Jyndral New friend
Posts: 48
(10/12/04 10:38 am) Reply
Re: Query a Day?
Not yet, but I'm working toward that as a goal.
To be totally truthful, I don't like what I'm doing. In going over other things I do want to do, this keeps coming to the forefront regardless of what else I think of. I keep coming back to how I could work this into whatever else.
It's definitely possible to submit a query a day, either by e-mail or snail mail. I used to do both but got tired of the bumps in snail-mail-querying.
Really, though, it depends on how busy I am -- and not just with freelancing. I try to e-mail one query a day (sometimes I'll send out two or three) but if I have too much on my plate, I'll submit a query or two each week. (Gotta keep the work going.)
You don't need to be freelancing full-time to send out a query a day. If you want to send one out every day, go for it. If not, it's all good, too.
Re: Query a Day?
Try it and see? My current goal is to have at least ten queries or submissions out at any one time. Whatever helps push you that little bit more (but not too far).
hmm
You can do a query a day--it is hard to keep the quality up if you are shooting for numbers . . .
(at least for me)
Sometimes I shoot for five a week, that way if I am on a roll one day, it counts for others.
Re: hmm
Sure you can do one a day, though it is hard to research magazines, research the subject you are querying on, etc. if you are sending out one a day and have other work to do as well. I am a full-time freelance writer and I find it is hard to send out one a day because I am busy working on the assignments I already have.
It is great to set goals, though. Congrats! And don't feel too bad if you miss a day here or there. Just keep plowing ahead!
Re: hmm
I'm with Cate. I have an aim to do five a week, which I could do one day at a time or five in one day depending on how much work I have that week. I do try to send out these queries every week even if I have a lot of work, so that I always have some assignments forthcoming.
Re: Whoa
50 Queries a Week seems a little too far-fetched, but when I was beginning my career, I followed a 5-query-a-day routine for a long time. It works wonders in getting more assignments. The trick is to make sure you have all the information at hand, and not go scurrying around for say, markets or experts, after you've thought of a wonderful idea. If you're collecting markets for the past three months for instance, as soon as you get an idea, you can immediately query that magazine instead of now going out to look for their guidelines.
Re: Query a Day?
I was wondering. For those of you who send out so many queries, do you pre-interview or secure agreements to be interviewed if the query is accepted? Do you tell your editor precisely who you will quote? Or do you just wing it, as in, "a therapist, a dating service owner, etc." Also, do you do a lot of your research before sending out the query?
I find I do most of my research and even parts of interviews before I ever send out the query and I'm wondering now if it's overkill. Perhaps it's more efficient to "wing it" a little more. I guess it depends on the editor and magazine, too. What do you experts do?
Query a Day?
Good luck!!
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