material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week. Most published writers will admit that there is no secret formula for writing a winning query letter, however, many professionals can share some basic suggestions to help new writers formulate a query that will sell their story idea.

I can think of four simple guidelines to follow for building good query letters.

1) Capture The Editor's Attention

You must develop original ideas that will stimulate editors almost immediately. Proposals have to provide something out of the ordinary, a unique angle, a new approach or a different view of the common, over-publicized topics that editors and readers are tired of seeing.

Think about how your article can offer innovative insight, inspiring material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week. M

formulate a query that will sell their story idea.

I can think of four simple guidelines to follow for building good query letters.

1) Capture The Editor's Attention

You must develop original ideas that will stimulate editors almost immediately. Proposals have to provide something out of the ordinary, a unique angle, a new approach or a different view of the common, over-publicized topics that editors and readers are tired of seeing.

Think about how your article can offer innovative insight, inspiring material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week.

ion

You must develop original ideas that will stimulate editors almost immediately. Proposals have to provide something out of the ordinary, a unique angle, a new approach or a different view of the common, over-publicized topics that editors and readers are tired of seeing.

Think about how your article can offer innovative insight, inspiring material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week.

ach or a different view of the common, over-publicized topics that editors and readers are tired of seeing.

Think about how your article can offer innovative insight, inspiring material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week.

material, or contrasting views of well-worn subjects. You probably have less than a minute to spark the interest of most editors, who receive hundreds of similar pitches every week. Make yours stand out from the rest!

2) Be Concise But Explicit

Eliminate fluff. Use action verbs and effective nouns to explain exactly why your idea will appeal to their readers and add quality to their publication. Give adequate details without going overboard.

Tell the editor why you want to write the article, why he should care about your topic and how you plan to deliver your completed work (estimated deadline and approximate word count etc.)

3) Know The Market

You can spend hours constructing the perfect query letter, but if you send it to the wrong publication, your efforts will probably be wasted and your idea rejected.

The most obvious way to ga