Picture from http://www.freefoto.com/PITY the poor editor. It’s coming up to Christmas and every day a pile of unsolicited manuscripts on a festive theme arrives on his/her desk. The themes range from decorations to recipes to using up leftovers to Christmas parties to ……. you can fill in the blanks yourself.
Were you one of those writers who seized on the holiday season and thought it would be a good idea to send off a Christmas article?
I’m not implying that your article was any worse than those that were finally printed but I suspect those which ended up in the publication were commissioned rather than unsolicited. Not only that, most of the decisions about articles for the Christmas edition were probably made in June.
This year you will do things differently.
If the publication’s guidelines (or if it has no guidelines) do not state a deadline for Christmas articles, you will phone up and ask.
You will NOT write a straightforward article on a straightforward subject unless you have been commissioned to do so.
You MAY, if you wish, take a straightforward subject and think of an unusual angle.
You will write a query letter and get a provisional OK before sending off your article.
My Christmas successes include an article (with pictures) on making decorations out of “rubbish”; a piece about people’s worst Christmases ever; a comic piece based on The 12 Days of Christmas; and an article on how other cultures mark this time of year.
I began researching these articles in the spring and they were all signed, sealed and delivered by the end of June.
So, even if you are still eating those turkey left-overs, it’s time to start looking ahead to Christmas 2008!
Posts
