There are a couple of other things you can note in your query letter to help increase your chances of actually landing an assignment. These things include the availability of accompanying artwork and suggestions for cover blurbs that the editor might run to promote your piece.

Where these items go in your query letter's structure is a function of how important they are to telling your story. But if you have them to offer, you need to let the editor know it. Some editors — especially at titles that rely heavily on newsstand sales — believe a sizzling cover blurb is more important than the actual story idea itself. Other editors may go for your idea because of the accompanying artwork, especially if your idea needs visuals from a place where it will be expensive for the magazine to send a photographer.

Artwork

If you have accompanying artwork available to go with your story idea, you must let the editor know what format the artwork is in and who owns the rights to it.

Sometimes, artwork is available in a tangible format such as 35-millimeter slides. More and more often, though, artwork is transferred to magazines digitally, and most magazines have standards of quality that allow them to use some but not all of the images they receive. As a general rule, if you have digital artwork available to accompany your story, define the quality of the images in your query letter. Something like this should suffice: “My images are 300 dpi resolution at 6 inches wide by 4 inches deep.” This tells the editor how big the photos might run before the quality will be compromised.

Copyright information is also key when pitching artwork along with a story idea in a query letter. If you took the photos and own the rights to sell them, then you should say so, just like that. If you have handout photos from a travel company or marketing director, then you need to tell the editor in no uncertain terms that you are passing along art that came from a general source (thus alerting the editor that other magazines may have the same images in hand at the same time).

One last word about offering your photos along with your story idea: Make clear in your query letter whether you are pitching your story idea and pictures as a package deal, or whether you will want to be compensated with an additional fee for your photography. In many cases, editors will try to acquire the story and photographs together, but at the same rate for which you would usually be paid for just the story.

If that's okay with you, no problem. But if you want to be paid for the additional content you are providing (as many writers do), then you should make your intentions clear in your query letter.

Cover Blurbs

Offering editors cover blurbs — the words that promote stories on a magazine's cover — along with your story idea is a terrific way to get their attention, especially if the magazine is heavily geared toward newsstand sales. In fact, some women's-magazine writers say they put their suggested cover blurbs right in the lead of their query letters, thus getting the editor to immediately envision how the blurb will look on the magazine's cover. These writers also know that many editors have to discuss cover blurbs in story meetings with their own bosses, and that editors appreciate writers who make their jobs easier by coming up with the cover blurbs themselves. This is a terrific psychological tidbit, one that you can use to your advantage no matter what topic you are pitching.