More Article Assignments?

Query More

This falls under the category of once you sell an editor one article, send him another query—and keep them coming. I used to send out dozens of queries every month. Then once I had a regular routine going, I would send two or three ideas in the same query. Sometimes they were only one paragraph long.

I also, printed a four-page query for trade journals with 12 articles per page. The first one of these I sent out brought 52 assignments. I have also seen picture query letters that work well for smaller general magazines. I know one article writer working the juvenile religious market who uses a one-page query with 6 pictures, 2 lines per picture. This keeps the writers name out there…and the assignments flowing in.

Study the magazines

Every magazine has a focus and a slant. Every article in Popular Science, for instance, looks at the world through a what’s new filter. Nearly every article focuses on the cutting edge. Here are the featured stories in a recent issue. “Military Tech Versus Street Tech” Who’s Got the Edge?” This article talks about the latest gadgets including the Hummer and compares military to civilian.  Is Science Fiction About to Go Blind? In this era of radical technological change a few writers dare to envision the near future.  This article focuses on what a few writers envision for the future. Childhood’s End: A visit with Arthur C. Clarke in his Sri Lankan villa. The legendary prognosticator’s thoughts on what’s next. You can see the what’s new angle here.

Wingtip to wingtip at 450 mph! 30 Feet above the Ground! Sideways!  Two superstar pilots get set to square off for the first time at the Reno air races. This is also a first and taps into the interest their readers have in flying. The whole article looks into the future

Never send an article to an editor until you understand the magazine’s focus and you have focused your article the same way.

Think Volume

The more articles you have out the more acceptances you are going to get. I always tried to keep a lot of queries going. It depended on which magazines I was aiming for. In my trade journal days I tried to keep about 20 articles out at all times. I was at one point selling so many articles that I filled complete issues of one magazine under different names.  Some months I had articles in four or five magazines in the same field.

Remember, the more queries you write the higher your income. Think of it as completing a circle.  The answer is always volume.

Let Another Freelancer Motivate You: I’ve talked about this before but in one stage of my freelancing, I met Frank Zdy who challenged me at every turn. We used to have contests. If he had a trade journal article assignment I had to match him. If he were working on an article in one retail store, I would go next door, and also find a salable article. This worked fine until the next-door store was out of business. That’s when it challenged my ingenuity.