Now that we’ve made it past the preliminaries (still with me, aren’t you?), it’s time to get down and dirty with the real thing. Your actual query letter should convince the editor that:

a) you’re familiar with the publication, that is, you know who you’re dealing with
b) you’re familiar with the topic, that is, you know what you’re talking about

Studying the magazine helped you familiarize yourself with the publication, talking to experts helped you get information.

Now we write the query.

The trick is to look at your query letter with distance. At the very least it’s a formal business proposal, at most it’s a personal letter describing something you feel should be written about. Usually, it’ll fall somewhere in between.

Let’s take it from the top.

***

For Name’s Sake

When writers would send me pitches for WritersCrossing.com, they would often misspell my name. Sure, it’s a tough one to spell, I’ll give them that. But you know something? It’s disrespectful.

But let’s forget that for a minute. If a writer gets such a small detail as an editor’s name wrong, what else is she going to mess up? Will she tear apart a source’s name too? Will she give me incorrect facts that I’ll have to spend hours checking and re-checking? Will she miss deadlines, refuse to do revisions and be a freaking pain in the backside?

If I, a website and newsletter editor, had such concerns, think of those poor souls who handle submissions for national magazines. Just how soon is that editor going to sentence this writer’s query to the virtual trashcan?

Get the name right! All it takes is a phone call and two minutes of your time. Put a call through to the publication’s office, ask for “Editorial” and introduce yourself as a freelance writer. You can find out which editor handles the section you’re interested in writing for, and whether or not they accept pitches. Ask them to spell it out.

Or better yet, if possible, get the latest copy of the magazine and look at the masthead. (Services like www.mastheads.org are good, too.)

Oh, and when you call? Have an idea ready.

You don’t want an editor to pick up the line, say “Tell me your idea,” and have no words coming out of your mouth. Many writers have landed big assignments this way and it would be a shame to lose a perfectly good opportunity for lack of preparation. Have a short 10-second pitch ready.

Finally, confirm the editor’s gender. The photograph on my homepage is a dead giveaway, but if I had a nickel for every time a writer’s assumed I’m male, well, I’d be richer.

Here’s how I address my queries:

Dear Firstname Lastname:

See how I intentionally missed out the whole Mr./Ms.? That’s fine. Most editors won’t notice, and if they do, they won’t have a problem with it. However, get it wrong, and they’ll both notice and have a problem with it. Also note the colon at the end. Since this is formal proposal, stick to proper business format. (I usually drop the comma the same time I drop the last name.)