Inside Query Components
A query letter usually includes a lead, supporting paragraphs, your qualifications, and your contact information. Take a closer look at the components of the query letter, and you'll see why each one is just as important as the next.
The Lead
Just as with articles that you write, your query letters need to capture the reader's attention right out of the gate. Only in this case, you have to remember that the reader is an editor — a person who has read far more stories than the average person and who requires far better writing and information to get excited at all.
Put yourself into the editor's job for a minute, and you'll see just how this comes to pass. Go to a bookstore, pick up a magazine that you don't usually buy for fun, and force yourself to read every word of every story in it. Then, close the magazine and start over from the beginning. When you get to the end, close the magazine and start again, reading the entire publication a third time.
Just when you think your brain is about to burst from boredom, pick up your own query letter and read the first sentence — which, if it's any good, will likely serve as the first sentence of your completed article.
You'll quickly see that for editors, your “must-read” lead is simply something else that they must read in the course of their day, which typically includes reading the same stories again and again, combing them for mistakes. This is not reading for fun, nor is it reading to get excited. As much as an editor may love her job, reading your query letter is just like reading everything else. It's work.
Do editors prefer to receive query letters via snail mail or e-mail?
It depends on the editor. You can look in writing guides or even call the editor's assistant to ask what a particular editor prefers, but even if it's e-mail, use the same short format as written letters. Never, ever send an attachment. They get ignored as possible viruses.
So how do you write a compelling lead that will get the editor's attention? You start by using your writing skills — yes, those things that made you want to become a magazine writer in the first place. Right out of the envelope, you want that editor's eyes glued to your words.
Consider the following two query letter leads for a travel-magazine article, and decide for yourself which one is more likely to get an editor's attention.
The Generic Lead:
“I am writing to propose a travel story about a hike that I took through Jamaica's Blue Mountains. It is a beautiful and rugged place where only the best hikers will be comfortable, because the peaks are so high and full of grandeur.”
The Action Lead:
“‘Are you sure we're going the right way?’ Tiffany calls. She's been on these trails before. Her first outburst of concern fuels the visions I've been harboring between heaving breaths for the past hour, of being the first flabby white woman to drop dead in the lush, hidden heart of Jamaica's Blue Mountains.”
It's not even close, right? The first lead sounds like something you would write to your mother, while the second lead sounds like something that just may be the start of a story that actually deserves to get printed in a travel magazine.
What makes the second example so much stronger? It includes just three short sentences, but in those sentences you've communicated to the editor that your article will have characters, that there will be dialogue, that you actually visited the place, and that you have an interesting way of putting words and sentences together.
That's what a great lead does: It communicates on several levels through terrific writing. A great lead also makes an editor want to keep reading, to learn more about why she should choose your story to put into her magazine. That's where your supporting paragraphs take over.
Supporting Paragraphs
You can usually fit anywhere from one to three supporting paragraphs in a one-page query letter, depending on the length of the paragraphs. The shorter, the better, but the point of this section of your query letter is to establish that there is a lot of meat to your story idea — that it's more than just a clever lead followed by a bunch of nonsense that will make magazine readers give up and turn the page.
Supporting paragraphs can include examples of sources you intend to interview, of research you have already done, of facts and figures that make your story worth telling, or of anything else that you think will help sell your idea to the editor. In the case of the Jamaica action lead, you might have opened the supporting paragraph section of your letter by explaining that your death on the trail would have been horribly bad timing, given that the area is just now opening itself up for greater amounts of tourism that readers might enjoy.
Don't waste your time writing your entire article and sending it along with your query letter for the editor's consideration. Rarely will an editor pick up a story and put it into his magazine as-is. More often than not, editors want you to present them with an idea that they can help you shape into the format and tone their magazine requires.
Your supporting paragraphs should be just as well written as your lead. Moreover, they should be as informative as possible, even if sometimes that information comes at the expense of your writing style. Remember, you're a salesman here, not just a writer. You need to do more than leave the editor thinking, “That writer has an interesting way with words.” You need to close the deal on a sale and get the editor to believe you are the right person to tell the story.
Your Qualifications
After your supporting paragraphs, you should take another short paragraph to explain why you are qualified to write the story you are proposing.
This can be a simple as saying, “I was the first writer invited to experience hiking along these Jamaican trails with local guides, and I can therefore tell a story that the world has never before heard.” Or it can be more substantial, almost like a mini-resume: “I am a seasoned travel writer whose work has appeared in
Never lie about your qualifications in a query letter. Some writers say they have written for publications where their work has never appeared, with the notion that this “experience” will help land an assignment. More often than not, it only lands their reputation at the bottom of a heap from which there is no rescue.
No matter what qualifies you to write the particular story you are pitching, your continued goal is to make that sale. At this point, you should have the editor practically eager to pick up the phone and call you — which is where your contact information comes in.
Your Contact Information
The last part of your query letter should be a line that tells the editor how to reach you. Even if your contact information is at the top of your letterhead, you should include an ending paragraph of one or two sentences that tells the editor when the best time of day is to reach you, and which method of communication you prefer. You may consider enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you're using snail mail instead of e-mail, although nowadays, many editors prefer to respond by e-mail no matter how the query was sent.
If you are just breaking into magazine writing and have a day job where you cannot talk on the telephone about your story ideas, then you should tell the editor that the best ways of contacting you are during the evenings at your home or via e-mail any time of day. What you want to avoid is having that editor call you at work, where you will have to speak cryptically to avoid being overheard and will likely leave a terrible first impression on the editor — not at all ideal for your first attempted sale to any magazine.
Once you have finished crafting your query letter, do like the experienced magazine writers do and “stick it in a drawer” for a few days before sending it. Only after a few days' time can you take a second look at it with fresh eyes, at which point you will be able to determine whether you've included all the important sections and made the two key points that all query letters must make.
If you want editors to contact you via e-mail, then make sure you have a professional-sounding address.
