www.inkthinkerblog.com — From Chryselle D’Silva, who made a heck of a showing the first time out…
Thanks to your challenge, I’m very pleased to report that I sent out 62 queries in 2007. This was a huge leap from the 22 of 2006. Among other things, I now write a monthly column for an in-flight magazine and have had an essay accepted by the Guardian newspaper (www.guardian.co.uk).
I’m looking forward to taking part in the 2008 challenge. And I’m determined to meet the goal this time. I’ve also been encouraging other newbie writers to get on board :)
Thank you once again for motivating me!
Great work, Chryselle! Thanks for spreading the word. Glad you’ll be joining us this year!
Tags: freelance writing, inkthinker query challenge, query challenge success story, chryselle d’silva
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
www.inkthinkerblog.com — From Lisa, who came in just shy of the Challenge goal…
I sent out 115 queries this year from which I picked up four new magazines to write for–three more trades and my first national consumer magazine.I am also editing a book for the Teen Health Series on Physical Fitness. I’ve also picked up some odds and ends ad writing jobs and editing jobs from my queries.
Way to go! You never know where a query will lead.
Tags: freelance writing, inkthinker query challege, query challenge success story, lisa bakewell
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
www.inkthinkerblog.com — From Kara…
Because of these “cold” queries, I published articles in The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Aviation for Women and Chesapeake Family. I have a piece forthcoming in Denver Life magazine (brand new print publication). Online, I landed paid stories on GiftedTravel.com, WritersWeekly.com, write-from-home.com and
Grandparents.com, and I just sold a travel story to GoWorldTravel.com.
Even though the challenge sadly deteriorated (to use your words) I had my tally on my white board in front of my computer and likely would not have had some nice successes had I not been pushing myself to meet that 120 mark.
Go, Kara! Way to stick with it and persevere. I’m so excited for you and all of your new markets. :)
Tags: freelance writing, inkthinker query challenge, query challenge success story, kara williams
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
www.inkthinkerblog.com — We had some great competitition this time around, with lots of folks meeting and surpassing our 120-query goal. I have the grand prize winner for the most queries, and I will announce the name — and the prize! — as soon as I can notify the individual. In the meantime, coming up are some Query Challenge Success Stories to get you motivated.
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
www.inkthinkerblog.com — Few things in life bug me as much as crappy websites, and I’m sorry to report that a huge proportion of the crappy websites out there belong to writers. It’s a shame, really, because as professional communicators, we really have no excuse.
One of the biggest offenses I see on a regular basis is total anonymity. If your About Us page doesn’t have your name on it and describe your background, you’re not really telling me much about you at all. Why would I click “Contact Me” when I don’t even know who “Me” refers to? How can I trust a mysterious, nameless writer to do a good job on my project?
Another major offense is telling too much information — and I’m not just talking about glam-tastically inappropriate photos. I do not need to know the following:
- Your marital status, unless you write exclusively about marriage and romantic relationships
- Your height and weight, unless you write exclusively about dieting and bodybuilding
- Your religion, unless you write exclusively about topics in your religion
- The full names and ages of your children (with photos), unless you write about parenting issues (and really want the entire WWW to have access to your kids)
- Your likes and dislikes, unless you write about them exclusively or as a major portion of your work
- The title, publication date and venue, and full content of everything you’ve ever published starting with sixth grade and going to the present, for any reason, ever
The purpose of an About page is to give people a sense of who they’ll be working with, not to make they wonder (a) what’s wrong with you that you’re hiding so much or (b) what’s wrong with you that you’re revealing so much.
The purpose of work samples is not to give everything away. Putting up everything makes it seem like you don’t really have that much. Pick a few pieces that highlight the skills you’re most interested in selling and stick with those. Really, that’s all you need.
Don’t believe me? Check out what Rico had to say about this on Contract Worker.
Tags: freelance writing, professional website, website content, about me, selling your services online, Contract Worker
Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
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