light of day. In other words, the story idea is unsuited for the audience of any prospective publication. Sometimes you need to cut your losses and move on. In business, there’s the idea of sunk costs—costs that can never be recouped no matter what the effort. Chasing sunk costs results in wasted time and wasted resources. Don’t waste your time with a pitch that can’t find a home—chalk the pitch up to a sunk cost, and move on. Alternatively, you could do the story and post it to your own blog or self-publish it.
Currently publications pay anywhere from about 50¢ to more than $2 per word. And although the practice is becoming increasingly rare thanks to financial constraints, larger publications may provide a budget for travel and incidentals. When starting out as a freelancer, don’t quibble about payment. Whatever a publication is willing to pay you is probably adequate. If you appear petty and ask for a few more cents per word, you may leave a bad taste in an editor’s mouth. Honestly, when starting out, your goal should be to get your foot in the door. That said, unless you are working on spec, make sure you get paid for your work, and never accept a paid assignment without a contract. Additionally, never send an editor a final piece without having signed a contract and an agreed price.
Savvy writers are sure to specify what rights they sell to an online or print publication if these things are not explicitly stated in a contract. When a writer sells first rights to an article, he retains the right to sell the article to other publications once it’s published. In other words, there can be a secondary market for the article. In fact, many writers have made considerable cash reselling stories. Publications that are likely to reprint an article and thus purchase reprint rights have audiences and circulations separate from the original publication. When a writer sells all rights to a publication, the writer can’t sell reprint rights. Syndicated columnists will sell their work using simultaneous rights, which allow various publications to publish the content at the same time. Other considerations to examine when selling rights are whether and what type of electronic rights you’re selling to an article and whether such rights cover a North American or international distribution. (Electronic rights refer to the publication of material in online form.)
Ultimately, pitching is difficult—no doubt about it. But there’s a silver lining to the process. Once you establish a rapport with an editor, the process of pitching a story idea becomes simpler and streamlined. An editor will come to trust your judgment and insights. But the seed for such a relationship is planted with a strong initial query letter.
To some extent, query letters are idiosyncratic and depend on the experiences of the writer. While researching for this book, I stumbled on advice from two different journalists that may connect with the reader.
At the Future of Freelancing Conference held at Stanford University in 2010, journalism professor and freelance magazine writer Jennifer Kahn shared her thoughts on query letters. Kahn’s been published in several magazines, including Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, and Wired.
Here’s a summary of some of her advice:
Some newspapers won’t entertain cold pitches. Nevertheless, understanding how to pitch a newspaper article can help any writer. Tom Huang, an editor at the Dallas Morning News, suggests that the writer consider the following list of questions:
Before I introduce two sample query letters, I want to present you with the assurance that I’ve done my homework and assumed the mentality of a true freelancer. Let’s imagine that I’ve researched and learned the style and intended views of a particular magazine’s audience. I’ve disengaged from all bias and preconception and completely abdicated myself to the voice, resources, and needs of the publication’s audience. I’ve taken veteran magazine writer Holly Miller’s advice to write for any audience.
Here is a query letter for a hypothetical magazine titled Alternative Healer.
The year was 1978. In the throes of an existential crisis, Roger La Borde walked away from all that he knew: his lucrative job as a recruiter at a prestigious oil firm, the comforts of the single-bedroom apartment that he rented in the wake of an unwelcome divorce, and his son whom he saw only on the weekends. La Borde made his way to Montana where he was adopted and educated by Gerald Red Elk, a Sioux medicine man and shaman. He spent the next three-and-a-half years of his life, which were Red Elk’s last, immersed in study. Shortly before Red Elk’s death, the medicine man bequeathed La Borde with a shaman’s pipe and moccasins beaded with their own unique design. La Borde would later learn that the beaded pattern on the moccasins symbolized what Red Elk knew all along: La Borde was destined to reenter the world as a shaman and healer.
Today La Borde lives in the mountains of Colorado and extensively travels the world (South Africa, Taiwan, Israel, France, and more), “facilitating” the healing process in others. In the process, he’s befriended Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Father Thomas Keating, and Swami Budhananda. La Borde is also a member of the Snowmass Interreligious Council, one of the world’s longest running interfaith dialogues, whose proceedings are chronicled in the book The Common Heart.
La Borde is probably best recognized for his ability to help coma patients. According to information found on La Borde’s website (www.shamansdoor.com), EEG researcher Dr. Edgar S. Wilson attributes La Borde’s ability to help people in comas to this unusual brain-wave activity. La Borde is often called on as a measure of last resort by family members desperate to see any improvement in a loved one. According to media reports and testaments from physicians, La Borde has helped several coma patients, including Australian musician Hans Poulson and internationally renowned helicopter pilot Peter Peelgrane. La Borde’s work with coma patients has been profiled by That’s Incredible, BBC Television, and others.
La Borde has lectured on healing at a variety of American hospitals and universities, including the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Wyoming. Furthermore, he has both allopathic and osteopathic admirers from across the country. In fact, should this pitch be accepted, I plan to speak with Dr. E. Lee Rice, a San Diego family-medicine physician and the CEO and medical director of the Life Wellness Institute. In the past, Dr. Rice has enlisted La Borde’s help as his own family healer after witnessing La Borde help one of his patients who was in a coma.
I’m interested in digging into this story further. Most of my information on La Borde is based on a preliminary interview with him and research I’ve done using his website as a resource, and I’d like to flesh out this story. (I drop-referenced a few facts but need to spend more time … ) I plan to write a 2,000-word article on La Borde and his work. I hope to speak with physicians, psychologists, spiritual leaders, people who La Borde has worked with, and more. I also want to consider La Borde’s work within the greater context of alternative medicine.
My name is Naveed Saleh, and I’m a freelance writer and editor. Please feel free to link to several samples of my work at www.naveedsaleh.com.
Sincerely,
Naveed Saleh
03/25/2013
Here is a second sample query letter for a hypothetical magazine titled Education and Community.
In 1994, Dr. Larry Johnson, a Texas A&M University reproductive-biology faculty member and veterinary-school researcher, was invited to give lectures to schoolchildren. One of his early lessons was on the “Health of the Respiratory System”; he used age-appropriate anatomical models as visual aids. His efforts were well received and soon flourished; thus, the Partnership for Environmental Health and Rural Health (PEER) was born.
Today PEER is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Members of PEER include Texas A&M professors and graduate students. They expose rural Texas schoolchildren to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics using various resources. They also train schoolteachers to promote learning in the classroom and engage in a variety of outreach efforts intended to inspire the scientists of tomorrow. PEER serves as an educational model that integrates the best of what Texas A&M has to offer with the mentoring and guidance needs of thousands of rural Texas schoolchildren, kindergarten through twelfth grade: a population that has fallen by the educational wayside in recent years.
I propose a 1,000-word feature on PEER that in part focuses on the interaction between university scientists and schoolchildren. I plan to interview Johnson and other members of PEER: Texas A&M faculty, Texas A&M students, and schoolteachers. I also want to speak with education experts and administrators to figure out whether PEER can be used as a blueprint for similar educational programs among other universities and school districts.
Please feel free to link to my resume and some samples of my recent work at www.naveedsaleh.com.
Sincerely,
Naveed Saleh
02/03/2011