{"id":962,"date":"2010-01-21T11:38:07","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T16:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=962"},"modified":"2010-01-21T11:38:07","modified_gmt":"2010-01-21T16:38:07","slug":"queries-that-worked-my-biggest-writing-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2010\/01\/21\/queries-that-worked-my-biggest-writing-regret\/","title":{"rendered":"Queries that Worked: My Biggest Writing Regret"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Since I had written a couple travel pieces for the Dallas Morning News<\/em> and finally knew the editor on a first-name basis, I decided to send a pitch letter.<\/p>\n

A pitch letter is<\/em> a query letter, but it’s a little different. Instead of sending a detailed query about a place you plan to write about, you send a list of places you’d like to write about and see if editors have a need for any of the ideas.<\/p>\n

I sent e-mail to the travel editor I’d worked with, telling him my spring travel plans. I pitched 10 places I wanted to see in Texas. Here’s what I sent:<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Dear [Editor Name],<\/p>\n

Last spring, I worked with you on “Highway Heroes,” an article about Texas roadside attractions. This spring, I’m planning to visit the following places; do you have a need for articles about any of these locations:<\/p>\n

Palo Duro Canyon — The second largest canyon in the United States.<\/p>\n

Caprock Canyons — The third largest state park in Texas, with a 60+ mile biking, hiking, and equestrian trail.<\/p>\n

McDonald Observatory — A great place to look at the night sky, in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.<\/p>\n

Matagorda Island — This long barrier island is the perfect way to get away from it all.<\/p>\n

Texas Breweries — Texas’ immigrant heritage is reflected in its beers.<\/p>\n

Texas Vineyards — Hill Country vineyard tour.<\/p>\n

Monahans Sandhills State Park — Most people in the state don’t know about these seventy feet tall sand dunes in West Texas<\/p>\n

Enchanted Rock — Just north of Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock is the largest pink granite dome in the United States.<\/p>\n

San Antonio — A 3-day weekend guide to little-known attractions, dining, and the arts in the city.<\/p>\n

Austin –A 3-day weekend guide to little-known attractions, dining, and the arts in the city.<\/p>\n

Please let me know if you would like me to cover any of these stops this spring for the Dallas Morning News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Christopher Gronlund<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

How it Worked<\/strong><\/p>\n

This pitch letter resulted in four assignments:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. An article about Palo Duro Canyon<\/a> and Caprock Canyons<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. An article about Monahans Sandhills State Park<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. An article about Matagorda Island<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. An article about Texas breweries.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why it Worked<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Again, the letter was short, showing that even though I had a relationship with the editor, I still valued his time.<\/p>\n

    It also worked because the editor knew he could count on me to deliver the pieces. I worked very hard on the roadside attractions article, so he knew I didn’t mind getting out there and driving all over Texas to see cool things, research, and take photos.<\/p>\n

    What Happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I jumped jobs before a layoff hit me, and the new job sent me to Atlanta for two months during the spring, when the editor needed the articles.<\/p>\n

    For years, I always put writing before my day job. I thought going to Atlanta would impress my new employer; I thought going to Atlanta would be the right <\/em>thing to do.<\/p>\n

    Looking back, I have much better memories from the travel articles I’ve written than from my last job. (And I really liked my last job.) I should have done what was right <\/em>for me: telling the new job I couldn’t go to Atlanta at the risk of losing the job.<\/p>\n

    I don’t have many regrets as a writer, but I do <\/em>regret passing on the four articles and putting work before writing in this instance.<\/p>\n

    The Juggling Writer<\/em> is about juggling work, writing, and life. Using the juggling analogy this blog is based on, passing on these four assignments was my biggest drop as a writer.<\/p>\n

    But if I’ve learned nothing else from over 28 years of really juggling, it’s that you have to pick things back up<\/a> and keep going.<\/p>\n

    Assignments like these are always just a query or pitch letter away for anybody willing to do the work.<\/p>\n

    I hope yesterday’s entry<\/a> and today’s entry help somebody take a chance to give it a try!<\/p>\n

    Tomorrow’s Query<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Tomorrow I’ll share the query that resulted in an article sale to a Writer’s Digest<\/em> publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Since I had written a couple travel pieces for the Dallas Morning News and finally knew the editor on a first-name basis, I decided to send a pitch letter. A pitch letter is a query letter, but it’s a little different. Instead of sending a detailed query about a place you plan to write about, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23,28,3,59],"tags":[14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}