Common Questions and Concerns
By Jenna Glatzer

This section covers questions and concerns you may have about sending out your queries.

I hear this question a lot: "Can I submit a query about the same topic to more than one market at the same time?"

Absolutely.

You have to. If you waited for an answer every time you submitted a query letter, you’d wind up sending out about a dozen letters a year, and landing about two assignments.

Forget it.

Many magazines won’t even answer, and most of them will reject you. Even the most professional freelancers get rejections with far more regularity than acceptances. Therefore, for you to make any kind of reasonable living doing this, you MUST send out queries to several markets at once.

"But, what if someone says ‘yes’?"

Don’t panic. This is a good thing, remember? And it doesn’t mean you now have to send off apology letters to every other editor, saying you can’t write the piece now because it’s been accepted elsewhere.

My best query letter, thus far, has landed me seven original assignments and several reprints. I only changed a sentence or two in each query, to "personalize" each one to fit different magazines.

This works because of a few factors: first, I sold First North American serial rights to a print magazine for a feature article about my subject. The piece ran around 1,200 words. Next, another magazine asked for an article. I didn’t even mention that I’d already written one—I asked, instead, for a word count and specifics of what they wanted. As it turned out, they wanted me to concentrate on something completely different than the last article, and this one wanted only 700 words. Result?

Instead of selling a reprint (for much less money), I was able to write the piece completely differently, using the same basic research, without "plagiarizing myself." Similarly, the next five publications each wanted different angles for different markets. One wanted a direct "Q&A"-style interview, another wanted a humor piece, another wanted a first-person essay, one only wanted electronic rights, etc. I never had to tell anyone I used the same query to write all these different articles.

There are only two times you must worry about this: if you’ve queried for something very unique (a specific event, observation, or comparison) and cannot think of ways to retell the story in a significantly different way, or if your query is accepted by competing magazines at the same time. In either of those cases, you must tell the second editor that the article has been accepted elsewhere. Be prepared with another idea to pitch, and offer to call or write to this editor first next time you have a great story.

This situation happened to me once; a national magazine contacted me too late, and I had already written the article for a competitor. I apologized to the editor, and told her that I would have loved to have written it for them. She understood that a freelancer’s life makes it necessary to have many irons in the fire, and said she wished she’d called me earlier. I said, "If you give me your number, I’d be glad to call you next time I have a breaking story."

She did. I haven’t used it yet, but you can be sure that the next time I have an idea appropriate for her magazine, her phone will be ringing. And she may just remember me as the hot writer who got away because she didn’t reply fast enough last time.

I’d like to tell you, unequivocally, that "they" won’t. I can’t make this guarantee, but what I can tell you is this: it’s extremely rare.

Any editor worth her salt (what does that mean, anyway?) knows that it’s much more expensive to fight a court battle than it is to pay for an article.

If she likes your idea, most likely, she’ll hire you to write the article.

If she likes your idea but thinks you sound incompetent, it’s possible that she’ll ask to buy the idea, but not the article. This is unusual, but if your idea is excellent, an editor may wish to hire a writer she trusts to execute it. Of course, you can avoid this situation by coming across as a professional, worthy of her trust.

Fear of litigation is one of the reasons editors generally won’t take phone pitches. It’s quite easy for a writer to claim that she pitched a story to an editor over the phone and later found that exact story in the magazine. You must establish a paper trail, both for your interest and for the magazine’s interest.

Copyrights

Here’s the layman’s guide to copyrights:

It doesn’t.

Wait—let me explain.

"Ideas" are not subject to copyright. You cannot copyright an idea, a title, a thought, or a concept. You can only copyright the written or recorded form of that idea.

What does this mean to you? Well, it means that an editor CAN legally use ideas you’ve presented in a query. She cannot, however, use your words. She can’t plagiarize the manner in which you’ve executed your ideas. So, if you’ve pitched a story about surfing in the Bahamas, and then see an article in the magazine a few months from now about surfing in the Bahamas, you can’t cry "foul." If that article contains excerpts from your query, uses the same characters, or is simply a thin rewording of the same pitch you sent, then you have a case.

Your have several choices at this point. You can write to the editor and publisher, stating your case and demanding compensation and a written correction with your byline in the next issue. If this isn’t satisfactory, you can take the case to Small Claims Court. This is slightly tricky, though—the magazine must either be based in the same state as you reside, or it must be distributed there.

You can also file your claim with the National Writers Union (http://www.nwu.org). They have many legal experts on-board who can advise you for free, and write letters to the publisher on your behalf.

Finally, if you truly believe your case is iron-tight, you can hire a lawyer. Obviously, you’ll have to consider the expense of legal fees, and weigh this against what you stand to gain.

Before you decide you’ve been ripped off, however, you must consider a few things.

Unbelievable as it may sound, the odds are that lots of other people have had the exact same amazing idea as you had. It’s quite possible that another writer happened to send a very similar query to the editor at about the same time you did. Unless your information was confidential, and there’s no way that anyone else would have had access to it, you must accept the possibility that you weren’t ripped off—just beaten to the punch.

It’s even likely that that’s the whole reason you DIDN’T get the assignment—a similar article may have already been in the works.

No. The minute you write something, it’s already legally copyrighted to you. You don’t need to register it. Also, if your article is published to a copyrighted magazine, your article will be covered under their copyright.

Before your article is published, you may want to protect yourself by having a record of when you wrote it. Your word processing program may automatically "date-stamp" your documents (there will be a "created on" or "last edited on" date imbedded in the document’s description). You can also save your articles to disk, organizing articles by month and/or year.

There’s also the "poor man’s copyright." Though I wouldn’t advise doing this with larger works (like novels or scripts), there’s a simple trick for giving your work a copyright date. Simply put your article(s) in a manila envelope and mail it to yourself. When it arrives back in your mailbox, don’t open it. Store it somewhere safe, where it can’t be damaged or opened.

Why does this work? The U.S. postal service is a government bureau. A postmark stamp establishes a legal date upon which the envelope was sent. Therefore, you can prove that your article was written prior to that date.

Finally, if it’s important to you, you can register your works with the U.S. copyright office. The forms are available online here:

http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/forms

You should be able to use Short Form TX, available for download as a .pdf file. The current charge for registration is $20.00. You do not have to pay a separate fee for each article—instead, you can register a collection of your work (several articles, stories, poems, etc.) together for one copyright and one fee.

No. Not at all. Not only would it be extremely unlikely for you to get an agent as a freelancer, but it probably wouldn’t help you one iota, anyway.

If you decide to try longer form work, like novels, non-fiction books, or screenplays, then you can think about agents. But if you’re planning on sticking to magazines, newspapers, etc., agents can actually count as a strike against you, rather than for you.

Why?

Editors want to work directly with you. They don’t need the hassle of a "middleman." They also know that an agent’s job revolves around getting publishers to loosen their purse strings. You’ll find that even the most successful freelancers typically handle their own negotiations.

Secondarily, agents aren’t interested in most freelancers, as their return rate isn’t wonderful. If an agent has to send out your queries, intervene whenever someone wants to hire you, negotiate, draw up contracts, etc., just to get 10 percent of your sales, it’s probably not worth her time.

Very, very rarely.

In general, if you don’t get an answer within about a month, that means "no." Some bigger companies may hold on to queries they like and present them at editor meetings, in which case, your pitch may sit around for a few months. However, most queries are read within the week that they arrive, and most are tossed about twenty seconds after they’re opened.

Calling an editor to ask if she’s had time to think about your query yet is futile. Chances are she never saw it. Your query was probably read by an assistant. Even if the assistant gave it to her, or if she read it herself, it was likely among hundreds of other queries she read that week. And thousands she read over the past couple of months. And tens of thousands she’s read over the past couple of years. Unless your query really stood out, she won’t remember it.

And it’s very unlikely that you’ll get through to an editor over the phone. A secretary or assistant may take your message, but again, unless she’s interested in your piece, she won’t call you back.

Here are the situations in which following up is appropriate:

If you queried because an editor asked you to, or if you queried, and someone wrote back to let you know that they were interested or considering your proposal, then you should follow up. Give at least two weeks after your last correspondence, then follow up with an e-mail or phone call.

If you’ve written for this editor before, she should have the courtesy to respond to your next query. If via e-mail, give at least two weeks before checking in. If via mail, a month.

Really think your work is perfect for a particular publication, but can’t seem to get an answer from them? Drop in a polite note explaining this. You might write something along these lines:

Dear Ms. Smith:

I’m writing to check in to make sure you received my proposal, "Traveling Europe on a Shoestring Budget," sent May 2^nd. I’m eager to hear your response, as I would love the opportunity to write for Your Mag. I am a faithful reader of the magazine, and believe I can offer a piece that fits well with Your Mag’s spirit.

I would appreciate it if you would let me know if you’ve had time to consider my proposal. Thanks for your time.

Regards,

Writer

Most publications offer an approximate response time in their Writer’s Market listings. Overeager writers sometimes forget how many queries an editor gets, or how much planning goes into each issue to determine which articles fit in which sections of which issues. Sometimes, a department editor may have to present your query to the Editor-In-Chief. Sometimes, editors take care of all queries once a month. There can be many causes for delay in responses.

Following up must be done professionally and sparingly. And if you follow up and get a rejection, be sure to thank the editor for checking into the matter for you anyway.

It’s one of the most common questions I get from writers: "do e-queries work?" The simple answer is "yes." The more complicated answer is "usually." Here’s why:

There are many benefits to this method. First, you don’t have to spend money on postage, ink, paper, envelopes, etc. Second, you’ll generally get a faster response time. Third, if you can find it, you can often send your query straight to the editor of the section of the magazine you want.

The down side? Query letters are often deleted without being read. Many big publications frown on this method, because it makes it too easy for writers to deluge their inboxes with idea after idea. Many publications don’t publicize their e-mail address. And if there’s only one e-mail address listed (like "info@thismagazine.com"), it often won’t get forwarded to the correct person. In that case, the address is usually meant for general comments or subscription inquiries, and the mail is read by a secretary or webmaster.

However, in my experience, e-queries have worked better than snail mail. If you’re a bit crafty and surf around their websites, you can often find the individual e-mail addresses of staff members listed on the masthead. There’s no harm in trying, as long as you don’t abuse this "in" by filling the editor’s box with all your ideas.

So, what do you do differently in an e-query versus a snail mail one?

You have even less time to engage your reader. A busy editor checks her e-mail with one hand on the mouse, ready to hit "delete." You’ve got to use every word to convince her to read on.

That starts with the subject. So… what do you put in it?

Use the topic of the article you’re proposing, or the title you have in mind. Examples of subject lines I’ve used that got responses: "His Damp Towel, My Pristine Pillowcase," "Yes, Veronica, there is a romantic man," "Stop Evolving," and "College Kids Hit it Big."

So, you get it. Something that lets the mail-opener realize this is an interesting e-mail.

If you’re mailing the same letter out to many recipients, be careful not to let it show! Do not, under any circumstances, use the "copy to" option to list several addresses. Each letter must appear to be tailor-made to that publication, even if it’s just a matter of changing a few words.

Include the name of the magazine or section somewhere in your query—example: "I propose a 500 word article for your ‘Tools Rule’ section."

Always make sure you’ve included your address and phone number in the query, even if you expect they’ll respond via e-mail. If the editor gets excited about your letter, you don’t want to let her excitement cool down while she goes through the rest of her mail and prepares to write back. Give her the option to pick up the phone immediately and give you that assignment!

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