Common Mistakes Made by Novice Freelancers
How a Magazine Writer Avoids an Initial Rejection From the Get-Go
Nov 23, 2008
So many freelance rejections could be avoided with a little foresight, planning and organization as well as some thorough proofreading and editing. How to account for the following clueless submission:
- Sending in a totally wrong query letter. Now this query may be wrong because the writer didn't bother to read the freelance guidelines, which clearly state that article submission is preferable to sending a query.
- Worse, it was wrong because the writer never bothered getting a sample copy of the magazine and had no idea who they write for and what kind of features are offered. Perhaps he is "pound foolish and penny wise" and that's why he didn't buy or subscribe to Writers' Market?
- Why didn't the writer run the spell check or proofread the query for mistakes of capitalization, punctuation, grammar and format? Did he use the correct editor's name?
What a Good Query Letter Is
- A good query convinces an editor that an article would be right for his magazine, meaning that it is exciting, attention-grabbing and well-written, This query was dull and poorly written.
- He lost out on his opportunity to sell himself in the expected paragraph about why he was particularly well-suited to write this article for this magazine. Having a B.S. in biology did not convince the editor the writer was qualified to write about home decor, nor did college participation in the one activity he mentioned, his fraternity.
Avoid Problems with the Article Itself
- The article he submitted had no lead. It not only didn't grab the reader, it was so mundane and run-of-the-mill it made the editor just set it down and walk away.
- The poor writer submitted a seasonal article for a season the magazine already put to bed five months ago. No one ever told him that In the world of publishing by November, Christmas has come and gone and so has Valentine's Day.
- The article was 1,500 words long. Had he taken a few moments to read the guidelines he would have known that the maximum length they accept is 600 words.
On a Personal Note to the Writer
- Considering the little effort put into this mission, one can't help but wonder if it were actually expedient to call the editor three times to inquire about the query's status.
- It's a mistake to grieve early, middle or late career rejections. They are as much a part of writing as buying another ink cartridge for the printer or researching freelance help-wanted ads.
In Conclusion
This writer needs to be encouraged to not give up, but to learn from his mistakes. He needs to be sure next time to spend more time on getting to know the market. He must make every effort to study the freelance guidelines, and never try to submit without having read them.
This writer should consider reading up on or even taking an online course in query letter writing. He also needs some brushing up or a course in article writing since he seems to have forgotten the basics in his zeal to get published.
He must learn you can't write for readers if you don't have some idea about who they are and what they like. This is why it's important to pick up some sample issues and get to know the magazine, even the ads, before trying to write for it.
Proofreading, Again
Next time, he needs to ask at least three friends to proofread and edit the query and the article. Then he should read it aloud to a fourth friend, and run the spell check twice before even going near an envelope to put it in.
