Query Properly

Freelance writing

How to query properly?

To become a freelance writer and write for magazines it is best to do your research. Have a look in the writers and artists yearbook or writers market and look at which magazines interest you. Always take into consideration the submission guidelines for each magazine as each magazine is different and take a look at that website to get a feel for the magazine.

There is no need to write the article prior to pitching this to the magazine as the magazine will commission you to write the article. To write a query letter or email it is best to include the address of the magazine, your contact details and the editor’s name. Start with the title of the article and a synopsis of the article and really go into detail about the article as this will really sell the article to the magazine.

It is ok to send the same query to various magazines but it is always important to make sure that each magazine is published by a separate publishing house as this maybe the reason why your query is rejected. As each magazine has separate guidelines for submission I always approach the magazines that pay on acceptance not publication as the publication can be in six months or even within a year and also offer a kill fee so that my time is not wasted on writing this article but even if it is I can always pitch this article to another magazine.

I think about ten to twenty queries per week is enough article queries within the week that can secure some writing work.