Hi guys -
One last assignment (other than the inevitable self-reflective essay) -- to write a query letter, a one-page sales pitch to the editor of a magazine. It pitches your article, and it's just as important as the article itself. So now that you've written your article for me (you *have* written it, haven't you?), it's time to read Chapter 2 of the "Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing" and send me a query letter. The handbook will tell you how.
If you've got a magazine in mind you'd like to sell your story to, address it to their editor. (But send it to me, at least for the course credit. I'll be happy to suggest changes to make it more saleable before you send it to an off-campus publication.) Otherwise, address it to me.
There aren't many hard-and-fast rules about query letters, but there is a definite psychology. Remember: It's a sales document, one you're using to sell your article. Keep it short. Showcase your writing skills. Demonstrate your professional skills. Remember the old advice to writers? SHOW, NOT TELL. It works. *Show* the editor what you can do for him. Or her.
Here's a common format that I like to use in my own free-lance writing. I'll outline it paragraph by paragraph, and copy below the query I used to sell my most recent magazine story to Dulcimer Players News:
FIRST GRAF: Get the editor's attention, and show why your article will appeal to the magazine's readers. Often this graf will sound like the lede of your story. Make it specific to the magazine. Show you've done your homework. (In the sample below, I said I'd been reading it. But I also referred to specific stories in back issues. It *showed* I'd been reading it.) I like to say very specifically something like, "I am offering (the story) for your consideration for publication." Again, it's a sales document and that's what salespeople sometimes call a close -- when you ask your prospect to buy what you're selling.
SECOND GRAF: Give your credentials. If you enclose your resume, mention it. In my letter, I also mention a conversation I had with one of the magazine's editors. There's more in the Writer's Digest Handbook. You can mention the research you did, any personal experience you have. Anything that demonstrates you know what you're talking about.
THIRD GRAF: This can vary. The Writer's Digest Handbook suggests you "showcase your skills and demonstrate some solutions. ... Explain what you can do to meet the magazine's editorial needs." I used mine to talk about artwork, file formats, etc. [the things that pros talk about], to demonstrate I'm a pro.
Let's make the due date for the queries -- for everything -- Friday, Dec. 10, the last day of classes. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to get back to me.
-- Doc
Here's my query:
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Subject line: psalmodikon article submission / attn dan landrum
Date: Sunday, July 11, 2010 7:58 PM
To: Dan Landrum, editor
Dulcimer Players News
From: Pete Ellertsen
Ralph Lee Smith says he got so excited when he heard from the folks who play a Nordic-American box zither called the psalmodikon, he nearly lost control of his car. (He was answering his cell phone at the time.) And he's had a couple of fascinating "Tales and Traditions" columns in DPN about them. I've been in touch with the psalmodikon folks, too, partly because the instrument comes out of my own ethnic heritage and partly because it's so much like the mountain dulcimer. So I visited their annual meeting in Wisconsin and started learning to play a psalmodikon. I've written an article and two sidebars from the perspective of a dulcimer player about the revival of interest in the psalmodikon, its historical background and the tablature used to play it. I've been studying back issues of DPN, and I believe the stories will be of interest to your readers. They are attached, and I am offering them for your consideration for publication in the magazine.
You may remember my work, because I had a historical overview of the Appalachian dulcimer and its European antecedents, called "Drones, Picks and Popsicle Sticks," published last year on the EverythingDulcimer.com website. I'm an old newspaper guy, recently retired from a full-time position teaching college journalism, and I'm looking for free-lance assignments. (My resume is linked below.) Stephen Siefert and I spoke briefly at the Dulcimerville workshop last month, and he suggested I contact you. When I got home, I started drafting a letter; the letter turned into an article, and the result is attached to this email message.
Attached as Microsoft Word files are: (1) a 1,950-word article on the revival of interest in the psalmodikon; (2) a 400-word sidebar on the tablature used to play the instrument; and (3) a 400-word sidebar on further reading. While pictures are embedded in the file I'm sending you, I can send you separate JPEG files in order to facilitate the editing process. The photos are mine, and the photocopies are from books in the public domain. If you're interested in incorporating a psalmodikon sound file for your CD, I'd suggest "Hils Fra Mig Deg Hjemme" for reasons explained in the text. The recording is available from Singsaas Music Ministries, P.O. Box 87, Hendricks MN 56136. If you choose to review it, I would be more than happy to write one and could turn one out quickly.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Pete Ellertsen
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