Guest Post: Building Your Writer's Resume with Published Clips

by Priscilla Y. Huff

Before approaching editors and/or publishers with an articles or book ideas, you should have garnered several published pieces or “clips” that demonstrate that you are qualified to write a coherent sentence or two.

What if you do not have any published samples of your writing?

Here are eleven suggestions:

Write a feature for your local organizations’ or clubs’ or college’s publications. Most organizations have regular newsletters for their members and usually welcome contributing writers.

Write press releases for your local library’s showcase of crafts or events.

Volunteer a column. As an amateur naturalist, I volunteered to write a monthly nature column, with photos and with related Bible verses for my church’s Sunday school newsletter.

Write a blog based on your profession and/or interest.

Enter writing contests.

Write a “Letter to an Editor” for a well-known magazine or newspaper.

Contribute how-to tips to publications’ featured departments.

Look for on- and off-line small literary publications that welcome new writers to add a story or non-fiction piece.

Write a web article for a person’s web site or a “guest” contribution for a person’s blog who is in your professional network.

Write reviews of products, books, movies, or other items for related Internet forums.

Build or do it and feature it. Bake or make a recipe, craft, or project from plans offered in a magazine. Photograph you and your completed task and send it into the publication with a written description.

Note: Keep a list of the Internet links of any of your posted published pieces for editors’ quick online reviews. These are just a few of the many ways to get those first published clips that will help you get that paying writing gig or book contract. Photocopy and print them out for your own portfolio.

Happy Writing!

Guest Post: Does Your Holiday "To-Do" List Include a Query?

by Priscilla Y. Huff

As you cross off the items on your holiday “to-do” list of shopping, baking, and other related tasks, was “sending out a query” also checked-off? According to publishing insiders, the November-December holidays; and the summer vacation months are two of the best times of the year to approach editors about an article idea or a book proposal. The reason is obvious: writers are occupied with celebration preparations and/or traveling during these months, while editors are often left scrambling for new content ideas.

There is still time to send a query before the year’s end, but do not do it too hastily that you forget to include the query basics in your letters or e-mails:

*Attention-grabbing opening – “The Hook”

*Article summary details – “The Pitch”

*Why your article/book would interest the editor’s readers? - “The Reason”

*Why you are qualified and/or the best person to write this piece/book? - “Credentials”

If you really do not have the time now to write a well-written query, keep a paper and pen handy while wrapping presents to jot down proposal ideas for the New Year; and, of course, be thinking of queries for next year’s summer and holiday months.

Happy Holidays! Happy Writing!

Suggested Resources:

*E-book: QUERY LETTERS THAT WORKED! Real Queries That Landed $2K+ Writing Assignments by Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com

*Print book: The Writers Digest Guide To Query Letters by Wendy Burt-Thomas

*Article: “How to Write a Successful Query by Moira Allen www.writing-world.com/basics/query.shtml

Flickr photo by One Pretty Thing

Guest Post: 10 Steps to a Successful Query Email by Susan Johnston

[A Note from Sara: Every Wednesday in August, I'll be turning over the floor to a guest blogger who can share additional tips and thoughts on the writing life. I'm very lucky to have Susan Johnston, a Boston-based lifestyle/business writer and blogger, do the first post! Enjoy!]

Whether you want to write for glossy magazines or independent websites, you'll usually need to send a query selling the editor on 1) why their readers will want to read about a given topic and 2) why you are the perfect person to write the article. These days, most editors accepts accept queries via email, which means you that you'll sometimes hear a yay or nay very quickly. Just don't let the fast pace and informal nature of email ruin your chances of making a good impression.

Here are ten steps to ensure that your query is polished and professional.

1. Read the writer’s guidelines if they are available (you’ll usually find them under “About Us,” “FAQ,” or “Site map” on the website), but don’t limit yourself to publications that have guidelines posted online. If you can’t find guidelines online, you can email the editor or contact person listed to find out if they work with freelance writers.

2. Do a quick search to make sure that the publication hasn’t covered the topic recently. Many sites have a built in search function. You can also search within any domain using Google. Type in “article topic” site:domain.com and Google will pull up any pages on that site that include your article topic anywhere on the page. Try a few different variations of your topic’s keywords to cover your bases. If it's a magazine that isn't available online, many libraries have databases with extensive magazine archives.

3. Research the publication and read previous articles. Know what types of topics they cover and where your idea might fit in. For instance, in a query to Self magazine, you might write "let me know if this idea is a fit for 15 Minutes to Your Best Self." That way you’ve tipped off your editor that you know the publication and can (presumably) write in their format and style.

4. Write an eye-catching intro. “I’d like to write an article about X” probably won’t excite an editor. Craft your lede as if you were writing the actual article and want to grab the reader’s attention. Then explain why the topic is relevant those readers now.

5. Play up your expertise relating to your topic. If you don’t have any writing clips yet, don’t mention it in your query. You can find other ways to play up your background without admitting that you’re a newbie. For instance, “as a former science teacher, I am well versed in ...” Or, “Potty training is a topic that I’m intimately familiar with thanks to my three children.”

6. Use links to your writing samples instead of sending them as attachments (unless the guidelines specifically request attachments). Sometimes attachments get caught in spam filters, and many editors are leery of getting a virus from a writer they don’t know.

7. Always, always proofread before you hit send. Some editors will overlook a typo here or there if it’s an otherwise well-written, well thought out query, but major mistakes could send the message that you’re a sloppy writer (especially if you misspell the editor’s name!). Don’t rely on spell check.

8. Use an interesting subject line, but leave out words that scream SPAM! (For instance, “free” is a tip-off to a lot of spam filters and “I love you” was the subject line for a notorious email virus.) I often use this formula - Query: Name of Proposed Article. Then when I follow-up, I replace “query” with “follow-up.”

9. Follow-up. The timing of your follow-up will depend on the nature of the publication. If the writer’s guidelines say you should wait six weeks, then wait six weeks. If it’s a time-sensitive topic, you could follow-up sooner. When in doubt, I usually wait about three or four weeks, then resend with a short note reiterating my interest and including the original query as a forward.

10. Send another pitch right away if the editor rejects your idea but encourages you to send more pitches. Persistence pays.

SusanJohnston is a Boston-based freelance writer and blogger who has covered business and lifestyle topics for The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, DailyCandy.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, and many other publications. Want to know more? Check out The Urban Muse or follow her on Twitter.

Market/Idea or Idea/Market?

Should freelancers find a market and then try to come up with an idea for it, or develop the idea first and then find a market?

I do both (with mixed results), and I think most freelancers would say the same.

Sometimes I'll learn about a new market and try to think of ideas to pitch. I'll browse through the website and see what kinds of articles they use, hoping it'll give me some inspiration. I was browsing through one publication that deals with Renaissance faires. They had an index of stories (LOVE those! We need more indexes, please!), and I saw that they ran stories about Childbirth, and another about Marriage...what seemed like the next logical step? Why, death, of course! Brilliant! Sure enough, I sent in a query and the editor wants a story.

Or I'll get this idea and try to adjust it to suit a market. Again, I'll browse through the site to see if they've done something similar, then I'll work on the query and hope for the best. I tend to think big and often have to scale my ideas waaay down--again, I have mixed results. I often make lists of ideas and possible markets for them--it helps me stay organized, and then I don't have to obsess about getting the query done before I forget my brilliant idea!