Query me this, Batman Part 3
In the first two posts of this series, I hounded folks about the importance of getting all the pieces of the puzzle in place for the all important query letter. This third and final chapter of the query letter story will discuss the outline of the letter itself.
Now that you’re ready to go, let’s look at the elements of a successful query letter.
First Line: Today’s date
4 hard returns and then,
Editor Name, Title
Publication Name
Publication Address
Dear: Unless you are certain of gender, use the full name
First Paragraph:
If you’re going to sweat over any of the paragraphs in your query letter, it better be in this paragraph. This is the hook. This is the paragraph where you capture the interest of the editor and demonstrate a little of your writing style. Think of it as an excerpt of your article that contains the essence of the whole piece. It does NOT have to be pulled directly from your article but it should have the flavor. Remember that it is a hook, so make it sticky. Make it so lively and interesting that someone would HAVE to continue reading the rest of the letter. As if that’s not challenging enough, try and keep it down to two - four, short - medium sentences.
Second Paragraph:
Tell the editor what this article is about. Make certain that this is written from an angle that demonstrates you have read the submission guidelines and you are familiar with the publication and the readership. Brevity is important here. Remember you want to give a taste, not set up a buffett.
Third Paragraph:
Describe where and how you believe this article may fit in the publication. If you believe it fits in a particular section, outline why you believe so. This demonstrates again that you have done your home work and are familiar with the publication. Use this paragraph to put forth the anticipated word count and any ideas for possible side-bars. If you have photographs, let the editor know that in this paragraph.
Fourth Paragraph:
Yay me paragraph. Describe previous publications that have accepted your work. If you don’t have any clips then that’s ok. Don’t dwell on it, don’t plead and don’t beg. C’mon. Get off of your knees and stand proud. This query letter speaks for itself and gives the editor a fine feel for your capabilities.
Closing: Short and sweet. Thanks for your time and consideration, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Best, Regards - Whatever you like.
Your name
Address
Phone number
email address
That’s all there is to it. I know there are a lot of ways to skin this cat, but this format has garnered a positive response each time I’ve used it.
I hope you enjoyed this series. Query letters are very important and it’s important that you understand the concepts presented here. If you have any thoughts about what you think makes a great query, then comment and let’s start a discussion.
Cheap Shots
I’ll just start this post by saying that my only tie to Darren Rowse is that I occasionally post a comment on ProBlogger and Twitip. We’ve never conversed and he doesn’t know me from Adam. He’s a big boy and he’s been around so I’m sure he doesn’t need Tumblemoose to be his knight in shining armor.
With that said, as I was reading and commenting on blogs over the weekend I came across two separate blogs that had posts telling bloggers that if they wanted to increase their stats, then one of the best ways to do it is by targeting a negative post at Darren. Yes that’s right. They didn’t say, “Go after the biggies.” or, “Choose a high profile blogger.” No, they specifically encouraged folks to post something negative at Darren in order to rile him up and drive traffic to their blog.
That stinks.
I’m not going to point a link to those dregs because I don’t want to support or encourage that kind of behavior.
Now, understand I’m not saying that Darren or anyone else is above criticism. If you feel you honestly have a beef with ProBlogger or any other blogging site then I say start a conversation, get feedback, see if others feel the same. But, it needs to be in the spirit of resolution and it needs to be sincere and heartfelt. If you toss your barbed hook in the water just to see what you can “troll” in then I’ve not much use for you and I think it speaks to your character.
Without getting too new-agey here, I’ll say that when you participate in these kinds of antics you devalue yourself and it will come back to bite you. Sure, maybe you’ll drive up your numbers a bit for a period of time but the long term outlook for you and your site will be bleak. As it should be. It’s the equivelent of taking the lazy shortcut instead of doing an honest days work. Even if you “get away with it” how good could you possibly feel about yourself?
For me, the tortise wins the race. I’ll take the high road, thank-you-very-much. I’ll get to where I’m going and I’ll feel pretty good when I get there.
So, my question is: How about you? Have you done this type of thing before? Do you feel this is a legitimate path to build your base? Have you participated in these kind of antics and how did you feel afterwards?
Am I missing something? Do I need to open an account at Backbones R Us?
BloggerNewbie is in the House!
Tumblemoose is going to close out the week with a guest post from Dee over at BloggerNewbie. She’s got a great style and a unique voice. We’re happy to have her here. Enjoy!
Hello, my name is Dee Langdon and I am the author of BloggerNewbie dot com. I discovered blogging when I was searching for an internet business. I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and was one of the first three people in our area to get the internet. How old is that? I have always liked writing and in fact have been a paid writer since about the 6th grade. Most of my brother’s friends paid me all through school to write their papers! My first thought was to make money with blogging and although I still like that thought, this is just too much fun! I am envious of full time bloggers and aspire to be just like them when I grow up!
“Watch Your Tone Of Voice”
Do you remember that little lecture from your parents when you were a child? “Watch your tone of voice when you are speaking to me young lady!” It can be difficult to get your true tone of voice on the paper or screen when you write. Can you edit in your humor, your sarcasm or your passion?
More than one example?
I wrote a post titled - It’s All Relative - and to illustrate my point, I used money as an example but money wasn’t the entire message. Money was just an example. I had heard a quote that day about discussing money with different people who have different levels of financial status and it made me think that everything is relative - it’s ALL relative. Maybe I should have used more than one example?
Words are taken too literal sometimes. Any conversation where opinions are discussed can be debated because it’s all relative to the person or persons discussing the issue. Is it cold outside? There is no better sport than Golf, it is so much fun! Lobster is the best meal around. It’s all relative isn’t it?
Did my tone of voice determine that my whole opinion was based on money and not the true message? The message I was trying to convey - it’s all relative isn’t it?
Stress your point
I also started a discussion and voiced my opinion about the - Short Post vs Long Post - dilemma and hosted a poll for everyone to vote. I discussed both sides of the controversy and voiced that my opinion favors toward the short post in most instances. I also expressed that I like a long post when it is necessary. That is the key - necessary. I think my tone of voice must have conveyed that I really only like short posts.
So how do you speak in your tone of voice? We are all familiar with the obvious - punctuation, bold words, capital letters, quotes, italicized words, etc. Try expressing yourself by actually saying writing your tone.
This makes me mad, I am so excited, I know I’m sarcastic but this drives me crazy! I get so frustrated when …
You get the idea. What else can you do to speak your tone of voice in your writing? What have you had success with in the past?
Toodles - Blog Happy!
“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it,
I don’t feel I should be doing something else…”
- Gloria Steinem
Query me this, Batman Part 2
Welcome back. In the first post I discussed the importance of writing a good query letter and I hammered home (I hope) the importance of obtaining the 2009 Writer’s Market
Now that you’ve got your intended target in sight you essentially have one of two paths from which to choose. Which path you take is dependent to some extent on the information you found either in Writer’s Market or by reading the submission guidelines at the publisher’s web site. You can query by email or query/submit the manuscript via regular mail. There are other options but these are probably the most common.
Query by email
This is becoming a more and more popular way for an editor to receive your query. First and foremost, do not be fooled into thinking that just because you’re doing this in an email that the format should be any less formal then a regular letter. This means you start with the date, four hard returns followed by the name, title and complete address. Dear so and so is next, followed by the body, followed by the closing.
Some email pointers:
- Make certain you turn off your spam filter or specifically allow email from whoever you are sending your query letter to. See this great post from an editor. You want to read this. I’m serious.
- Include your contact information in the email, just as you would on printed letter.
- If the submission guidelines say “no attachments”, guess what? DON’T ATTACH ANYTHING! I can’t even believe I had to make that point. Put your stuff in the body of the email.
- Do not hound the editor. If the guidelines indicate a 4 - 6 week response time, don’t you dare email that editor until maybe 8 weeks have passed. The convenience of email is no excuse to not follow directions.
Query by regular mail
The first thing you want to do is to go read this post from an editor. While it is specific to submitting a novel, many of the points here are important for any query or submission.
Did you read the post? Good stuff isn’t it? See, stick with the Moose and I’ll get you to where you’re going.
Regular mail pointers:
- Every component of your mailed query is advertising for you and who you are. You cannot be too professional, you cannot be too perfect.
- The envelope is clean and crisp. Use a standard stamp (save your “Nuke the Gay Whales for Christ” stamps for your Christmas cards.
- I know you wouldn’t dare forget to include the SASE. If you’re submitting an entire manuscript and you’d like it back, make sure the envelope is the correct size with the appropriate amount of postage.
- If you are including the manuscript, do not bind it in any way. No fancy page protectors, no cute butterfly hole-clasps - nothing!
In the last post of this series, we’ll get into the specifics of the query letter itself. I’ll share the format that has worked for me every time I’ve used it.
I will NOT work for free!
I guess this topic about working for free has been building up in my blood for a little while and this morning the kettle finally boiled over.
I am a capitalist. Love it or hate it, it’s the truth. This is what I do for a living and I am not intending Tumblemoose Productions to be a non-profit corporation.
The straw this morning was an ad on Craigslist Alaska. I have a love/hate relationship with that site. On one hand I’ve found some great deals and have sold a few things there. On the other hand the Writing/Editing Jobs section is filled to the brim with scammer-spammmers. Now, I can handle the scam-spam. I can usually spot them a mile away. What gets my goat are the legitimate “opportunities” that want to squeeze original articles out of me for free, while they keep the rights. Here is the ad this morning that pushed me over the edge:
VMP Media specializes in providing online content for a wide variety of websites, blogs, print publications, ezines, and other venues. Currently, we are looking for dedicated, dependable freelance writers. Experience, while always helpful, is not reuired for these positions. As long as you possess a passion for the written word and have the ability to meet the minimal requirements below, we would like to hear from you. Writers should be able to provide a minimum of (2) 500-700 word articles per day, or a bulk total of (10) articles per week. These articles must be original material that has not been previously published on- or offline, and must be the original work of the provider. Any writer that submits material that does not meet these terms will be removed and will forfiet any payments owed by VMP Media. Payment rates will be determined on a per article basis, but will increase after the initial review period. Further details will be discussed with those individuals that are selected for the positions. To be considered for the openings that we have available, please send an email with your contact information and (2) original article samples that meet the requirements of the position (500 words minimum - original, unpublished content) to cl_openings@vmpmedia.com. Please note that all sample submissions will become the property of VMP Media, and may be used without compensation to the submitter.
Are you kidding me? Why would I do this? My work is valuable and it means something. With that said, I do have to give them credit. It’s a hell of a scam, right? I mean, if they get just 20 schmoes to submit articles, they have 40 decent sized articles to do with as they please and start making money.
As well, there is absolutely no mention of pay. Again, why would I give away my work for free only to find out later that I’ve been “accepted” and can now whore myself out maybe to get $40 for the 10 articles a week?
For any of you writers out there who would even consider doing such a travesty thing, DON’T DO IT! For the love of God don’t do it to yourself or to other writers. When you accept these kind of terms, you de-value every writer’s worth. Maybe, just maybe if writers would stand up and say NO!, we could all benefit.
Those of you who think this rant is over the top MUST watch this video. (Caution, virgin ears may be offended).
Let’s hear it. Are you one those “writers’ who go to bid sites and bid .05cents per word in order to undercut everyone and get the job?
Do you give it up for free?
