How to write a good query

When you don't have ties to a magazine, a good query may be the only way to get your E-foot in the door. The composition of your query should tell the editor who you are, how you write and your story idea.

I prefer to lead the query with a sample lede, or beginning of the potential story. It needs to be a wow! sentence or two, and short and clipped are best. Don't drag things out. If you have an amazing statistic that shows that gays and lesbians have a higher incidence of getting into media-related fields, for example, that might be your lede. Or you may have a particularly compelling source's story to start off your tale.

After you're done with the lead-in, write a quick paragraph about your rate of accuracy, your talent for working independently (no hand-holding) and your ability to deliver copy on time. These are three of editors' biggest sticking points.

Finish off with your experience in the subject or the field -- or your experience as a writer. Don't go on and on. A couple of sentences will suffice.

The query letter needs to be a snapshot of what you can and will do, so the shorter the better. Remember, the editor doesn't know you from Adam's house cat, so you're not going to get a lot of time.