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The Holly Query

Your relationship with an editor usually starts with the query letter. She might like it and decide to assign you to the topic, or she might just decide that it is horrible and send it to the bin. Given their importance, writing queries can be scary.

Writing queries used to freak me out. I can’t say I am now in love with the process of querying, but at least they don’t scare or overwhelm me anymore. I realized that the hardest part of writing a good query, at least to me, is finding that awesome angle that will fit the magazine readers’ needs and wants correctly while managing to describe this angle in a compelling way in your query. Of course even if you think you got it right, there is the possibility that topic was recently snatched by another writer, and you were a little late.

The Query Is Only the Beginning

But let’s assume that you do know how to send the right kind of query, and let’s assume that you got the job. Congratulations, you’ve got one foot in the door. But now that you started a relationship, you need to work on maintaining a good one by delivering quality work on time, written, styled and formatted according to the parameters you discussed with the editor. And after you come through, sending a second query to that editor will be easier. The editor himself can even call you and ask if you want another assignment.

So you need to do your homework well, send the impeccable query, and listen to the editor.

So far, so obvious, right?  I mean did you really need to be told to check your grammar or not attempt a query before knowing your way around the magazine, and its writer’s guidelines?

What Not To Do With and After The Query- Editors Unleashed

But  apparently some writers do, otherwise Linda Formichelli’s Editors Unleashed would not have needed to cover so much ground with the editor pet peeves.

In this entertaining and informative e-book, she has talked to several editors about how some writers infuriate them during and after query.

But the beauty of this book isn’t that they only share writer “horror” stories, but also the good stories where the writer got and completed the assignment with grace and continued to work with the editor.

There are lots of resources on how to write successful queries, and Linda Formichelli’s free packet of 10 query letters that got her assignments is one of them. It can be obtained by subscribing to her free newsletter.  Formichelli is a successful freelance writer and the co-author of the bestselling book The Renegade Writer. She blogs on The Renegade Writer.

Editors Unleashed used to cost $6.95, but now it is the second free gift for subscribing to  The Renegade Writer. This ultra-useful book  covers query dos and donts as well as what attitude editors expect from writer once the query lands them the job.

Reading this book will help you:

1)      To  get noticed by the editor and land that assignment

2)      To build and maintain a good, on-going relationship with the editor

3)      To build and maintain as a professional, reliable and easy-going writer

4)      To laugh. Seriously, some writer behavior will make you laugh.

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Some Editor Pet Peeves- Inspired by Editors Unleashed

–          Queries with grammar mistakes and/or typos

–          Queries  that show that the writer has no idea about the magazine’s target audience

–          Queries that are far too long or far too short

–          Queries that are vague

–          Generic queries that could be sent to any magazine and yet would appeal to none

–           Queries that have the magazine’s and/or the editor’s name wrong

….

I’m sure there are more, but you get the point. While some of these are very obvious and takes a little effort on the writer’s part to get rid of them, getting the idea just right can be very tricky. To craft a query that is interesting, engaging and with a slant that hasn’t been done before is a challenge writers face all the time. But by paying attention to the tips in the book, we can transform a frustrating challenge into an activity that comes naturally to us. and getting more and better assignments as a result.

Editors, are your experiences with writers?

Writers, how are you managing the querying process I’d love to read your experiences, both positive and negative.

 Recommended Reading:

7 Great Query Letter Resources: A List of (E-)Books, Articles and Blog Links

  10 Things You Need to Do After You Sent That Awesome Query Letter