THE WRITERS BUREAU
STUDENT STORIES
"I had been a student of The Writers Bureau. Initially my articles were rejected and I thought there was no point in writing. But, I kept on sending different articles to the same magazines because I knew that my market research was right. One day the editor of a magazine wrote me an unusual letter saying, "Although we cannot accept your lengthy features, if you want you can work for us as a freelance news-journalist." Immediately I said yes to it. Thanks to The Writers Bureau I now work as a freelance journalist, and I have been fairly successful with it.
To add more, last year I wrote a book titled CLINICAL PHILOSOPHY, and it has become a Best Seller. Perseverance and tactics are the rules of the game. Every aspiring writer must remember this."
Charles P. Alexander, India.
"As a student of The Writers Bureau, I would like to share my success story with E-zee Writer readers.
Three months after starting the course I sold my first article to The Lady. Since then I have sold over 40 articles to publications including Writing Magazine, Writers' Forum, The People's Friend, Best of British, Freelance Market News and E-zee Writer itself and have been placed in three short story competitions. I enjoy regular commissions from several health and fitness e-zines and have successfully published my first e-book, The Writer's Secret Weapon, with Lulu.com. The Writers Bureau course taught me how to write for specific markets and showed me the correct way to approach editors."
Louise Dop, UK.
Charles is studying the Comprehensive course while Louise is a Journalism student – but the perseverance they share is the same! I always love to hear of how well our students are getting on so please feel free to contact us with your own success story. Simply email ezeewriter@writersbureau.com with 'Success Story' in the subject line.
FREELANCE MARKET NEWS
an essential guide for freelance writers
For up-to-date market information, Freelance Market News is invaluable.
Issued 11 times a year it's packed with information on markets in Britain and around the globe, plus you get all the latest news and views on the publishing world.
Every subscription comes with FREE membership of The Association of Freelance Writers. Your membership also entitles you to discounts on books and competitions, a free appraisal worth £18 and a Membership Card which confirms your status as a Freelance Writer. For full details and to subscribe visit the website at: www.freelancemarketnews.com
IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE OF FMN:
HOW TO WRITE FOR PET MAGAZINES
Good Query Letters Show
You're A Professional!
by Elizabeth Ashworth
In this short guide I’m going to concentrate on query letters to magazines about short non-fiction articles. Although full length non-fiction books also require a proposal and the points here can be applied to them, a book proposal would be longer and require a chapter by chapter plan for an agent or publisher.
Before you send out a query letter you should have studied your potential market carefully and asked for the magazine’s contributors’ guidelines.
- Query letters should be sent to magazines about potential non-fiction articles.
- Don’t send queries about fiction or poetry, just go ahead and send the complete manuscript.
- Remember that a query is a business letter. Use single spacing and address it to a named person, never just ‘The Editor’.
- Remember to give your own name, address, telephone number and email address.
Never query by phone!
Query letters should still usually be sent by post. Although more and more editors are willing to accept queries by email make sure that you send them in the body of the email and don’t send attachments as they probably won’t be opened because of virus threats. Put the word ‘query’ in the subject line and keep the message fairly formal, and once again remember to include your contact details.
However, don’t phone busy editors. If they want to discuss an idea they may phone you when it’s convenient for them – and as a writer it’s probably easier to set out your ideas in writing than try to explain them verbally. The written query will also give the editor an idea of the standard of your writing, so make sure that it is error free.
Helping The Editor
Queries allow editors to quickly assess if you’re offering something they could use and if you’re capable of writing it.
Helping Yourself
Sending out a query letter marks you out as a professional. It also allows editors to come back to you with a ‘yes, but’ - and maybe a request to do something slightly different from your proposal. With luck the resulting article will be published and paid for, whereas if you’d just submitted your first idea as a finished product it would probably have been rejected without an explanation. But remember to send out your query in good time as magazines plan up to six months in advance!
How To Go About Sending Your Query
- Do your research.
- Decide on the magazine that is most likely to be interested in your article.
- Look at the articles they publish. What kind of readers are they aimed at? How long are the articles? Do they have side boxes with extra information? Do they use photographs or other illustrations and could you provide them? Remember to mention in your query letter if you have photos available, but don’t send them. Though you may like to print some thumbnails to give an idea of what is available.
- Find the name of the person you need to send the query to. Look for the name of the Features Editor, or if it’s a health article look for the Health Editor and so on. Look inside the magazine or phone the switchboard and ask to check the name of the person who commissions articles. If your query reaches the right person you are far more likely to be successful.
What Should You Include?
Paragraph 1
- Just as you would if you were writing the actual article begin your query with a ‘hook’. Use an interesting fact about your subject, a question you intend to answer or a line of dialogue from someone you’ve interviewed.
For example: “Millions of people will reach adulthood in the coming decades having no contact with one of their closest relatives.”
- Remember to make the tone of your query fit the tone of the magazine.
Paragraph 2
- Give a detailed explanation of what your article will cover.
For Example: “In this article I will be looking at the reasons why so many people have no contact with their fathers. I will examine how they can trace their fathers; how to make a first approach; how to get together; whether or not to take a DNA test; and how to deal with rejection. I will also include some quotes from people who have searched for their fathers.”
- Explain the slant or angle you will take. Focus, don’t generalise. Try to get a fresh angle. Most things have been done before.
- Remember those five all important questions that need to be answered – Who? What? When? Where? Why?
- Say why you’re writing it now.
For Example: “With Fathers’ Day approaching many people feel that they would like to find their father and get to know him.”
- Include some preliminary research.
- Explain what your article will achieve.
- Give an estimate of your intended word count.
Paragraph 3
- Say why you are the ‘perfect’ person to write it.
For Example: “I am a trained genealogist and qualified counsellor...”
- What are your qualifications?
- What knowledge and/or past experience do you have?
- If your article requires interviews say if they have been conducted, or if the person has agreed to speak to you.
- Say if you can also provide photographs or other illustrations.
- Include some clips of similar articles you’ve had published if you have them. But never say you’re a beginner or send anything that isn’t impressive.
- Don’t forget your contact details and an SAE for their reply – though if the editor is interested they may phone to discuss the proposal.
What Now?
- Check and edit. This is your ‘shop window’. If your query is full of mistakes what chance do you have of the article being accepted?
- Send it off and be patient for a few weeks. If you hear nothing after six weeks try a polite reminder, but if there is no response it’s probably best to assume they’re not interested and try somewhere else.
- If the editor is interested then deliver what you promised. All your research and the main preparation for the article should be completed even if it isn’t actually written up. The editor may come back to you with a phone call asking if you can submit it immediately to fill a gap that’s occurred in their next issue. If you can’t comply, it may be the last chance you have with that particular magazine.
Remember that a good query letter won’t necessarily lead to the sale of an article, but it will enhance your chances of an editor taking your proposal seriously.
AUTHOR'S BIO
Elizabeth Ashworth has been a freelance writer for over twenty five years. She contributes articles and short stories to a wide variety of national and local magazines, including regularly commissioned articles for Lancashire Magazine. She is a qualified teacher with many years’ experience teaching both children and adults. She tutors for the Writers Bureau and the Open College of the Arts. Her latest book Champion Lancastrians will be published by Sigma Press in November this year, followed by Tales of Old Lancashire from Countryside Books in 2007. She is a member of the Society of Authors, chairman of the Lancashire Authors’ Association and is currently writing a historical novel The Holy Hermit.
YOUR FEEDBACK
In the September issue, T. Ramalingam Pillai asked how to improve one's
functional vocabulary. I've found it extremely useful to receive a daily
word (along with excellent examples of its usage) from the Vocab Vitamins website.
Sally Adams, South Africa
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Contact us with any thoughts, questions or queries at: ezeewriter@writersbureau.com with 'Feedback' in the subject line.
THE WRITING CLINIC
If you have a question you want answering then send it to: ezeewriter@writersbureau.com with 'The Writing Clinic' in the subject line.
"I have written a book aimed at 10 to 15 year olds. A novel set in 1797 in Dartmouth Bristol and the Caribbean.
I am having problems getting an agent
and I do not really want to self-publish.
Any ideas of how I may succeed?"
Paul.
THE WRITING CLINIC'S ANSWER
Dear Paul,
Why not look back to www.writersbureau.com/resources/pastissues/August2006.htm#twc Read through my reply to Fiona Beddoes-Jones and I am sure you will find the advice helpful.
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"I was trying to find out how to register a title for a book that I would like to write and I came upon your website.
Maybe I don't have to register it, but I desperately did not want anyone else to be able to use it and – for me – it would be a small start to my dream."
Pam Roberts, Australia.
THE WRITING CLINIC'S ANSWER
Dear Pam,
The best advice I can give you is to forget about registering the title and simply get on with writing the book. There is no copyright in titles so someone could, in theory, use the same title. The only redress you would have is to accuse them of ‘passing off’ but if you haven’t even had your book published this would not stand up in court. And, do you really have the money to take this up in the first place? So, start writing NOW!
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"How 'cheeky' can you be with book titles? My working title of 'It shouldn't happen to a... student midwife' is obviously inspired by a certain vet but sums up the style and content perfectly. Will I have to change it?"
PML, Australia.
THE WRITING CLINIC'S ANSWER
Dear PML,
I don’t really see a problem with this. As I said above, the only risk is that you might be accused of ‘passing off’ – but this is very unlikely considering you intend to add …student midwife which clearly sets it apart from the vet series.
Just think of the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. Shortly afterwards a spoof was published entitled Eats, Shites and Leaves and no action was taken on this!
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"If ideas and titles cannot be copyrighted, then am I free to use titles of hit songs as titles for my articles, books and even chapters? For example, I have used the title of U2's hit song, 'Where the Streets Have No Name' as "Where the Streets Have New Names" in my book (1st draft) on local history. Correct me if I am wrong!"
Noel Gama, India.
THE WRITING CLINIC'S ANSWER
Dear Noel,
After what I’ve said earlier you might think that you were free to use the title of U2’s hit (slightly changed) with impunity. But please read this short paragraph from the Writers Bureau course and then think carefully before you proceed.
There are also peculiar difficulties and expense associated with quoting from pop songs. In the ‘afterword’ to his novel ‘The British Museum is Falling Down’ David Lodge writes that he wanted to call it ‘The British Museum Had Lost its Charm’ from the Gershwin song ‘A foggy day in London Town’ but permission was refused despite the fact that is was only one line from the song.
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Note: If you are a student of The Writers Bureau and have a question relating to your course please contact the Student Services Department directly at: studentservices@writersbureau.com
I keep this site bookmarked and it never lets me down as a useful first point of reference, whatever the query: www.howstuffworks.com
If you're developing an interest in scriptwriting then you may like to look at this packed hyper-text book. There's also a newsletter to sign up to: www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/contents.htm
This nifty web page neatly contains links for general searches, along with language and research tools. Well worth a look. www.itools.com
This month I am pleased to introduce you to Alex Gazzola. Alex is fairly new as a Writers Bureau tutor, having been with us a year, but he is an adept and dedicated tutor who has a wealth of publishing experience to share with his students. Read all about him at: www.alexgazzola.co.uk
That brings us to the end of this month's issue. I became out of synch with my articles last month so you can now expect Heather Cooke's Happier Anniversary article in December's E-zee. We look forward to seeing you then.
As usual, if you've any suggestions or would like to comment on content then please contact Teresa at:
ezeewriter@writersbureau.com
And don't forget – if you've enjoyed this issue of E-zee Writer and found it useful, tell your friends about it so that they can subscribe too!
www.writersbureau.com/resources/ezewriter.htm
THE WRITERS BUREAU, SEVENDALE HOUSE, 7 DALE STREET,
MANCHESTER, M1 1JB, ENGLAND.
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