Question of the day: I am a freelance writer with a few published clips (including the Christian Science Monitor). I'm working on a few FOB ideas for the glossies and wanted to know how to pitch these. Do you send a 'regular' query letter?

Congrats on your progress! Sounds like you are well on your way.

Wow, it's amazing how many questions I get on FOBs. I have a few in my file that I haven't gotten around to answering yet because I first wanted to note that folks can search the archives of the blog, and I think you'll find a slew of info on FOBs. If you search and still have questions, by all means, fire away!

But to answer this specific question, yes, I pitch FOBs in the same way that I pitch any other query: I send it via email to my editor. The difference with FOBs is that it's much more acceptable to pitch multiple ideas at once. Editors don't find that entirely annoying because they usually have a bunch of FOBs to assign, and in some ways, this allows them to pick and choose which, if any, of your ideas might work for their section.

So yes, just send a regular query, but in this case, you can just say, "I had some ideas that I thought might work for X section and have included them below." Then you can just pitch them in some sort of numerical column.

Does anyone else pitch FOBs differently?

I'm back! And, I think, more exhausted than when we left. :) But we had a great time, and I'll post pictures next week. Meanwhile, just a quick post while I try to catch up on my hundreds of emails and deal with a lurking Monday deadline.

My pal, Denise Schipani, who has written for a slew of major mags, from Woman's Day to Women's Health, is teaching a class on breaking into the women's magazine market, and I wanted to let you guys know all about it. Here are the details:

START DATE: Monday, January 7, 2008

DURATION: 8 weeks

COURSE DESCRIPTION: You (probably) read these magazines regularly. Maybe your mom did, too. Would you like to write for one or more of the women’s magazines? In this course, you’ll learn how to navigate the sometimes alien (but fun!) world of women’s magazines, from the so-called “Sisters” (such as Woman’s Day, Redbook, and others) to health and parenting magazines aimed at the modern woman who’s grown out of Cosmo but isn’t quite ready for AARP. You will learn:

-The difference between FOBs, columns and features.
-How to interpret a masthead.
-How to write queries in a particular magazine’s writing style (the best way to grab attention!)
-How to come up with fresh approaches/packages and clever heads that scream “read me!”

This course is not aimed at the total newbie magazine writer; it’s aimed at the already-published writer who wants to expand into this market. That said, students will work on a query along with learning and practicing craft, and getting an insider’s glimpse of the woman’s mag editing process.

For more info and to sign up, head to The Renegade Writer...

For some reason, I got a bunch of emails last week asking how I got my start as a writer, so I thought I'd give you my backstory which, I think, is a good example of how luck, persistence and truly hard work all came together fortuitously and granted me a career.

I was always a writer, but I didn't always intend to be a writer, if that makes sense. In college, people suggested that I pursue it, but it just sounded so dang impossible. I mean, who makes money writing??? It sounded insane. So I dipped my toe in a variety of other careers (PR, acting (to this day, I have my SAG card!), internet ventures), and finally, writing came to me, not vice versa.

About seven years ago, just after the bubble burst on the whole internet boom, I was toiling at a start-up which I co-ran, focusing on our pr and marketing, basically, creating press kits, writing web copy, establishing partnerships with other sites, etc. When we sold the site (for peanuts), a lot of our partners asked me to continue doing their web copy and press releases, and voila, my freelancing career was born. I wasn't quite sure about working full-time for myself, however, so I applied for a writing position at a well-known PR company, but by the time they called and eventually offered me the job, I'd realized that I'd be bananas NOT to attempt the freelancing thing. And somehow, by the grace of God, I got the PR firm to agree to also hire me on a freelance basis - paying me for three days of work per week. (There is a point to this background, hang in there.)

As luck would have it, part of my job at this PR firm was ghostwriting for celebrity clients. While the PR work paid my bills, I still felt unfulfilled, so, because I was getting married, I pitched The Knot a story idea for their website. I don't think this was my first query ever, but it was one of them, certainly. As further luck would have it, they were looking for someone with ghostwriting experience to pen a book for them, and though I still can't believe this, they hired me. (I did have to submit sample chapters and all of that.)

The experience itself was less than ideal, however, it opened all sorts of doors for me because my very next pitch was to Bride's, who assigned me a story immediately, and just like that, I'd landed my first national assignment. Wow! Who knew it was so easy? Right? Right???

Er, wrong. I landed another feature at another big magazine, and when I returned home from my honeymoon, was unceremoniously told that it was being killed. No offers for a rewrite, no second chances. And then, came a dry spell.

I can't remember how long this dry spell lasted, but I'd venture that it was another six months until I landed any other type of assignment (beyond my usual PR stuff). But I hung in there, despite the hundreds of rejections that dinged my inbox. I pitched story ideas like no one has ever pitched story ideas: juggling dozens of them at a time. One editor rejects it? I sent it right out to someone else. I kept on top of research and studies and trends, and if anything remotely pinged for me, off it went to an editor.

Eventually, I started breaking in with FOBs and at various websites, like women.com (now ivillage.com). I made myself invaluable to my editors and became genuine friends with many of them. But I never stopped working at 150 miles per hour. I turned in work early; I kept pitching; I let editors know that I was available to do just about anything for them, big or small, menial or not. (Er, that sounds dirty, but you know what I mean.) And now, seven years later, I have a career. Yes, it takes that long - okay, maybe I hit this about two years ago - to firmly entrench yourself.

I wish that I could promise that there were easier paths. I wish that I could say that there are secret handshakes to open hidden doors. But there aren't. I got lucky - The Knot needed someone, and I was in the right place and the right time, but from there, I earned it. There are thousands of aspiring writers out there, if not more. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep knocking on doors. If you do so, sooner or later, you'll likely distinguish yourself and one (or more) of these doors will open to greet you.

Random thought of the day: my husband has the flu. The knock-you-on-your-ass type of flu. I feel sorry for him, I do, and I've been playing nurse maid in an effort to get him back to health. But let me ask you...why is it that men are such whiners when they're sick??? I mean, again, I realize that he's sick, but is all of the melodrama necessary?? Must he act like he is at death's literal door? If I had the flu, life would go on: I'd still have to make my son dinner and I'd still have to make sure that the dog got out for his two poops a day and I'd still have to nurse my daughter, etc, etc, etc. And frankly, I'd probably do it without much complaining. So, dear readers, let me ask you...why are men incapable of this? (She said, all the while truly taking a tad bit of pity on her husband whose complexion right now is the color of my walls.)

Question of the day: When you were writing magazine articles (at your busiest), how many articles did you have "in the works" at one time? I'm in a position now where I have 4 articles that I'm working on and possibly a 5th (still for the trade magazine, but they keep upping my pay, so I can't complain). I'm allowing about a week per article, which includes research, interviews, writing. Is this about right or am I allowing too much time per article?

I think this is an "it all depends" answer. When I was at my busiest, I was also often really stressed and too harried for my own good...there were times when I'd have three deadlines a week, feature deadlines, I should note, and I felt like you could tug a string, and I'd come completely undone.

So, what I think you need to do is figure out what pace works best for both you and your bottom line. For example, writing four FOBs a month probably isn't going to tax you but it also might not pay the bills. Writing four features might. These days (when I'm not working on fiction), I like to have about one feature deadline a week - that's a good pace for me because I always have something in the works, but I'm not so harried that I feel like I can't get my errands done or make it to the gym. It also assures a steady flow of decent-sized checks.

Another factor to consider: even if you're writing FOBs OR features, how much time does each article take you? Some editors might require 5 sources for an FOB, which means that your per-hour rate for this story might be next to nothing, while you could write a feature on a subject for which you're well-versed in a few hours. One thing that I did learn along the way is that I had to stop taking on subjects about which I knew nothing. The learning curve was just too high, and that cost me both time and money. So what I'd suggest is that you figure out what you think you should be earning per hour, then pitch and select assignments accordingly.

Does that help? How many stories do you guys like to be working on at one time?

I was encouraged by an editor who liked my writing style to pitch a department piece to break into the mag (I don't have many clips beyond the small pubs for which I'm on staff as an editor). Assuming all goes well and I dazzle her (which I plan to!), I will definitely follow up with additional story ideas. My question is should I prepare 3-5 more FOB pitches, or go for the big one and pitch a feature or two (she handles both)? In other words, is nailing one short assignment enough to prove myself worthy of feature consideration? And if I decide to pitch another section of the mag, will it help to name-drop that I recently worked with this editor even if the piece hasn't run yet?

Two good questions here. For the first, I'm inclined to say that it doesn't matter: you should pitch the ideas that you think are strongest, or hell, why not pitch them all? If you're dying to break into features asap and have a great story idea, go for it; once she knows your name, you'll at least get a more attentive answer. Will she assign it? I'd say that if it's a good fit for her, she probably would. That said, there's really no way to know, so I wouldn't consider this an either/or thing: pitch everything because proving yourself to an editor is an on-going process, and just because you'd rather write features doesn't mean that you shouldn't (or can't) be writing FOBs along the way. Does that make sense?

As far as writing for another section of the mag, this is how I handle things. I usually ask the editor I'm working with if she is the appropriate editor to pitch X to. If she's not, she almost always gives me the name of the editor who is, and I can then say to this editor, "So-and-so suggested that I contact you about TK story idea." It gives me an in without being presumptuous. Of course, if your experience with your current editor is positive, I don't think it will harm you to name-drop, but it's always nice to have said editor's permission to do so. (But again, I really don't think it's that big of a deal.) Besides, your current editor might just put in a good word for you with the new editor, which is always a good thing.

So, how do you guys handle moving from FOBs to features? Is one story enough to make the transition?