Tag Archives: how to write a query letter

Confessions of an Editor: How NOT To Write a Cover Letter

I couldn’t resist. This is a section from an actual response I received after putting out a call for writers. My ad specifically mentions article writing, research, SEO-optimized content and other specifics. So what does one boy-wonder, college edutcated job seeker write in response to “New Writers and Writing Interns Wanted”?

“To Whom It May Concern,”

STRIKE ONE–This guy doesn’t know TWIMC is the kiss of death in the minds of many editors, or at least the ones I know.

“Please consider my resume for the position that I saw
advertised on your website.”

STRIKE TWO–this was a Craigslist ad. Can anyone say “form letter”? Continue reading Confessions of an Editor: How NOT To Write a Cover Letter

Confessions of an Editor, Part Four

It’s called Karma. For me, it usually comes about a day after my cockiness factor has gone through the roof, my editorial hubris running amok. Every time I start getting the big ego, the over-inflated sense of self-importance, that feeling I can do no wrong, Karma comes in to give me a nice reboot. Then I am nice again. For a while.

A few weeks or months go by, and the idiotic practices I see in our beloved writing industry start irritating me. I begin complaining about stupid queries, brain-dead replies to job offers, idiotic and clueless dorks polluting an industry I depend on to pay my bills. Once I get to the top of fever, I start pushing near-rabid diatribes about the worst parts of being a freelancer.

Then, it happens. Continue reading Confessions of an Editor, Part Four