"What is a query?" you may query.

A query is a letter to an editor inquiring whether or not they are interested in an idea you have for an article, story, or book.

"How do you write a query?" you may then query.

There are entire books devoted to this very topic, but I'd like to offer you only a snippet of an answer and then something much more valuable.

Sample queries.

You know I'm all for giving away free whatever I can, and I know that some of my writing peers feel the same way. So I'd like to announce the opening of the Query Bank. Here you will find actual queries that led to a sale of an article in a Christian magazine or online publication. We accept both deposits and withdrawals!

Keep an eye on this spot as we grow this bank. In order for you or someone else to "deposit" a query into the bank, please send it to me electronically and I will post it for you. Until I find an automatic way to do this, we'll have to go through me.

Just like on your bank deposit slips, we'll need some information: the name of the magazine, the editor's name, when the article published, and the actual query itself.


My hope is to eventually open up a Book Proposal Bank as well. Once upon a time a writer gave me samples of her queries and proposals, so now it's my turn to do the same. Normally at writers conferences I offer sample proposals to anyone who asks. The query and proposal banks should make that more efficient.

Write well!