QUERY OR COMPLETE ARTICLE?

I just ran across a pretty good entry at another freelancing blog on submitting articles for beginners. Mostly good, that is, except for one piece of advice: That beginning freelance writers should submit a complete article rather than a query to a magazine.

Don't. Unless the magazine specifically requests it in its writers guidelines this is a bad idea for several reasons.

First, it wastes the editor's time. Editorial time and attention is the most valuable resource a freelancer has. Editors want queries because it lets them make a no-maybe decision on an article in a few seconds. They don't want to take the time to read through an unsolicited article to decide whether it goes in the 'maybe' pile.

Second, it wastes your time. A good query takes a lot longer to write on a per-word basis, but much less time overall than an article.

Third, you almost certainly won't get it right. Magazines have nuances in what they want that even the most careful analysis won't reveal. In addition to things like length there will be subtleties in approach, what information the editor wants, sidebars, etc. At best you will end up having to rewrite the article as well.

Fourth, you'll waste your sources' time. Most articles require some interviewing. Until you have an assignment from an editor you can't honestly claim to be representing the magazine when you interview people. Not only that, you can't be sure what the magazine is going to want you to cover in the interviews.

Fifth, it marks you as someone who doesn't understand the system. Editors' time is valuable and they don't want to waste it on someone who doesn't understand how things work in the industry. That promises trouble (read: The need for more editorial attention) and increases the chances that you're a flake. (Did I mention editors hate flakes?)

Yes, as a rank beginning you have a higher barrier to getting an editor's assignment, but the way to surmount it is to demonstrate professionalism. That means a well-crafted query that shows you understand the magazine and its audience.