Asking for work?

I haven't done that with trade magazines, but it's all I've ever done. (One website I write for might be considered a "trade" though. Two local mags, and one b2b advertorial publication. All were a result of using this method.)

They sometimes call it a "letter of introduction" or "LOI."

If you have background in a trade, and have writing samples (which you do now!), then this can be a great way to get assignments.

(Just noticed you said you don't have "trade" experience. But these mags are not only for carpenters or welders, lol. For instance, there are magazines for administrative assistants, hotel housekeepers, sales and marketing personnel, etc. Think of every job you've ever held, and there is probably a trade for that. Check out this sticky on where to find trade magazines. It hasn't been updated in a while, but may still be useful....)

Personally, I love this arrangement. They tell me what they want, I figure it out and write it. Love, love, LOVE it.

Try it!

ltd.

Yes, that's why I often say... I've never queried. I guess that's not exactly true, because LOIs are a query of sorts, but in the traditional sense of having an idea and querying a magazine... no, I've never done that.

I need to though. Really. I need to get over that hump. I have one sitting on my hard drive for a regional mag that has a decent chance of success. I just had to hold it until the editors would be thinking about the issue I'm shooting for. (Which is probably this month or next, so here pretty soon...!)

ltd.

I would say it is nearly 100%, but don't use me as a rule by which to measure! I tend not to go after anything that isn't almost guaranteed, and even then, I haven't followed up on a couple gigs where LOIs opened doors. (I know! What's up with that? ...One is a "healthy living" type mag and I'm not a great example of that, lol. The other is a biz pub I haven't followed up on because I don't have a thing to wear to the interview!)

The Renegade Writer blog may have better info. I'm not sure.

KW, just do it. Find a trade mag (or local mag or newspaper or website) that looks perfect for you and write the editor a letter letting him/her know what you could bring to the table. Include a resume' or similar document showing your skills and experience. Perhaps a couple of clips.

The alternative to this is to simply write a brief note (or call) and ask if they do sometimes use freelance writers. If they express interest, then you can send all of the above (or whatever they ask for). I've done it both ways with success.

Or do whatever the Renegades recommend. I haven't read the book in a while, but I agree that it's awesome.

ltd.

I've had success with LOIs to trade magazines, too. I sent one recently, and the editor asked if I had any ideas in mind, so I had to follow up with a query, but I was querying with the knowledge that she already liked *me*, just didn't have an assignment to give me at the time. The query landed me an assignment for the July issue, but I wouldn't be surprised if she contacted me before then with another assignment.

Another magazine invited me to write a monthly department. Unfortunately, the magazine didn't pay so I had to turn it down. Which is another reason LOIs are great. Many trades don't pay, and they don't list their rates (or lack of) anywhere. Rather than developing an idea and querying, you can find out right away with an easy LOI.

The only advice I can offer with an LOI (as an editor, I've gotten a LOT of bad ones) is that your letter needs to really give them a compelling reason to hire you. I mean, you're not pitching an idea, you're selling yourself, so you have to make the sale compelling.

I get a lot of LOIs as an editor and some just exude the feeling that the writer is too lazy to query or doesn't know how. I think what sets a good LOI apart (to me, at least, as an editor) is clips! It's the 'show v. tell' thing...by sending clips, the writer is showing me he can write, whereas an LOI doesn't have enough meat to showcase a writer's skills.

Good luck with it, KW.

Dawn

I love sending LOIs and have had great results. My best result by far was to one I sent to a trade back in 2001. Got an assignment right off the bat and have been writing for them since. Two years ago they made me a contributing editor and I'm still going strong.

If you have a strong LOI, don't be shy--send it out! Good luck.

At the risk of repeating what's been said many times in this sub-forum and sounding like a broken record [... record ... rec--*SMACK!*], trade editors receive a tiny fraction of queries and LOIs compared to consumer pub editors. It's almost a novelty when a writer goes to the trouble to contact them and offer to help. As such, it's generally much easier to establish a dialog with trade editors from the get-go.

When I was a trade editor, most of the "queries" I received were from advertisers who wanted free press. Or worse, company reps who said they would "probably" advertise if we gave them free coverage. This happened so often that I subconsciously developed a filter and didn't continue reading emails past the first couple of lines if I wasn't clear that it was from a service-providing writer. (Hey, if a writer isn't clear right away in a written message, what's the point in going further?)

So the first thing I'd suggest is to use a good attention-getting lead sentence -- just like you would do for a query or well-written submission.

A few more suggestions:

• Get the editor's name and use it in your greeting. It shows that you do your homework.
• Use links to samples rather than sending samples as attachments whenever possible.
• Explain why you're interested in writing for that particular publication.
• Let the editor know that your objective is to establish a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship.

One last thing: keep in mind that there are many more association publications than there are trade magazines. The key to breaking in is to understand the distinction and to target your approach. Here's the distinction: Trades rely on advertising and subscriptions, appealing to a particular industry in general. Associations rely on membership dues, and as such are more tightly focused on the interests of their members (which are a tighter niche' market and PART OF an industry, with specific needs, wants, and issues).

Mid-sized associations are the best ones to target because they often have more support needs than existing staff can handle, but not enough to warrant adding an in-house position. Small associations often don't have enough money to pay freelance writers. And really large associations tend to either add staff and/or outsource PR and marketing to established firms.

At any rate, to end this where we started, LOIs or even introductory phone calls are usually well-received by trade and association editors. Just make sure to keep their interests in mind so that you can present yourself as a viable source for providing solutions. Do this enough and you'll have plenty of work ... and may never have to write another query.

Featurewriter said:

At the risk of repeating what's been said many times in this sub-forum and sounding like a broken record [... record ... rec--*SMACK!*], trade editors receive a tiny fraction of queries and LOIs compared to consumer pub editors. It's almost a novelty when a writer goes to the trouble to contact them and offer to help. As such, it's generally much easier to establish a dialog with trade editors from the get-go.

Click to expand...

Still, Michael? Is this still true?

I've read it so often - and have read it for years - that I think the trades must be deluged by writers by now. It surprises me to hear you say it even now, in 2008.

I mean, that's great. I'm just surprised.

ltd.

Yup. It's still true.

Trade press remains the same old "un-sexy" market that it's always been. Most writers, and hopeful writers, still go for the consumer pubs.

I have a question about clips for these magazines. I have been freelancing for a while now and have lots of articles under my belt. But I have never been published in a magazine. I'm close, with an article written and an editor still going back and forth with me..... Besides that, I have hundreds of articles published on the web, mainly on the two topics I love and am knowledgable about. When attaching clips, or even linking to them, does it look bad if they are web content articles? I'm not talking about articles to submit to article directories with, but well written, informative articles that just happen to be on the web rather than in print.

Writing Mom,
Those are fine. If they are on large, prestigious Web sites, that's even better.
Dawn

I'm in the position where I don't have a lot of clips. The clips I do have are mostly old, the newest being my story in SoS, and they're varied, ranging from Dragon Magazine (Dungeons and Dragons) to The Upper Room (a devotional magazine). None of them, except perhaps one really old newspaper article on Whole Language, would be of any interest at all to most trade pubs.

But I have a diploma in Chemistry, a Masters of Divinity, a Masters of Pastoral Studies, a Bachelor of Arts with emphasis in Psychology and Sociology, management experience in the food service industry, ten years as a pastor and worship leader, and personal experience with persons with disabilites. And I can write (and research) very well.

It seems to me that there are trades that I could write for with these abilities.

Dawn, Michael, Joanne:

Is it worth sending out LOIs at this point, or should I get a few recent clips under my belt first?

Honestly, I've heard you can use an LOI successfully without clips, but you're already at a disadvantage w/ no clips. I would give myself every advantage by coming up with a killer story idea for one of my markets in which you have experience and using a query. You can also add the sentence, "In addition to writing [Awesome Article] for [Your Magazine], I am also available immediately to complete articles on assignment." (to cover all your bases).

You could use an LOI, and it certainly might work, but having a great story idea just gives you an advantage without the clips to back up your writing ability. The personal experience should be a great benefit, though! Good luck.

A solution to your clips problem, however: don't worry about sending unrelated clips. For church magazines, you can definitely send your work from Upper Room. I probably wouldn't use the D&D mag for church pubs (same as I wouldn't send one of my articles on Tarot to a Christian mag! LOL) but a clip doesn't have to be a related article, just something that shows you know how to write.

Cut off the dates or just send the text of the article in the body of the email, with the words, "Originally appeared in [Magazine]. No one has to know they're old. (That trick came from Jenna Glatzer, by the way.)

Thanks once again, Dawn. I've got a few query ideas on the go right now. I think I'll knock them into shape, get them out to less competitive markets, get the clips, and then go for the LOIs.

There. I have a plan.

Thank you!

I have been trying to find information like this for a while. This is very helpful. I'm off now, to send letters to editors.

I've never formally asked for work, but there have been a couple of times when I wrote to publications asking if they use freelancers (intending to send them a specific query or article if they said yes) and ended up getting assignments from them. Seemed to be a matter of the right timing; unpredictable, but work a shot.

KML,
Hard to know without reading your letter, but my guess is no. Responses for queries can go that way too, sometimes. Sometimes it simply is the luck of the draw. It can be very frustrating. Are you sure you have the correct e-mail addresses and there's no problems with your e-mail? (Sorry to make you paranoid, but it does happen!) LOL
Dawn

Just wanted to throw my two cents in. Yes, letters of introduction (LOI's) absolutely work. Well, at least for regional and local non-trade mags. Recently I reached out to the editors at three different trade magazines. So far I haven't received any responses. But like Ltd., I've had way more luck with LOI's than queries. Perhaps because I've sent out so many LOI's!

Yeshanu: As far as not having clips, go with Dawn's sage advice. Or, send a great query or LOI and offer to write the article on spec.

I would definitely ask for work. I do this quite often, and 9/10 times they are happy to pass the work to me.

Hi,
Is it enormously better to write a query for a trade mag or would a LOI be fine? Obviously, the former are much harder to write!

Another thing: I've been told than none of clips are relevant or impressive (I don't think that's a fair judgment, but still. I was in Ms. magazine this month, for example.) I have one trade clip, which wound up not getting published-- but I still got paid, thank Darwin. I don't think I have any clips that might be relevant to trade mags. Since I've been told that "bad" clips are worse than no clips, what should I do?
I feel like this is just another example of you can't get a job without experience, you can't get experience without a job. In all my LOI's to trades, and I've done maybe 20, I only got that one assignment I just described.