Want to increase your odds of becoming a successful freelance writer? Would you spend ten minutes to find out how? If you answered yes, congratulations! You've taken the first step to writing success.

Does the above paragraph look a little different from what you usually read in the Story Circle Journal? That's because it is. I've written it as if I were sending a query to Jane Ross, Story Circle Journal editor, pitching my idea for an article on how to write a query letter.

Now take a look at this paragraph.

My name is Linda C. Wisniewski. I live in Doylestown, PA and have two grown children. I have worked as a librarian and I love to write, although I'm still a beginner. I have written some stories and now I want to write about query letters for your magazine.

A bit tedious, isn't it?

I've written dozens of articles but that doesn't impress an editor if I can't get to the point about what I'm offering them today. Editors want articles that sell their magazines, and most don't want to use the same writers over and over. They're always looking for a fresh voice. But before they get to your name and credentials, they want to know what you can do for them.

Here are some tips that have worked for me:

1. Research the magazine first. Read article titles and ads to get an idea of their demographic. Are the readers young women, retired, businesspeople? Look at the ads or the section of their web site for advertisers for clues.
2. Read the writer's guidelines on the web. If they're not obvious, sometimes you can find them on their website under "Contact Us." Otherwise send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with your snail mail request. And follow these guidelines. If they say they want 800 words, don't send them 1200.
3. Address your query letter to the editor by name and spell it correctly. You can often get the name from the magazine web site, or call the phone number on the masthead of the magazine.
4. Keep your query to one page, says SCN's Lisa Shirah-Hiers, a successful freelance writer. This will show your writing style is succinct and lively. Lisa also says, in an email query, don't use "query letter" as the subject line. It tells the busy editor nothing. Use your proposed title instead: "Ten Tips for Writing Your Life Story for the Work At Home section of the Fall issue."
5. Get a copy of the AP Style Book and follow its rules for punctuation, spelling and grammar in your letter. It's the standard for most newspapers and magazines and shows that you are savvy, even if this magazine has variations of their own.
6. Write an eye-catching lead paragraph (the "hook") that reads like the blurbs in the table of contents of the magazine.
7. The second paragraph is your "pitch." This is where I put the word count (it shows I read their guidelines), who I will interview, key points covered and when I can have it in their hands. If you do this well, even if it's not quite what the editor wants, she may get back to you with a request for something similar. For example, I pitched a story about a mystery readers' convention emphasizing that Mary Higgins Clark was a keynote speaker. The editor of Active Times wanted a story about the people who attended the convention—middle aged and older mystery readers—as a destination type article. Using bullet points makes your pitch easy to read and helps you outline your story. Offer a sidebar like the little lists in USA Today and popular magazines and digital photos if you can get them. You can save the editor time if you can do this too.
8. Put your credentials at the end. Do not use phrases like "I've never been published before" or "This will be my first article." If your pitch does its job, it doesn't matter if it's your first or your ninety-first article. Unless the editor is your mother, you won't get the assignment on sympathy.
9. Send 'clips' if you have them, i.e., published articles, especially if they are on similar topics. For example, I don't send my memoir pieces to information trade journals. In that case, I would just state my credentials. For example, "I have twenty years' experience doing research...".
10. Keep the closing brief and clear and state that you expect a reply. For example, "Thanks for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon." Give the editor a few weeks to respond, then follow up with a note or phone call. My query to The Quilter got lost on the editor's desk. When I called her after a month, she asked me to send the query again and assigned me the article.

The sidebar to the article you're reading is an example of a query letter that worked for me. Of course, yours will be in your own style and voice. But don't worry. Writing them gets easier with practice.

And the result of all this preparation? You'll get to write about subjects important to you and to send your words out in the world, touching the lives of people you may never meet.