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.
