I don’t know about you, but I learn best from examples. This is especially true of query letters.

Whenever I sit down to write a pitch, my first stop is usually the Pitches that worked thread on the JournoBiz forums, where writers post the full details of their successful pitches, publisher and all. I could read “how to pitch” articles until I’m blue in the face, but it’s examples like these that best help me figure out how to style and structure my pitch for specific publications.

Here are a few more examples of query letters for magazine articles and book manuscripts that I’ve found around the web, plus a bonus sample query letter of my own that resulted in a commission from a magazine. Hope this helps – and happy pitching!

Sample Query Letters for Magazine Articles:

• Sample Query Letter [freelancewrite.about.com]
• How to Write a Query Letter [PoeWar.com]
• Perfecting the Magazine Query Letter [Allison Winn Scotch]
• Sample Magazine Query Letter [The Published Executive]
• How to Write Query Letters for Magazines [The Adventurous Writer]
• Magazine Query Letter Sample [About Freelance Writing]
• Query Letters That Rocked [The Renegade Writer]
• Pitches that worked [JournoBiz Forums - registration required]
• Getting Published: The Query Letter [NatureScapes.net]
• Sample Query Letter [Six-Figure Freelance Blog]
• Writing for Magazines – The Query Letter [Business Writing by Nightcats Multimedia Productions]
• The Killer Query [Jenna Glatzer]

For an entire book on the subject, check out The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. I can also recommend Jenna Gatzer’s Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer and Linda Jones’ The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World, both of which have great example of magazine pitches that worked.

Sample Query Letters for Book Manuscripts:

• Query Samples [charlottedillon.com]
• The Complete Nobody’s Guide to Query Letters [Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]
• Query Letter Examples by Carolyn Jewel
• Writing a Query Letter That Sells [writerswrite.com]
• Query Letters for Children’s Book Fiction
• Query Letter Samples [Writing on the Wall]
• Sample Novel Query Letter [Preditors & Editors]
• Anatomy of a Good Query Letter [Nathan Bransford
• Sample Query Letters [Meredith Sue Willis]
• How to Write a Query Letter [Judith Kelman's Writers' Room]
• A Query Letter by Karen MacInerney [BookEnds, LLC]

More examples of query letters for book queries can be found in The Sell-Your-Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon.

My Query That Worked:

This pitch got me into VegNews magazine last year. To give you some reference, VegNews previously ran a piece on vegetarian travel in London in 2002, hence the reference in my pitch.

Dear [editor's first name],

Things have changed since Alex Bourke first published “Vegetarian London” in 2002. With the Olympics coming in 2012, London is scrambling to clean up its act: parks are cleaner, farmers’ markets are everywhere, and restaurants are putting more emphasis on locally sourced organic ingredients. As a result, London is better than ever for the vegetarian traveler.

Are you interested in an updated piece on London for VegEscapes? I propose an article that covers the following:

* Picnic in the Park
* Dining on a Double-decker Bus
* Market Madness
* Cycling on the Southbank
* Beer and a Curry
* Haute Veg
* Budget Lunch Break

As a vegetarian who lives and works in London, I can provide an insider’s view on this fabulous city, including photos. You can read samples of my writing at the link below.

http://www.monicashaw.com

Please let me know your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Monica Shaw

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