How to Get the Right Magazine Editor's Attention

Yes, writing a good query letter is essential, and I think I'm doing this fairly well, based on the fact that I've gotten responses. And I thought I was doing all I could. But I just upped my game.

I hate using the phone. I'd much rather rely on printed information in writers' market books. But I've read many times how success is better met as a freelance writer if I have a name of an editor to direct an unsolicited manuscript to, rather than just addressing envelopes and query letters with "Dear Editor."

I just found this great free resource: http://www.marketlist.com/. I never gave the Market List much mind because its tagline said it was for genre writers--but I found out accidentally that it also has listings for everyday magazines too! I looked up my parenting magazines, American Baby and Parents, and was given accurate phone numbers for editorial offices. (I've found magazine websites don't like to provide numbers unless for subscription purposes, and the printed Writer's Market info was outdated...)

So today I made 2 calls, and so far, they've paid off in at least saving time. In both cases, the person answering the phone asked what my manuscript was about, then recommended an editor's name. In one case, I was asked if I preferred email or regular mail. And this was for a magazine that doesn't publish email addresses and asks writers to send everything via snail mail. I asked how the editor preferred to receive submissions, and the woman told me email was good. So that saved me time and postage, plus it went directly to an editor who has a say on what gets published in the section I was hoping to break into.

I cannot know yet how much of a difference it'll make. In some weeks or months, I may be able to report what difference if any it makes, because I can compare it to a year ago, when I sent manuscripts to the big magazines without calling first.... I got nowhere. So this new tactic certainly can't lessen my odds of publication!

Update #1: the very next day, I got an email from a health editor at Parents magazine, asking me for more information. That's the first time I've gotten any response from the big national magazines.

Update #2: March 28. I had just been fearing I'd probably heard the last about the story, though the editor had inquired about it. But tonight, I just received another email from the editor, promising that she hadn't yet carefully read my response, but she was going to. So far, I'm saying I'm not sending another unsolicited manuscript until I call the magazine and get advisement on which editor to send it to!

After a Year of Writing Online Content...My Review

As of March 4, 2011, I've officially been writing online content for a year. It's a crazy experiment, really, that grew out of my eagerness to write and impatience waiting to hear from print magazines about manuscripts I sent out.

So was it worth my time to write articles on which I get paid based only on performance, related to how many times they're viewed? Here's my write up: What I've Learned After a Year Writing for Triond Sites

What's smarter? To do what you're told or to take a risk?

Okay, this may have been really gutsy, or really smart, or both. I'm not sure. I couldn't exactly find any professional advice on this at the moment. I just went against protocol; instead of sending an article query to the editor listed as the person to send things to, I sent it to the editor who replied back to me on a previous occasion. I've certainly read that a writer should always utilize any positive interactions with editors to try to get published again, so I'm hoping that trumps the other things I've read: do what a magazine asks.

I won't name the magazine, but it's known as one of the glossies in Christian publishing, and though I was not in fact published by them yet, an editor who read my pitch last summer wrote back within  a day or two, saying it made her cry and she wanted to know more. She took my query to a staff meeting, and unfortunately, not everyone agreed to go with my story. What I didn't know then was that the magazine really is one I really had no business trying yet--most of its writers are authors of books or on the speaking circuit. I am amazed the strength of my story alone got me, a starting freelance writer with little credit to my name, the time of day.

So yes, trying them again, and to that editor I impacted before directly, may be pushing it. But maybe it will lead somewhere good. And I just couldn't shake the feeling that my article fits directly what they want to publish on the topic and I haven't yet figure out another magazine that might be interested...

So only time can tell (up to 8 weeks, the magazine says) if that was a wise strategy or I just annoyed the editor.


Articles I've published:
Because I've been writing for over a year now, here are some links to some of my stuff published last March:
Is Lyme Disease Lurking in Your Unexplained Symptoms?

Baby Food: Save money by Making Your Own

Potty Training: Cloth Diapers vs. Disposables

Cloth Diapers Versus Disposables: Switching Systems

Treating Depression with Natural or Alternative Medicine