A Writer\u2019s Guide to Magazine Articles for Book Promotion and Profit. <\/em><\/p>\nMany freelance writers (and authors) are intimidated by the query letter. Here\u2019s an excerpt from Class #4 of the Article-Writing course:<\/p>\n
5: The first paragraph: You can either state your intent in the first line or start with an attention-grabbing statement. For me, it depends on the topic and the magazine. For example, I might write, \u201cI\u2019d like to propose an article featuring three artists who have made it big on QVC.\u201d Or I might say, \u201cMillions of artists sell their work, but few ever hit the big time on QVC.\u201d Or, \u201cWhat do Marcy Young, Toa Chang and Carmen Sanchez have in common? They\u2019ve all made over $50K selling their wares on QVC.\u201d<\/p>\n
6: Give a brief synopsis of your article. In a paragraph or two (at most) describe your article idea. You want to be succinct, but make it interesting. Include the content, slant, examples of some of the information you\u2019ll use or points you\u2019ll make and mention the experts (or others) you plan to interview. In this section, you\u2019ll want to provide any important statistics indicating the number of people who might be interested in this topic. The editor might not know, for example, that one in every 3 households has at least one dog, or that there are 2,000,000 kids who are waiting to have a mentor. Help to sell the editor on your article by demonstrating a need for it\/potential interest in it.<\/p>\n
7: Give your projected word count. The word count should coincide with the particular magazine\u2019s guidelines. If their submission guidelines state that they publish articles of from 900-1200 words, be sure that your word count projection is within those boundaries.<\/p>\n
Let the editor know if you have a specific column or department in mind where your article will fit in. If you have studied the magazine, you know that they have a column called, \u201cMy Turn.\u201d Tell the editor that you would like him to consider your personal essay for his \u201cMy Turn,\u201d column. Column articles are usually shorter than articles for their main pages. So be sure to check the word count requirements for the column you have in mind. <\/p>\n
A Word About Word Count<\/strong>Wrong!!!! It would be highly unlikely, in this competitive climate, that an editor would love your article so much that she would publish 1,800 words where she has room for just 1,000. Nor would she spend time editing an article down\u2014not when she has numbers of good articles and a stable of writers who might love to receive an assignment to write on this particular subject. The best advice I can give you is to conform to the editor\u2019s requests and requirements. <\/p>\n
8: List your qualifications for writing this article. For a piece on raising feral kitten, I could say that I\u2019ve raised two feral kittens and I\u2019ve done quite a bit of research on this subject for myself as well as for articles published in Cat Fancy Magazine and ASPCA Animal Watch. For an article on how to write a book proposal, I might say, \u201cI\u2019m the author of 33 books and I\u2019ve written successful book proposals for most of them. I also teach book proposal classes and workshops, I\u2019ve worked with dozens clients on their book proposals and I\u2019m the author of books on this subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you had experience in this subject? What sort of experience? Do you know the individual you plan to interview? What is your connection? Why are you the best one to write this article? As I said in an earlier lesson, it\u2019s okay if the subject matter isn\u2019t one that you\u2019re familiar with. While you\u2019ll want to do some preliminary research before submitting a query letter, you might say, \u201cFor this article, I plan to interview Joe Schmo, author of Why Didn\u2019t I think of That? and director of Inventor\u2019s Anonymous. I\u2019ll also speak to several modern day inventors, including Alice Lake, who recently patented the spray nozzle that works even upside down; John Stanton, who came up with a new idea for recharging batteries and Eric Boston, inventor of the non splatter cooking oil.\u201d<\/p>\n
9: List your writing credits. I often tell writers, this is no time to be modest. However, if you don\u2019t have writing credits, I would suggest side-stepping this issue. Since this probably isn\u2019t the case with any of you, let\u2019s discuss how to present your writing credentials. What is the point of this section? To assure the editor that you can write (but your excellent query letter serves this purpose, too), to let him know that you are reliable and accustomed to meeting deadlines. I might say in my query letter, \u201cI\u2019ve been writing for publication for over 30 years.\u201d I might continue this way, \u201cI\u2019ve contributed hundreds of articles to around 300 different magazines. My articles have appeared in (I mention magazines similar to the one I am pitching. If I have written for this magazine, I mention it, as well). I am the author of 31 published books, including (and I mention those that most closely relate to the topic I\u2019m pitching).\u201d Sometimes I mention my affiliation with SPAWN, Toastmasters International, Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, Ojai City Historic Preservation Commission, Cat Writers Association\u2014or whatever organization I belong to that might apply to this particular topic.<\/p>\n
Should you mention your writing experience if it relates to business writing, blogging, writing a newsletter or writing in a genre or field very different from the type of writing required for this magazine? By all means, yes. You want to demonstrate to the editor that you can write, that you have a sense of follow through and that you are reliable (you are accustomed to meeting deadlines, for example). If you have not written for publication or presentation, rely more heavily on your expertise on the topic, your research and interview experience or abilities and your excellent presentation via your query letter. <\/p>\n
Question? PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I just got the schedule for the Carolinas Writers\u2019 Conference and discovered that I was mistaken about the program. It is a multi-track conference. But mine is a ninety minute slot. So I\u2019ve been busy writing a speech I can use for this event\u2014April 2\u2014and for the two-hour workshop I\u2019m presenting here locally on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t