Five Steps to Writing a Great Query Letter

Writer Abroad is sometimes hired to help other writers shape an idea, edit an essay, or prepare a piece for publication.

Here's one of the first things she tells them: Pretend you're in sales. Wait, don't pretend. If you're a writer wanting to get hired to write a piece for any publication–from your local newspaper to the New York Times, you must learn to be a good salesperson.

Most big bylines start with a little letter.

Yes, if you want to place an article in a publication, you have to sell your idea. No matter what kind of writing you specialize in, you must also be competent at persuasive writing—or you’ll never get a chance to write the way you prefer to write. What follows are five steps to writing a great query (or pitch) letter. 

One. 

Get the address right.

Address your letter to the right editor. This is sometimes easier said than done. But it’s critical to address your letter to someone specific because it shows you’ve done your research. Never write: Dear Editor,

Two. 

Do your research.

Speaking of research, you have read the publication you’re submitting an idea to, yes? This is also critically important. You don’t want to suggest a travel story to say, McSweeney’s, when they clearly don’t publish them.

Three. 

Angle the piece correctly.

Angle your piece to the publication you’re pitching. Sure, you could sell a travel story about a festival in Switzerland many ways. But you must figure out: What is the right way to sell that idea for the publication you’re targeting? Read that publication (see step two) but also look at the way they title things. Then create a title for your piece that has the same tone and style. Just doing that will do wonders for getting your idea from pitch to publication.

Four. 

Be brief, yet impactful.

Keep your pitch letter brief. Say 300 words maximum. If you can’t get across the idea succinctly, keep editing until your idea and prose are both clear and crisp.

Five. 

Answer these two questions in your letter.

Be sure to answer the questions “why now” and “why you.” These are the two questions every editor usually cares about. Why should they publish your idea now? What is timely or new about it? And why are you the perfect one to write it? Be sure to include a short, one-paragraph bio at the end of your letter.

Finally, since nothing helps like an example pitch letter, stay tuned next week for a query letter written by yours truly, along with a link to the article that came to life because of it.

Children's Book Writing: No More Creative Than Copywriting?

Writer Abroad always thought it would be fun to be a children’s author. It seems like such a creative career--at least in comparison to some of the marketing writing she does on a daily basis. But the realities of writing for children, as she learned from an author at the Chicago Lit Fest this month, seem otherwise.

This particular debut author/illustrator had to go through 70 revisions of her 200-word picture book once it got to the publisher—70 illustration revisions—in addition to text revisions. She said by the end, the only part of the book that was hers from the original version was the last page—and that she had had to fight to keep the ending less than happy. Percentage wise, she quoted 1 percent of the book was truly hers.

These kind of results, barely recognizing what you originally suggested, sound a lot like some of the advertising and marketing writing Writer Abroad has done for clients over the years.

There's a lot to learn at the Chicago Lit Fest,
which is held every June.

And there's a reason for that: Apparently the marketing department at this author's large publisher kept pushing for the characters to be more like a particular Disney character, since that character was popular the summer her book was coming out. Apparently the marketing department was in charge of basically everything.

Now along with being a freelance writer and author, Writer Abroad works in the advertising and marketing industry. She considers it a plus to do so because she normally enjoys it, and also because it informs her pure creative writing work. The reality is that knowing what kind of writing sells and how to sell it matters. A lot.

But if it comes to the point where a 200-word picture book has none of the 200 words or illustrations originally suggested by the author in it, then is writing a book for a big publisher no more creative than writing for advertising, where often every word is at the whim of clients?

It appears that in some cases at least, the only way to be completely in creative control as an author is to be your own publisher. Especially when you consider beautiful and successfully independently published children's books like the Lost My Name series (which Writer Abroad's daughter loves).

That’s why for the time being anyway, Writer Abroad is pretty happy with her balance of writing for business and writing for the pure creativity of it. Somehow, keeping her corporate writing separate from her book writing, yet controlling both via her own writing and publishing company—is the perfect balance of writing for industry and writing for pure creativity.

It’s something to consider when a writer considers her alternatives. And these days, there are a lot of them. 

Separating real life from the writing life

Last night Writer Abroad told Husband Abroad that she was doing pretty well separating herself from her work.

He replied, “But you ARE your work.”

 

The Vox Article

Writer Abroad disagreed. “No, I am not my work. I emotionally detach myself from anything I write after I write it,” she said.

He didn’t get it.

Is Husband Abroad his IT? Does being Manager of Lots of People define his soul? No. So being a writer shouldn’t define Writer Abroad’s—even when she’s writing about real life. Her life. 

So Writer Abroad added, “I can’t worr

Which lead to the tabloid article

y about what half a million people reading my latest piece think. I have to ignore their comments. Ignore, in a way, that my work is even out there—while at the same time promoting it."

Finally he said, “I guess I can’t relate. I get 5 likes on my Instagram photos.”

Here's the thing: I don’t think anyone who is not a writer—especially one who is writing personal essays or memoir—can relate to how one must go about living with having part of their soul out there. The key word, though, is part.

The world knows a small part of Writer Abroad’s story today. Her photos and an exaggerated version of the story are once again in one of Switzerland’s tabloids this evening. Her latest story was tweeted 1600 times and counting since yesterday. 53,000 Facebook shares. And counting. Which in turn sold over 50 books that tell yet another story about her life. The cycle of a writer goes on and on.

It’s overwhelming. It’s scary. But luckily, Writer Abroad has learned how to deal with readers knowing more about her life than she knows about theirs (even if some of them tell her quite a lot about their own story in their emails) by separating her life as it is shaped on a page and her life as it is in reality. It’s a subtle difference. But it’s an important one.

Do you separate yourself and your work? If so, how?

What to do with writing rejections

Writer Abroad has been reading an interesting book called Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang.

It’s about an entrepreneur-turned author’s personal journey with rejection. To battle his fear of rejection, he develops 100 tasks that he believes will lead to rejection in order to learn how to deal with it.

In the middle of the book, he includes a section on writers and rejection, since no one knows rejection like an author. He lists how many times famous books were rejected by agents and publishers until finally being published. The lesson, of course, is that much of rejection is opinion. Does the person you’re asking like your idea and writing or not?

To find a person who likes your work, it can sometimes take 100 agents or publishers. In other words, it can take persistence and a lot of time. In the age of independent publishing and the tendency for big houses to only publish already-proven authors and/or celebrities, how persistent should you be? Or should you even waste your time with traditional publishers?

Writer Abroad isn’t sure she has an answer to that. She knows some authors that are purely independent and never submit to traditional publishers. She knows other authors who would never dream of self-publishing—even if their work is rejected. And then there is Writer Abroad, who is open to either and thinks there is usually a clear answer to what you should do depending on the kind of rejection you receive from big publishers.

With Writer Abroad’s first book, the feedback from traditional folks was that her market was too small. That opinion seemed consistent. The rejection wasn’t about the writing or the idea—it was about the size of the readership who would appreciate it.

She could have scrapped the book because of that. But instead, that kind of rejection led Writer Abroad to publish the book, Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known, through her own press. Because small markets are great for independent authors—they are easier to target and market to. And since independent authors get bigger paybacks, a book with a smaller market can still make sense for them financially even if it doesn’t for a big house.

Whether to publish after “traditional” rejection depends a lot on your project. Do you have the ability to target and reach potential readers? Do you have the money to hire a good editor and designer(s)? How set were you on having the “status” of being traditionally published? Is the writing great and have you been published enough to be able to claim that? All good questions to ask.

How to do you decide what to do with rejection?

Make Your Own Luck in 2015

Happy Old Year. 

Writer Abroad would like to take a moment to celebrate 2014. It was a big year in many ways. She published her first book, which has sold almost 1200 copies since May. She secured a distribution deal with one of the publishers that originally rejected the manuscript. She wrote for several new publications, including Brian Child, CNN Travel, and Fodor’s. And oh yeah, she changed continents. At least for the time being.

In any case, 2014 taught Writer Abroad a lot. Mainly, that success as a writer is up to you. You can wait for others to decide to offer you something. Or you can create your own luck in 2015 and make your dreams come true yourself. 

For Writer Abroad, it took ten years of writing, ten years of making contacts, ten years of learning about promotion and advertising, and ten years of learning about the publishing industry before she felt ready for Book Number One. And that’s the other lesson: in a world where publishing is more accessible than ever, patience is key. Publishing when you’re not ready can do more harm than good. But if you are ready, Writer Abroad says this: 2015 is waiting for you to take success into your own hands. Won’t you join her in pursuing it?

Happy New Year.

Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known

Whatever one should know about Swiss life and living abroad, Writer Abroad learned the hard way. But now she makes living abroad a little easier (or at least a little funnier) in a just published essay collection titled SWISS LIFE: 30 THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN.

What should one know about Swiss life? Well, how about the fact that you can be hired in one language and fired in another? Or the realization that your Swiss neighbor is not coming over to chat—she is coming over to clean your gutter? Or the reality that cheese is a homeopathic treatment—for lactating boobs?                     

Learned anything about life in Switzerland yet? Well, sit back, relax, and enjoy some cheese and chocolate. Because that’s just the beginning.​                                                                                                                          

SWISS LIFE: 30 THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN is a collection of both published (The Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic Glimpse, Chicken Soup for the Soul Books, and Brain, Child) and new essays in which Writer Abroad discovers that whatever she thought she knew about the land of a certain storybook mountain girl, she had a lot to learn about the real Switzerland, you know, the one on the world map.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Writer Abroad will read from her book at Orell Füssli, The Bookshop (Bahnhofstrasse 70, 8001 Zurich) on May 23, 2014 at 7 p.m. She encourages anyone to stop by and say hello in whatever their official language of choice may be. Free bookmarks will reward your visit.

Come to the reading and get a free bookmark.

But if you can’t make it, the print version of the book is now available on amazon.com. The Kindle version is available too. Alternatively, you can join Writer Abroad’s mailing list to find out when the book is available at other retailers. Nook, Kobo, and other versions are also coming soon. 

What's more, to celebrate the publication of Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known, Writer Abroad is offering 30% off the print book on amazon.com to her mailing list members (see, great deals in Switzerland do exist!). To get the discount, all you have to do is join the book's mailing list by Monday, May 12. The code will be e-mailed to all mailing list members on Tuesday, May 13 and will remain valid for one week. Writer Abroad says danke vielmal in advance for your support.

Find out more at www.swisslifebook.com

How to Publish?

What is up with publishing these days, fellow writers? It’s changing about as fast as Writer Abroad’s mind.

There are a lot of big dilemmas for writers today because writers have more options than ever. They don’t have to wait around for agents or publishers. Or they can. They can hire editors. Book designers. They can go digital only. They can publish print on demand. They can publish like it’s 1999. Or like it’s 2013. Oh what is a writer to do?

Writer Abroad thought she had decided the fate of one of her projects, but now she finds herself still debating. On one hand she loves to have total control of everything—except for that little pesky thing call print distribution. That she could really do without.

But here’s the issue. Because her particular book is about life in Switzerland, she really wants her book in all the Swiss bookstores. Switzerland is still a very print-focused country (only 1% of Swiss use e-readers). And that’s where traditional publishers have the advantage.

Sigh.

So Writer Abroad has decided she may try—for a limited time—to look for an agent or traditional publisher for her book. But the good news is, even if she debates traditional publishing or not to death—the book itself won’t die because for once, the writer has the freedom to resurrect it.

Happy 4th of July, fellow American writers. Let's enjoy our new found publishing freedoms.

How I published my first book for expats

Guest post by Véronique Martin-Place

Véronique Martin-Place is a writer who specializes in expatriation. She is the author of Finding Your Feet In Chicago – The essential guide for expat families, published by Summertime Publishing (2012). It is available in Paperback and Kindle Edition on Amazon. Her website is Writer Forever. She is also on Twitter (writer_forever) and Facebook.

In this guest post, she explains what the writing process was like for her first book and how she collaborated with her publisher.

Finding the idea

An expat guide to Chicago

One year after settling in Chicago I was hired as a ghostwriter to write a guide about Chicago for expats. The guidelines were extremely specific and they didn’t allow much space for creativity. At the same time, I was experiencing culture shock—and I was not the only one. Several families had moved abroad at the same time as we had and we were all searching for information and advice. Simultaneously, I had also started my own blog, Expat Forever, where I shared my experiences about expat life as a mom and active spouse. I received a lot of questions from future expat parents about Chicago, where to settle, which school to choose, culture shock, among other things. I knew that the guide I was writing as a ghostwriter didn’t answer these very specific questions either. I searched for a local guidebook for expat families and I found out there was none. So I decided to fill this gap by writing Finding Your Feet In Chicago – The essential guide for expat families.

Approaching my publisher

Summertime Publishing was the first publisher I contacted. I knew that this publisher specialized in “books by and for people who live or have lived overseas”. Moreover I had ‘met’ Jo Parfitt, the founder of this publishing company, through her online course Definite Articles. I had also read several of her books, including A Career in Your Suitcase. So in December 2010, I sent her a book proposal. Jo answered me in a timely manner. We then exchanged a lot of e-mails. Jo’s main question was: is there a market for your book? I did my homework and she was convinced by my answers. I received a publishing contract in April 2011.

Writing and editing the book

After agreeing on a detailed table of contents, I started to write the book. It took me longer than expected but she was rather flexible on the deadline. Writing in English was a challenge for me, since this is not my mother tongue. So I hired a professional proofreader and editor to check my work. One year after signing my contract, I sent my first draft to Jo. And then the process of editing the whole book again and again began. At the same time, I worked on the book cover with a designer recommended by my publisher. It took four additional months to finally hold the book in my hands.

Would I do it again?

I think so and for two main reasons:

-       Jo Parfitt is a well-known expat writer and now publisher. She is well connected to a large expat network. So as one of her authors, you benefit from her database of contacts (fellow authors, print and web magazines) and the Expatbookshop website. It is very helpful when the time comes to promote your book, even if this remains the author’s job. And believe me, promoting a book is more difficult and demanding than writing it. You benefit from professional editors and designers she has been working with for a long time. So you don’t waste time looking for the right person to work with on specific issues such as editing, book cover, and internal book design.

Despite my rewarding experience with Summertime Publishing, next time I might give self-publishing a shot. Especially since a new writing and publishing adventure is in the works.