What Every Article Writer Needs to Know
What are Mastheads, Guidelines, Queries and Submissions?
Jun 1, 2009
Freelance writing jobs often throw up unusual terms and phrases. Anyone thinking of becoming a freelance writer, needs to become acquainted with the terminology of the professional writer’s world.
Bio
Whenever you make an approach to a magazine, or submit an article, you should always enclose your Bio. This is a short, 3rd person, resume of you and your writing credentials.
Clip
The name Clip, is derived from clippings or cuttings. Originally this would have been a sample of your writing from a publication, clipped from the magazine. Now, of course, it may refer to a web-link or a print-out. Clips should always have the name and date of publication attached.
Guidelines
All magazines have rules about the way in which they expect writers to contact them. These are called Guidelines. At one time the only way that you could get a magazine’s guidelines was by writing – snail mail – to them. Now, most magazines have an online presence in the form of a website, and they will have a page devoted to their Guidelines. This is where you will be able to find out:
- What kind of enquiries they accept (E-mail or hard copy only)
- What form enquiries should take (query letter or article written speculatively or ‘on spec’)
- The word-count or length of articles they accept
- The terms of contract, rights and payments etc
- Rules about multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions (see below)
Masthead
The Masthead is simply the list of people who are responsible for the production of a magazine. You will always find a masthead on the first page of print magazines or on the first page or “about us” page of an online magazine. The list will give the positions e.g. main editor and all the other editors responsible for different sections, feature writers and columnists, designers, and so on. When submitting an idea for an article, it is important that you pay close attention to the appropriate section and address your query letter to the right person.
On Spec
To write an article On Spec means to write it without payment, speculatively. Some editors will ask to see your work if they do not know you, and they may ask you to write the article which you are proposing with no guarantee that they will accept it or pay for it. Always remember that until you receive a contract, you retain all the rights to your article. No-one has the right to publish an article that you have written On Spec without your permission.
Pitch
Some people do not draw the distinction between a pitch and a query (see below). However, a pitch definitely proposes a particular idea for an article to an editor. A pitch will contain details about you and your writing credentials. It will also contain a précis of the article that you propose to write. It is a sales pitch, and so must be written in a way that could win you a job or contract.
Query
Some people would regard a Query as much the same thing as a Pitch (see above), however, a query can be a simple letter introducing yourself and your writing credits, and enquiring if the magazine is looking for a certain type of article.
Submission
A submission is an article which you have written and which you are submitting to an editor for their consideration. Submissions can be simultaneous or multiple.
- Simultaneous Submission: it can save a lot of time to send an article, out to several editors simultaneously. Some editors will not consider work which is simultaneously submitted to several editors at once, so it is important to check the magazines guidelines for their policy on this.
- Multiple Submissions: if you have several different article ideas for one magazine it is not a good idea to send them all in at once. Multiple submissions are more likely to lose you work, than to get you it.
Deadline
The deadline is the date when you must deliver your article to the editor of the magazine. A professional writer must never miss a deadline.
More advice and articles for freelance writers.
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