Tag Archives: queries

Weekend Reading: Query Letters

By on April 26th, 2013

At the end of each week, I like to share a link roundup based on one of our editorial themes for the month. This week we’re going to take a look at writing query letters for freelance magazine writing. If you’re looking to perfect your magazine query letter techniques or get started in magazine writing with your first pitch, spend some of your downtime this weekend checking out these great articles. And if you’re looking for more information about writing for magazines, don’t miss Catherine L. Tully’s posts here. She covers query letter writing and other aspects of magazine writing …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners: Where to Start

By on February 12th, 2013

I’m a big fan of query-free freelancing. That means I don’t generally pursue freelance writing jobs. I do things that attract clients to me instead. For example, I run blogs that keep me fresh in prospects’ minds and I make sure my business site is well-optimized for search engines so I’m one of the first writers prospects find when they search for someone. While the query-free freelancing approach works very well for most types of freelance writing, and it can work fairly quickly if you work hard at it up front, I know it doesn’t suit everyone — especially beginner freelance writers …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |

Planning For Print Publication

By on December 7th, 2012

It’s hard to believe that the New Year is right around the corner! If you are looking to get published in a magazine or print publication in the coming year, now is the time to start planning. For most print pubs, the editorial calendar is already set, and queries right now are going out for summer issues (or even later!). While it may be hard to think about beaches and fireworks in January, it’s where you need to be… In addition, you have the opportunity to possibly slide in sideways with a filler or two (short, blurb-type pieces that typically …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

Magazine Writing — Gathering Intel

By on September 7th, 2012

So you want to write for a magazine? If that is the case–one of the most important things you will do is study publications that you want to submit material to in query form. But what is the best way to go about that? Let’s face it, buying tons of magazines can be really expensive. (Fun, but expensive!) So how do you do your research in the way that it makes the most sense? Gathering intel about a publication has some distinct steps, and before you decide what publications you want to pitch, you’ll need to narrow the field. Here’s …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

Print Writing: Getting The Goods

By on May 8th, 2012

Today we have a few tips for “getting the goods” in print writing. Let’s begin with finding guidelines so you can craft a query… Getting The Guidelines When you are writing for print, the guidelines for the publication are the golden rule you need to follow. Problem is…not every magazine puts these on the web for you. So where do you find them? Here are the two things I do most often: + Send an e-mail and ask for them. Keep this simple. Don’t go on about yourself or send half-baked pitches. Simply request guidelines and thank the person for …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

Writing For Print: Why Local Relationships Matter

By on February 7th, 2012

If you are a writer, chances are good that you already understand that relationships in this industry matter. If you want to write for print, this can actually be a subject that is even more vital. When you write for an online publication it is fairly typical to never meet the person you are working with. Most contact is established via e-mail and subsequent information/instructions usually follow in the same manner. With print, this is not necessarily the case–especially if you start local as so many print writers do. Getting clips usually means working for smaller publications in the beginning–such …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

Magazine Writing: Tools Of The Trade

By on September 6th, 2011

Writing for print has a lot in common with writing for the web, yet they are also quite different. Today I’d like to share some “tools of the trade” that have helped me navigate my writing career–especially when it comes to magazine writing. That said, many of these can also be used for freelance writing in general. Here goes: Desk Calendar There’s nothing quite like a big desk calendar to keep things front and center in terms of queries out, contracts due and deadlines. Although you can use your computer to keep track of these things as well, I find …

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Posted in Magazine Writing |

How to Fill a Hole in Your Schedule (the Query-Free Freelancer Way)

By on November 2nd, 2010

You have a fairly packed freelance writing schedule. You have client orders lined up for the next several weeks, and things look good. But then something happens. A project is cancelled. A client suddenly becomes non-responsive. You get a request to postpone something. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself with a hole in your schedule — one that needs to be filled now at the last minute. Something like this happened to me last week. It involved blogging work for one of my regulars. Due to personal problems he was unable to post all of the articles written last …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business, Freelance Writing Jobs, Marketing |

How to Make Your Own Freelance Writing Opportunities

By on October 20th, 2010

You’ve probably seen or heard this before. Freelance Writer A is having a discussion with new Freelance Writer B. The newer freelancer talks about how they’re struggling to find decent paying freelance writing jobs on job boards and classified sites, and even when they do find one there’s too much competition there. Writer A tells them to hang in there because there really are high paying freelance writing jobs — they’re just looking for them in the wrong places. Writer B asks where the high paying gigs are then if not on the job boards. Writer A explains that you …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Jobs |

To Query or Not to Query: Part Six

By on June 25th, 2009

Today we’re finishing up our interview series with our guests: Chris Bibey, Angela Booth, Jenna Glatzer, Kristen King, Allena Tapia, and Anne Wayman. I asked each guest to share some parting words of wisdom or advice for other freelance writers. I hope you’ll find it a fitting close to our series. Here’s what they had to say: Chris Bibey 1. Be willing to speak with anybody and everybody. Too many freelance writers avoid phone calls and personal meetings. If a client wants to talk on the phone, go for it. This is how you build long lasting relationships. 2. Ask …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business |