Unsolicited magazine submissions

First, are these articles essays or articles? If they are already written essays, you may be better off sending the whole article, but make sure you know what the specific magazine prefers. If the essays' merit is acheived via your writing quality and style, it might be hard to explain this in a query. However, most magazines (especially the bigger ones) prefer queries first. Editors recieve a lot of submissions and queries, and it takes a lot less time to read through a query than the whole article. Again, each magazine has its own preferences, and writers who adhere to them will gain bonus points with editors.

Pertaining to sending articles or queries to more than one magazine at a time: This is called simutaneous submissions. While every editor wishes that they were the only magazine you sent your query to, most understand that in order to make a living in this business freelancers rely heavily upon having the same idea published in multiple locations. It can take anywhere from a couple weeks to 6 months (or even a year) for a magazine to accept or reject your submission (and in some cases an editor may not send an answer either way). However, there are some magazines that specifically ask their contributors not to submit the same material to other mags. Generally, if you can't find anything that states this, it is considered acceptable to submit simutaneously. If you get an essay accepted, most writers will send the other editors a note stating which rights are still available. If the article idea (query) was accepted, it is common curtousy to tell the other editors.

My best suggestion is to pick up a copy of the Writers Market Guide 2010 (or use one at a library). This book will give you specifics for over 2,000 magazines.
Best of Luck,
KZ

Well, while there is no harm in starting with the big fish, your best bet is to go small, local, etc. Find a smaller magazine that would benefit from your work and send a query that includes small snippets of quotes from your experts, etc. You say you have Jenna's book, so you know what a great query should contain. Don't mention your clips or lack thereof, but do definitely mention any credentials you have (for example, if the article is on health care for aging pets, and you happen to be a veterinarian, that is totally relevant.)

Read the guidelines for the publications you plan to submit to. Some do accept completed manuscripts. Some don't.

When sending a complete manuscript, I do include a cover letter which reads very much like a query, except that the manuscript is enclosed.

If you don't have clips, don't mention clips - actually, I don't ever remember being asked for clips except maybe once. If you have been published you might mention in the cover letter that your work has been published in x, x, and x magazine. Also, I would not mention in the cover letter that you have just finished a nonfiction class.

If you do need writing samples, you could write an article (on something under the same category as the one you're querying) and use that as the sample you send to the editor. You do not need to mention that it was not previously published. However, if you are querying a big magazine, they will most likely request multiple samples and where they have been published.

I agree with most. I'd send a query. But I wouldn't create a sample just to submit an article -- when you already have THAT article written.

If they ask for clips just send them the article, tell them you already have it written and don't mind submitting 'on spec.' (Which means they only pay you if they use it.)

The reason to send clips is to show you can write and hopefully *avoid* writing on spec, but there's no harm here since you've already written the article.

Dawn

Clarification - The editors liking an article or not has nothing to do with pay. You get paid if they *use* it. Oops.

I am interviewing for a freelance sports position tomorrow. While sports aren't my preferred topic, i feel it will put me in a better position to publish some stringers with the publishing group. In this case it really isn't about the money as much as the byline and establishing a report with the editor...thoughts?

Published writing clips are imperetive to success in this business, and I wish you the best of luck with this opportunity. However, as a freelance writer you have the freedom to write about topics based on your interests and experiences. If sports aren't your favorite topic, just be sure that you continue to move forward and look for opportunities covering topics you are more passionate about.

Again, best of luck.