Why your query might be rejected   

 

Queries are rejected by a magazine for a number of reasons.

 

Your article idea may already be assigned to another writer.  I have suggested articles many times only to be told that the magazine has substantially the same article waiting for publication.  Queries are also rejected because the magazine has published similar pieces in the recent past. It may also be rejected because you're idea may be completely inappropriate for the magazine.

 

 This varies all the way from suggesting articles, a magazine never publishes to failing to offer the proper slant on a subject.  An outdoor magazine, for instance, may do articles on hiking and camping, but never do any on hunting.  The easiest way to get rejected here is to offer them a hunting article.

 

The query itself also may be poorly written.  This may mean you failed to put the message across clearly or you didn't include the necessary information.  My students sometimes forgot to give the proposed article any title.  They often failed to state what the article was about or didn't detail or how they were going to handle the article itself.  They also often failed to convince the editor that they were qualified to write the article in the first place.  To avoid this, after you write the query, make sure it covers the points listed before you send it out I suggest that you buy How to write irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool and make it part of your reference Library.