Notes from Minnesota

Welcome new subscribers! I'm tickled that you've joined the brightest group of freelancers on the 'net.

P.S. Be sure to check out our best sellers and awesome resources for writers. You'll be amazed at what you can get your hands on. :)

Beth's Hot Pick of the Week

I'm feeling nostalgic. Jumpstart Your Writing Career (and Snag Paying Assignments) is a classic at Filbert Publishing. If you haven't got your copy yet, check 'er out and order it today. I'm tossing in a Freelance Pack chock full of writing resources with every single order. Click here.

The Creative Mindset Community

If you're looking for a small, tight knit writing community... a place where you'll receive personalized attention (if you desire it), free resources, a private chat area, a monthly subscription to the Creative Mindset Newsletter, and a monthly Round Table discussion where you can hang out with other freelancers, ask questions, and simply be yourself... you need to check out the Creative Mindset Community.

http://filbertpublishing.com/creative.html

Here are the latest events to get your keyboard humming and profits rising:

Notice: You still have time to get in on our March call: You can get all the info at our private Yahoo Group. If you're a member of the Creative Mindset Community and haven't gotten in, e-mail me and I'll get you the link. Just use the private e-mail addy at the bottom of your issue of the Creative Mindset Newsletter.

If you're not a member yet, and if you want the free monthly discussions, a fab newsletter, regular CDs, a private Yahoo group, and much more. You can get all the info you need at the following link.

http://filbertpublishing.com/creative.html

Query Mysteries Demystified

Beth Ann Erickson

Volumes have been written about query letters.

Well, maybe not volumes, but definitely plenty.

Thing is, most of what I’ve read about drafting the perfect query is pure bull dung. In fact, the information is so useless, I have to wonder if any of these writers have actually published anything.

OK. I know what you’re probably thinking. How can I possibly claim that most query advice is worth less than the paper its written on?

Well, I can say this because, as my mail box attests each and every day, that particular query advice most certainly is not reaching its intended audience.

Plus I’ve read a few of those query-drafting books and to be totally honest, the advice is about as dry as the resulting queries.

And try as you might, a dry query just won’t cut it these days.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Now, the information I’m about to share is something I haven’t presented to anyone before. It’s not that I’m “hiding” from the masses, it’s more that I don’t have time for the avalanche of e-mails that inevitably flood my in-box whenever I present new information that (on the surface at least) seems to run contrary to popular theory.

Just as an example, whenever I urge the wider freelance community to “write like you speak” rather than follow hard and fast grammar rules, at least three retired English instructors chap my hide with scathing e-mails spouting that it’s people like me who are single-handedly “flushing the English language down the toilet.”

Yeah. Right. I suddenly feel quite powerful.

I suppose there’s a grain of truth to that accusation (it’s probably why those e-mails bug me so much) but a conversational writing style isn’t so much a ruination of the language as much as it’s a tool writers ought to grasp tight so they can effortlessly connect with their reader.

Write to any American graduate and you better “speak” their language or you’ve just lost a reader.

Need proof?

I’m glad to oblige.

The number one selling newspaper in the world isn’t the Wall Street Journal. It’s not USA Today either.

Nope. The best selling newspaper in the world is none other than the National Enquirer. And a big component to their success is the mastery of speaking the language of their readers.

I highly suggest you pick up a few copies and study their style. I know. It’s not high brow.

I’m not advocating that you use the National Enquirer writing style with everything you write.

Far from the truth.

What I do advocate is that you, like the National Enquirer does so eloquently, is study the communication style of your intended reader and simply match it word for word, phrase for phrase, colloquialism for colloquialism.

Become a master chameleon, your writing reflecting the subtle shades of your intended market’s communication style.

So, how do you achieve this feat?

Before you start writing your query, you’ve got a lot of work to do, Grasshopper.

You must read back issues of the magazine. Study the Writer’s Market listing. Order a few books and study the style.

Subscribe to their e-zine. This is particularly useful because zines are so cutting edge, no lead time whatsoever, and so darn spur-of-the-moment that it’s pretty easy to catch on to any particular writing/communication style.

All you need to do is capture their personality and boom… you’ve got an edge.

And all this background work will absolutely, positively affect whether your query hits pay dirt or not.

Like I said, it's a lot of work.

That's exactly why it’s imperative that you do it. The vast majority of your competition isn’t.

I can say with complete certainty that 99 out of a hundred queries Filbert Publishing receives is completely unsuitable for our company.

Of those that are suitable, most of them are so stiff that I don’t dare ask for the manuscript because I know it’ll bore me and ultimately our readers.

The pickings are so incredibly slim that we didn’t publish any new titles in 2006 and very few in '07 although we were actively searching for one that fit our very simple guidelines.

It's evidently very confusing for many writers to follow guidelines because we get queries on every subject under the sun EXCEPT those we’ve asked for.

This is bad news for us, great tidbit of info for you.

Simply follow the guidelines and you’re farther along than most freelancers.

Then if you match the tone of your intended publishing company, you’re another step forward.

Just these two bits of advice can set you light years ahead of your competition.

But I’ve got another bit of insider information that may interest you: Hang tight. I'll talk about that next time. :)

~~~

Beth Ann Erickson is the “Queen Bee” of Filbert Publishing. She’s also the author of numerous titles including “101 No Cost and Low Cost Secrets To Turbo Charge Your Freelance Income.” Pick up your copy today at http://filbertpublishing.com/101.html She’s also a busy copywriter, speaker, and publisher of Writing Etc., the free e-mag for writers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*-

http://www.WritingForDollars.com

WRITERS FIND MARKETS EASILY - Worldwide Freelance has a NEW fully-searchable Markets Database. Discover writing markets from North America, Europe, Australia and other places. It's free, so come and try it out

here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~