| Begin With the End in Mind - Writing Curriculum For Adults |
| Written by Veronica Carrillo |
| Saturday, 26 December 2009 08:40 |
|
Nearly three decades ago I was the editor of Leisureguide, a network of in-hotel-room city guidebooks. One day a letter came from Writer's Market asking if I'd be interested in a listing in their annual publication. I couldn't resist-mainly because I'd get to see my name listed in it. I did buy some freelance articles, but not many. But seeing those words "contact Bob Howells, editor...." in a fancy book-that was cool. I wrote a little paragraph about what I was looking for and the markets I dealt with -- 13 U.S. cities such as Miami, Houston, and Chicago -- and specified how to submit a query. Soon after publication, I started getting queries. Lots of queries. Most were from outer space. To wit, some were of this ilk: Dear Mr. Howells: The elephants of Gabon are among the most endangered in the world... Others were like this: Dear Editor: Please find enclosed a list of stories available for purchase....
Nearly three decades ago I was the editor of Leisureguide, a network of in-hotel-room city guidebooks. One day a letter came from Writer's Market asking if I'd be interested in a listing in their annual publication. I couldn't resist-mainly because I'd get to see my name listed in it. I did buy some freelance articles, but not many. But seeing those words "contact Bob Howells, editor...." in a fancy book-that was cool. I wrote a little paragraph about what I was looking for and the markets I dealt with -- 13 U.S. cities such as Miami, Houston, and Chicago -- and specified how to submit a query. Soon after publication, I started getting queries. Lots of queries. Most were from outer space. To wit, some were of this ilk: Dear Mr. Howells: The elephants of Gabon are among the most endangered in the world... Others were like this: Dear Editor: Please find enclosed a list of stories available for purchase.... Or this: Dear Mr. Howell: (sic) Your readers will delight in visiting Chicago, the City of Big Shoulders... (Uh, if they're reading Chicago Leisureguide, they're already in the City of Big Shoulders!) The queries piled up. At first I dutifully sent out preprinted postcards informing my correspondents that their story didn't meet our editorial needs at the moment. But after a while, whenever the stack reached a foot high, I just threw them all away. I couldn't possibly keep up with the volume. My confession continues: Before the queries went into the round file, my staff and I engaged in an end-of-the-week ritual of query reading-a time of great mirth. We'd read aloud horribly off-the-mark queries, way worse than what I characterized above, and laugh till we were in tears. We'd shake our heads in wonder at all the typos, misspelled words, and ideas grossly unsuitable for Leisureguide, not to mention the crazy shopping-list pitches like the second one above. So how many queries that came to me over the transom actually resulted in a published story? None. I received hundreds of queries that year, and not a single one was remotely on target. I found my own freelancers. So how do you avoid egregious query gaffes? Tailor your pitches. One size never fits all. Find out what your editors are looking for. If they're not listed in Writer's Market, do some legwork. Even if they are, listings go quickly out of date. Get a copy of the publication you're pitching. Research its archives. Listings can be helpful, but don't rely on them exclusively. Remember that many other editors have had experiences similar to mine. They don't bother to list themselves in compilations of the publishing market. Don't re-write When you are writing content for your book, do not be concerned about grammar, spelling and formatting. Of course they are essential parts of a good book. But if you need your book written within days and not years, focus on getting your content right. If you are using a word processing software, turn off the grammar and spelling indicators. That will help you to keep focus on the actual subject that you are writing on. After you have About the Author: Todo sobre Juegos Mario para gente que le gusta jugar Encontrar un Trabajo Empleo es fcil si sabe dnde buscar |