Course Details

As a freelance writer, the query letter can make or break you: it's your personal introduction, writing sample, and article outline all in one. Write a solid one and you're on your way to a feature contract, or at least an ongoing relationship with the editor; write a lousy one and you'll disappear into the slush pile. It's a lot of pressure to put on a package of no more than 500 words.

Whether you're pitching a celebrity profile or an undercover investigation, there are some key techniques and strategies you need to know to come up with a killer query. This course will walk you through the most important ones, from researching your target publication to structuring the pitch to selling yourself as the perfect writer for the job.

Bring your story ideas along for hands-on workshopping.

In this seminar, you can expect to learn:

• How to develop an idea into a sellable story
• How to target the right editor at the right publication
• What editors look for in a query--and what turns them off
• The basic questions all queries must answer
• How, when, and how often to follow up
• How to network your way into a magazine
• How to package yourself as the ideal writer for your idea
• How to deal with--and benefit from--rejection

Instructor Bio

Sally Lehrman's Courses

Sally Lehrman is an award-winning reporter and writer on medicine and science policy who has written for some of the top names in national print and broadcast media including Scientific American, Nature, Health, Salon.com, and the DNA Files, distributed by NPR. Her honors have included the 1995-96 John S. Knight Fellowship; a shared 2002 Peabody award, Peabody/Robert Wood Johnson Award for excellence in health and medical programming, and Columbia/Du Pont Silver Baton (for the DNA Files). She is author of News in a New America, a fresh take on developing an inclusive U.S. news media, and two chapters for textbooks on covering the sciences. She serves as at-large director and national diversity chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and is a USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism Expert Fellow on race. She works in her home office with her assistant Daisy, a Saint Bernard.

Testimonials

Sally's course was extremely valuable. She helped me pitch an article to Wired!. Sally ran the course as a workshop, was very organized, and gave terrific feedback. -- Michael Chorost, author of Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human

From Sally's class, I sold three assignments! The class was a constructive idea-generating environment that honed my editing skills to boot." -- Narasu Nebbapragada, freelance writer and technology magazine editor

"Not only was Sally's course an opportunity to share my work with a group of passionate, colorful, and opinionated individuals, it also provided guidance for packaging and selling my work." -- Paul Lee Cannon

"Sally's class was phenomenal. She has a huge amount of experience, which she shares to help you successfully pitch to and write for magazines, as well as to simply run the business side of a freelance career." -- Liza Boyd

"Sally brings enthusiasm and focus to her classes. I look forward to taking more classes from her in the future." -- Marie Watts, Adjunct Business Professor, Brooks College

"The environment Sally created was comfortable and supportive. She fostered a truly interactive experience." -- Bruce Johansen

"Sally presented useful, practical steps to preparing yourself for a freelance career. I now have blueprint and reference materials while I get my freelancing career off the ground." -- Joy Buchanan

"Sally helped me strengthen my writing, which resulted in not only several freelance gigs but also a widely-read book and a great job as editor of a Bay Area monthly." -- Lori Hope, author, editor, and speaker, lorihope.co