A Stupid Newbie Question

Weefarmgirl,


Welcome to the cooler. Sorry that I don't know the answer to your question, but never fear, there are others here that will be able to help you!

Hi and welcome!

I'll take a stab at your question. Do you have any publications in mind for your essay(s)? If so, then check to see what their guidelines have to say. Different pubs have different requirements. Good luck with your writing!

I'm sure someone else will be along with other tips.

Hi weefarmgirl,

The standard for personal essays is to send in the completed piece with a very brief cover letter. The letter should not summarize your article, but simply state the name of the work, the word count, and a short author bio if you have relevant credits.

Now, the above advice is based on reading zillions of how-to-be-a-freelancer books and a big pile of rejection slips, so take it for what it's worth. Still, I've submitted completed personal essays at least 20 times, and had one accepted. On several ocassions, I've received nice replies from the editor. Not one said I should have queried first.

Of course, it's always best to review the guidelines in case the targeted publication has specific requirements. I've heard or read somewhere, for example, that Woman's Day prefers queries over completed personal essays. They pay about $2,000 for those essays, though, so it makes sense they'd want some editorial input!

I'm interested to hear if writers more seasoned - and successful - than me think otherwise. I'm all ears.

Hope this helps.

weefarmgirl.

If the publication is asking for a query with published clips it is becaue they want to see your writing style.

Ann has given you good advice about checking the guidelines. If the guidelines aren't listed in the Writer's Market, then write to the publication to request the guidelines. Normally they are very specific as to style and article length. Also check some back issues. It may help you determine if your style of writing may fit into their publication.

Rose also gave great advice. If you have no published clips for the editors to get a feel for your style, you're best bet would be to send the complete personal essay.

Good luck with your writing.

Joanne

You're getting some of the best folks' input here and I say ditto to all of it.

You may have figured this out already, but another thing you can do to check a market's tastes and guidelines is spend time at their website. The websites often have media kits with editorial calendars in them and that can give you an idea of what topics will be getting covered. Some writers say that they've never had an editor accept a query because it was pegged to a particular issue and topic, but I have had the opposite experience a few times, though not every time. Also, the websites often have guidelines, mastheads etc. You can get uncover a lot of information - including back issues or older material - if you search properly.

As others have noted, the norm with personal essays trends toward submitting a full manuscript. To facilitate having full manuscripts ready to send, I keep a folder in my computer just for essays and whenever I have an idea - even if it's only a paragraph or even just a sentence, I toss it in there. Then, when I'm in need of sending out work to more markets, I go in there and see what I started. Just a method I use.

Hope that helps and good luck. You're on your way - and AW is a great place to get support and advice.

Hi! I just wanted to say welcome, Weefarmgirl!!

Welcome to AW, Weefarmgirl!

And you can get pretty much any question about writing answered here at AW.

Not to worry Wee-girl, there are no ignorant questions here, only unanswered ones. Welcome aboard, you're on your way.

Tri

Welcome - belated! And thanks for asking that - excellent question!