by CeCe Day Hill

Created on: August 27, 2010

Why the Query Letter Can Make or Break a Writer's Career according to one editor.

Between Dear Editor and Sincerely, you're up-to-bat.  Can you hit a home-run?

Don't sabotage a writing project.  Like a job interview it is a writer's first contact with a new boss called an editor, and, as one unknown writer wrote, "It's your handshake to success."  Amazingly, too many do not view it that way, since the majority of arduous efforts end up in the "slush" pile on the fast track to file "13."

When the query is plagued with unprofessional mannerisms including self-indulgent writing, an editor may assume the article will be the same.  There are no short cuts for training and experience.  To knock an editor's socks off with a high-impact pitched idea, conquer the art of query.

The one thing about editors is they are forever on a daily roller coaster ride shuffling through mounds of manuscripts and proposals well into the night slumped somewhere on a sofa.  This fallible human being's sanity is held together by a cup of coffee or a gooey candy bar, hoping, "one" well-presented idea will nudge their curiosity and tug at their sleeve.

Whether in the office or at home these weary souls are ravaged by mediocre attempts from writers who don't have the basic rules of the query down pat.  Give the editor the thing he or she wants most. . .a reason to read beyond the first paragraph.

The query is a sales tool to sell your work, as well as to save time, energy and money in breaking into print.  The two biggest reasons one makes no headway is " . . . tired ideas and an unprofessional approach" according to an Long Ridge Writer editor.

Editor, author and publisher Valerie Harms believes the opening paragraph in a query is the most important. . .well worth the effort to make the pitch a blockbuster.  Success starts and stops with the first or second paragraph. 

The following tips may help a writer to become part of the editor's winning team.  Good editors know how to make a talented writer great and a mediocre one better.  For it is the writer who must please the editor not the other way around.  The query attitude conveys a lot about the submitter as to any potential working relationship.

Due to time restraints these scribes of the written word can't read all of what comes across the desk.  Therefore, publishing hopefuls, need to capture their interest within 30 seconds.  How?  Captivate with a creative

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