Q&A: How do I email clips to editors?
Question: How do you email clips to editors? I don’t have a scanner, but I still have my writings in Microsoft Word. Is it okay to send them just as Word attachments? And should I open them up first and type at the top, when and where they were published?
I guess I’m just wondering how they would know these were actual articles that were published if I don’t send them actual copies of them. Is it better to just make copies and snail mail everything? Maggie
Answer: Hi Maggie. In general, the reason an editor wants to see clips is just to be reassured you can write well.
That said, it’s usually okay to send clips as attachments. The potential problem is the editor’s email program may not allow attachments. I usually ask if attachments are they way they want the clips. Adding a line to each clip stating when and where it was published is a good idea.
Another approach is to create a list of credits that shows off what you’ve done. Something like the one I have at www.annewayman.com/resume will work. Sometimes I break out part of that list to send with queries.
Of course, some my credits link to the work in question and the website also has samples. It may be time for you to seriously consider having your own website.
Take a look at You’re a Writer - You Need a Website! It may inspire you.
Write well and often,
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POSTED IN: Ask Anne, the Pro Writer
6 opinions for Q&A: How do I email clips to editors?
PB
Dec 8, 2005 at 2:28 pm
For five years before I moved to this city I was a confident, well-paid editor for a large R&D company. Shortly after I arrived here, the local economy fell apart and I was laid off from my new dot com job. Didn’t see THAT coming.
I spent the next three years trying to find a comparable position, but jobs were scare and the line of applicants ridiculously long. What a nightmare! My self-esteem and savings dwindled no nothing. I finally took a job selling shoes. When the store manager introduced me to his district manager one day as “my PhD,” I hit my wall. Drawing unemployment seemed nobler somehow.
For the next two years, I continued to grapple with my long-held belief that success meant being an “organization man.” Frankly, I was terrified of becoming a free agent, no matter what Daniel Pink said. I preferred being a line worker; let others worry about the administrative crap.
But being desperate for work, I eventually took a couple of short-term writing gigs. Encouraged by those successes, in September I finally decided to commit to being a self-employed freelancer. I currently have a single client who provides semi-regular assignments, but I know I have to market myself, build a client base, and establish myself in the business community.
I’m overwhelmed by all that I don’t know. I can write and I can edit, but can I be a successful businessman who earns enough money to live comfortably? Change is good, they say. But it’s also pretty intimidating.
Any advice?
Anne Wayman
Dec 9, 2005 at 5:45 pm
PB, you can learn to market yourself and be a successful businessman… but it does take marketing… take it in small steps. Ask the current client for a testimonial and a couple of referalls… check out Peter Bowerman’s Well Fed Writer, Back for Seconds… he shows us all how to market - bit by bit.
I did a review at http://aboutfreelancewriting.com/articles/reviews/wellfed.htm
Join our forum: http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl
Marketing tips are shared there too.
Hang in there, and good luck
A
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