Query: Women’s Health & Fitness

This was my first and only assignment with this publication. I never received a copy and the magazine soon went out of business. So if you have a copy lying around from September or October ‘05 or know where I can find back issues, please let me know.

As for the query, some of the things that make it work include:

* The words Harvard study in the title. Look editor, I have proof!
* Thorough research, and new tips.
* A counter-intuitive approach. Instead of how to lose weight, I’m telling you how to not gain weight.

**

Dear [Name of Editor]:

If you’ve been eliminating fats from your diet, it’s likely to result in weight gain! These findings by a 12-week Harvard School of Public Health Study prove that low-fat diets are probably the reason you’re not losing weight, but gaining it. In fact, in order to lose weight, you need to increase your consumption of good fats (monosaturated or polyunsaturated).

The lack of fat in your diet may also be the reason why you’ve been so stressed and frustrated lately. This was proved by an American study at Bowman-Gray University in which scientists separated monkeys into two groups. The first group received a regular-fat monkey diet, while the second group received a no-fat monkey diet. After a period of time, the monkeys eating the normal diet behaved like normal monkeys-playful and active, while the monkeys on the no-fat diet became agitated and violent, with some monkeys nearly killing each other.

However, women frequently make the mistake of eliminating fats from their diet and end up causing more harm than good. And that’s not all they’re doing wrong.

In my article “Diet Not Working? 10 Food Mistakes That Make You Fat” I’ll talk about many such follies that even smart dieters fall prey to. For instance,

* Giving up your favorite foods: “When you’re turned on by food, you turn on metabolism,” says nutritional psychologist Marc David. In fact, research shows that if you eat a chocolate ice-cream cone with complete delight, the hypothalamus sends out signals that stimulate a fuller metabolic breakdown and more efficient calorie burning than if you feel guilty while eating it. So instead of feeling bad every time you touch the cheesecake, enjoy it.

* Skipping meals: Next time you’re tempted to skip a meal, don’t! Your central nervous system interprets such behavior the same as if you were under threat and initiates a fight-or-flight response. It assumes that it needs to start storing fat, hence reducing your metabolism and the ability to burn calories.

* Staying busy to avoid the thought of food: You should be doing the opposite! The best way to jump-start your metabolism each day is to think about and plan for each meal and snack. When it’s time to sit down for a bite, take time out of your busy day. Don’t eat while working or engaging in other activities that occupy your mind. Concentrate fully on enjoying your food and that’ll speed up your digestive efficiency by up to 30%!

Marc David, nutritional psychologist and author of The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy & Weight Loss has already agreed to an interview and I will be contacting other nationally-recognized experts and authors as well.

As a full-time freelance writer, I’ve written over 200 articles for over a dozen national publications and several regional magazines in countries such as USA, Australia, England, India and Bahrain. I’ve also contributed articles to several known US-based and online publications including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Writer’s Digest, Wedding Dresses, College Bound and Senior Connection.

May I write “Diet Not Working? 10 Food Mistakes That Make You Fat” for you?

Very truly yours,
Mridu Khullar

Query: Girls’ Life

Small story before I give you the query. I first contacted GL with feature ideas, two of which the then-editor rejected. She did, however, like my style of writing and send me three copies with marked up pages and notes of what she’d like to see from me. She also sent me a sample query letter that another writer had sent her. The editor left the magazine shortly after and I didn’t pitch them again for a while. I did, however, study the pitch and the magazines thoroughly, and subsequently sent the following query to another editor several months later. Which was accepted, obviously, or I wouldn’t be posting it.

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Dear Ms. [Name of Editor]:

Do your buds come to you when there’s a need for gossip or are you tightly zipped when it comes to sharing other people’s secrets?

Finding out who the hottest guy in school is crushing on can be super cool, right? But are you the type of friend your buds can trust with their secrets or do you toss and turn at night wondering how many people you’re going to tell in school the next day? Read on to know your secret-keeping quotient.

I’d love to write the quiz “Can You Keep a Secret” for you. With real-life situations specifically suited to GL readers, it’ll help them figure out how they rank in the secrecy department.

I’m a full-time freelance writer and have written for [details of previous work]. Clips are included below.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.>

Have a great day!
Mridu Khullar

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The resultant quiz:
http://www.girlslife.com/index.php?id=295

Query: Writer’s Digest

By popular demand, I’m going to start sharing some of my successful query letters.

(I appreciate all feedback, positive or negative. If there’s something you would like me to talk about on this blog, please do let me know. We have readers from about 50 countries, and sometimes, I don’t know which topics would be the most popular. Also, if you leave comments, you’ll get good karma. )

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Dear <Name of Editor>,

As a new freelance writer almost two years ago, I didn’t like the $4,000-a-year freelance writing income statistics I saw. Determined to make a good living from the freelance business, I decided to target markets that would give me a higher pay-off for my words. I targeted international markets, leading to my first assignment from an Indian magazine, my second sale to a newspaper in the US, and my third published credit from a start-up in Australia.

Today, even though my main markets are located in USA, Canada and England, I continue to sell reprints to various other countries, netting me a lot of extra cash for no additional work done. This has not only increased my bottom line, but also opened up a host of new markets for my work. The “international writer” tag helps too.

Or take the case of US-based writer Michael Sedge, who’s had over 4,000 published articles and 21 books in print. The king of reprints, Sedge is known for selling his articles across the globe. “If a writer knows how to manage his rights, it’s a great way to expand potential markets,” he says. His advice is to make your international sales a marketing, and not a writing effort. He constantly “makes up” rights, such as First English Language Rights in Japan.

Interested in this piece for your “Breaking In” department? I’ll include advice from respected freelancers such as Sedge, and editors from countries outside the United States. I’ll outline ideas and advice on maintaining a solid income from your international freelance efforts, such as:

· Consider the time factor: If two years ago, you made 500 Euro for an article, it would come to be around $420. Today, that same amount is worth $625. So, it’s wise to focus a great deal of effort on European markets, which will pay more for your dollar.

· Make it a marketing effort: Sell what you’ve already written. Tune up your queries to meet the needs of markets, and send out three or four international queries per week.

· Keep track of your rights: Never sell “all rights”. Instead, make up some of your own. You’ll probably need to fine-tune the pieces to suit the particular country’s audience, but it’s still worth the effort.

I’d love to write this article for you. As you may remember, I’m a full-time writer with a range of international writing experience. Some of my recent credits include <details of my published work>.

I look forward to working with you and providing quality content for Writer’s Digest.

Have a great day!
Mridu

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The resultant article:
http://www.mridukhullar.com/portfolio/international-writing.html