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Examples of Writing Query Letters

2012-02-21T15:19:00.002-08:00

By Lanee’ Blunt

A query letter is a detailed one page proposal of what you are intending to write.

When writing a non-fiction article never send the publisher a completed manuscript on speculation. They are only going to accept a query letter from you and if you send them your completed manuscript they will just put it back in the package and send it back to you rejected. The editor has to get a query letter.

Write the editors name and address in the upper left hand corner of the letter. Drop down two lines where you will write a subject line followed by a colon. Write the name of the story.

Make the query letter interesting. Express the freshness of your idea in the query. State what the research is and how you will use it in the story. Make the query interesting as if a sample of what the article is going to be. You are only selling an idea.

Make sure that on your query you know the editor’s name, and what type of stories that she buys. If you don’t know the editor’s name write story editor.

Your query letter should be one page. Keep at least 10 queries in the mail until you receive a go-ahead. Give the editor a chance to decide if they want you to write the article before sending it to another editor. Send a different query to each magazine you can not send out simultaneous queries of the same article. If you receive a rejection send that query to another publisher on your market list. Include a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) so you can receive an answer to your query letter. Send a SASE with all of your query letters.

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Developing Characters for your Novel

2012-02-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

By Lanee’ Blunt

A novel is made from many parts and if you look at it like that it is easier to create your characters. Start with a notebook and write down everything in the notebook about your characters. Describe each of your characters a character sketch.

Name all of your characters. Give your protagonist and the antagonist a name. What do they look like? Where did they go to school? How does the protagonist dress, and where does she live? Take each character separately and pick them apart. Is the character an only child, or does he have siblings. What are the names of the siblings? You will find yourself understanding the novel much better than you did with just an outline.

For each of your major characters they should all have an outline or summary. Start with the background where did they go to school? What is their early childhood experience, marital status, financial situation? What does your character want? What drives him? How does he handle obstacles? How did he spend the week before the story begins? These are some of the questions you can ask.

Don’t worry about getting your sentences perfect or if you have used the right grammar. The sketch is a place for your imagination. Think about your character as a real person and imagine what they are like. What kind of student was she? What are her early childhood experiences? What is her occupation? What year was she born? Background information leads to motivation because early experiences may have forced her to do what she is doing.

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Writing a Query Letter

2012-02-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

By Lanee’ Blunt

Most new writers believe that once an editor sees their story, then a query letter is not necessary. That’s simply not true. It sometimes seems impossible for a new writer to break into one of the major magazine markets. If you want to sell your article to a publisher you must have a query letter. Your query letter is all that an editor sees so gain their confidence by writing a good query and then write an excellent article.

The purpose of the query is to sell the idea to the editor about your manuscript. Make the query letter interesting by doing a small amount of research. If you were to write the whole article you would have a lot of research, but with the query your research will be minimum. Express the freshness of your idea in the query.

Editors want to know if you can write and if you have what it takes to get the facts, whether you are reliable, and can meet a deadline. A new writer may not have published credits, and that is only a minor problem, because you can tell the editor about how you’re qualified for writing the article. In the query tell the editor what you will provide and where you will get your sources.

Demonstrate your excellent writing skills. Avoid typo’s and grammar mistakes. Rewrite your query letter making sure that you have a tight letter to send to the magazine. Make sure that you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your query (SASE).

Reference:

Gordon Burgett; Sell & Resell Your Magazine Articles; Writer’s Digest

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How to Create a Character for a Novel

2012-02-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

By Lanee’ Blunt

Writing a novel is complicated. A character sketch seems like a waste of time to some new writer’s and they want to skip this step and move on to writing the novel. A novel is made from many parts and if you look at it like that it is easier to create your characters. Start with a notebook and write down everything in your notebook about your character.

What is a Sketch?

“A character sketch is a word outline, a preliminary study of a person, drawn from life experience, that you’d like to use in your novel,” according to Robert J. Ray, in his book, The Weekend Novelist. A character sketch should be written on all of your main characters, the protagonist, antagonist, and major characters.

Character Motivations are Important

Know the motivation of your characters. If you have read a story before and felt like you didn’t care or understand a character, the writer has failed to give a clear motivation. This makes you feel cheated when reading the novel. Avoid this by sketching your character’s motivation before writing the novel. Motivation is what makes us have empathy with the character and helps us to care about what happens to them.

Background

Ask yourself questions about your characters background. What happened to him in his childhood that shaped him today? Did he have a difficult past? Has he been married before? Where was she born? How many siblings does she have? Where did she go to school? Background information leads to motivation because early experiences may have forced her to do what she is doing.

Reference:

Robert J. Ray; The Weekend Novelist; Dell

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Writing a Query Letter for an Article

2012-01-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

By Lanee’ Blunt

Writing query letters is important to learn and master. They are important because they keep you out of the slush pile. One advantage of using the query letter is that it takes your manuscript from unsolicited to solicit. You don’t have to write the full article until it is requested by a magazine publisher. If the manuscript is requested there is no guarantee that it will be sold, but only that they will read it.

Read the magazine that you want to appear in. Read at least the last six copies of the magazine. Your query will be turned down if the editor has just bought the article that you are querying. So it’s best to know what type of articles they have recently purchased from freelancers.

The query letter is only an idea. You will do enough research for the query letter to prove to the editor that you know something about the subject. More research will be done when you finish the article. Have an original and interesting idea. Express freshness to the approach of a subject. Leave nothing out including how that article will end. Tell the editor where you will get your research, facts, and people you will interview.

Have you been published before? For example, I have appeared in several magazines and state the name of the articles, publication dates, and where you have appeared. If you are a new writer don’t mention it because if you can write you might still get a go ahead. Tell the editor how you are qualified to write the article.

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