I decided to write a new Letter of Introduction last week, since I was bored of the one I’d been using for the past year, it hadn’t really brought in any results, and I felt that my personality didn’t really come through.

I wanted a Letter of Introduction that sounded confident but not arrogant, that listed my accomplishments without apologizing for them, and that told editors what I was really interested in. I didn’t want to bother being the writer who’d write anything. I said in my LOI that I focused on two main issues, and if they’d like to hire a writer for those, I was their gal.

Well, what do you know. Not only did it work, it worked tremendously well. I received eight responses asking for ideas (a 50% rate so far). Of those, I found, some editors were low-paying. I’ve sent ideas to the others and already received two assignments. Not bad.

Part of writing this LOI was knowing that I had something to offer. For a while now, I’ve avoided marketing because selling myself is not something I’m completely comfortable with. When I can avoid it, I do. And I did.

But this whole incident has reminded me once again how important it is to tell people what you’re about and where your passions lie. If you don’t find them, how will they hire you?