Many of us are so desperate when we’re starting out, we’ll promise the world for a non-paid byline in a local newspaper with a circulation of fifty. I’ve been guilty of over-hyping my queries, too. One of my first queries to Woman’s Day (via e-mail, no less) promised a brilliant new twist on cancer prevention.

Foolish, I know.

I did some research online, located some high-profile experts and sent off my neatly-crafted query with the promise of interviewing a prominent author (who never responded to my four e-mails), tips that had never been featured in the magazine before (I’d never laid eyes on the magazine) and quotes from real people who’d used these techniques. Okay, you can laugh now.

Boy, was I glad that query never pulled through.

The first sign of danger is when you’re extremely anxious and praying that the assignment doesn’t come your way rather than the other way around. But more importantly, here’s why mine didn’t: the editor probably knew right away that I was new to the game. I had no similar clips, no major publications in my resume and yet, here I was proposing not only a tough article but one with all the bells and whistles. Ambitious maybe. But I wasn’t giving any evidence that I was actually equipped to be handling such a well-researched idea. The editor was wise. She never responded.

That’s not to say that I’m unprofessional. If that editor had taken her chances, she’d get an impeccable article with quotes and tips on her desk at sharp 9:00 a.m. two days before deadline, even if I had to travel to the other end of the world to get them. But she had no reason to believe that just based on my query letter.

Editors know how to distinguish hype from fact. If she’s working in a health magazine, there’s no way you’re going to give her health advice she hasn’t heard before. If you’ve just received a press release on the best foods to be eating to prevent cancer, she probably got it a week before you did. Keep the over-sell out. Pitch your topic and your idea, but don’t promise the world. You sure as heck can’t deliver it.