I've Got My First Clip, Now What?

One of our members, Anna Matetic, is fairly new to freelancing. Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting some of her questions and my answers to those questions - but I'm hoping other members will join in with their experiences or questions as well. Here's Anna's first question:

"There was a class once at the Loft, a great writing center in Minneapolis, called "You've got your first clip, now what." That sums up my situation perfectly. I've proven I can write a query letter and get an assignment. I've proven I can meet a deadline. I have repeat work with two editors that I have worked with this year.Now what do I do? I have come up with goals for the next year. One is to write 20 queries a week. "

Answer: Whoa! 20 queries a week is a lot of queries if they are done right. Anna also wanted to know if she should know her markets first or come up with story ideas first. I spent the first few years of my freelance career trying to sell local story ideas that I picked up from local/regional newspapers to national markets. Sometimes that's ok, I actually sold a piece to Audubon that way this year. But, it won't pay your bills, in my opinion. I still do that as a side, but I also study my favorite magazines, my dream markets, if you will and tailor story ideas to those markets. To write an effective query letter, you should be researching your subject a little and maybe even doing an interview or two so you can include quotes. The piece I did for Audubon was so well-researched in my query letter, the editor took my actual letter as the article with only a couple of minor changes and additions. Writing a query a day is an ambitious goal. Remember, one of the major rules of goal setting is not to set them too high and doom yourself for failure. I would start with maybe a goal of 3 a week and work your way up, the more you write them, the faster you will get. And, as you develop on-going relationships with editors and they know your writing style, your queries won't have to be as detailed. My goal is to keep 20 in circulation all of the time, but 20 a week just wouldn't be feasible.