If you plan on submitting an article for publication, the query letter is your new best friend. Written more frequently than any paying piece, this short letter is your chance to shine to the editor. In this newsletter, we are going to discuss the various parts of the query letter and ways to make them most effective. While I'll caution that, thus far, none of my queries have gotten me published, I can also promise that in my obsessive-compulsive mood, I have put a great deal of research into the subject.
Header
Most articles I have read recommend a simple header. I recommend your name, address, phone number, and email address. Mine is centered at the top of the page in 10 point, Times New Roman font, bold. Other options, if you are actually making money, is to invest in letterhead. Most articles I have read caution against a logo or images of any sort. While it might look good for a Writing.com sig, it seems to scream "amateur." Keep it simple. Also, I recommend you take a moment to visit the Post Office (www.usps.gov) and look up the four-digit extension to your zip code, which you should use on all SASEs. This seems to speed up the mailing process, and could shave time off the long, drawn-out wait for a response.
Quick note: For email queries, I do not use a header, simply because it doesn't look right at the top left, and I've yet to find a standard way to center or right align it for email. Rather than look foolish, I include it at the bottom, under my "signature". Thus, my ending reads (with / equaling a line break): Scottiegazelle/ scottiegaz@writing.com/1234 Peachtree St/Atlanta GA 12345-6789/770-123-4567
Date
I also recommend including the date at the top left, one line above the address of your editor. This will help the reader know when the letter was sent, and keep them in a rough time frame for responding.
30 June 2005
Address
This is where you put the editor's mailing address. How, you ask, do I find this information? The easiest (but not always most correct) method in the United States is to look in your most recent Writer's Market (also available at www.writersmarket.com). Here you will find names, addresses, phone numbers, and often web sites for a large number of fiction and nonfiction magazines.
What if you don't have access to Writer's Market? Check the magazine! Frequently, addresses and phone numbers will be listed in teeny tiny print near the front, with all the editors names. Use a magnifying glass and search it out. Another option is to check the website. Frequently, you kind find important information in the "About Us" or "Contact Us" section (sometimes you can find Writer's Guidelines here, as well).
Once you have the editor and the address, should you slap it on an envelope? Not necessarily. The next best step is to take the phone number listed (or look on the website to obtain it) and call the office. Then, take a deep breath, and tell the operator, "Hi, my name is ScottieGazelle, and I'm a freelance writer. I would like to submit a query letter to your _____ department (or for the _____ section, or as a feature/short story), and I wanted to confirm which editor I need to send it to. Here, you may be told that the editor listed has moved away, been fired, or is really not the query letter type. I also like to take advantage of the moment to ask, "Does (s)he prefer to be queried by regular mail, or is email better?". Sometimes, a heretofore-unknown email address will surface. This is also a good time to ask, "And of course, I assume Jennifer is a woman." With some of those names, you never know (so says a woman 'named' Scottie).
Story Master, Features Editor
Writing.com Magazine
1234 Story Lane, Suite 567
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 12345-6789
Greeting
Never, never, never take liberties with an editor, with the possible exception being if they were already your best friend. Never greet them with "Wassup?", never call them by first name, never give them random nicknames ("Jen" for "Jennifer", "SM" for "Storymaster", etc). Remember that your query letter is a business letter, and treat it accordingly.
Never assume "Ashley" is a woman, or "George" is a man. If you have confirmed on the phone (see previous section), then "Mr. Storymaster" is okay. However, don't assume marital status. Apparently, some female editors get upset with "Ms.", which boggles me since I was always told it could represent either.
Dear Story Master,
First Paragraph
No matter what you are writing, your first paragraph must grab the editor's attention quickly. After all, most editors go through a large stack of query letters each month. Make yours stand out. I like to start with the first paragraph of my proposed story (or a similar one), since in both fiction and nonfiction both, you must be interesting enough to prompt someone to keep reading.
Never never never start with any of these lines:
I have written an article/story