Here it is.  My very first printed publication!  My penguin research is published in E/The Environmental Magazine this month!  By The Numbers: Penguin Populations

For those of you who know anything about the query process, this is a rare case of first-time success.  My query was submitted to E Magazine in October 2011, and it was published in March 2012.  About 6 weeks after submitting the email query, I followed up and got a positive response.  My very first magazine query was assigned!  It generally takes several rejections before a query is accepted by a publisher.

How did I do it?  I only sent one query and it was specifically targeted for this market.

I studied the Writers Market 2012 – a bible-type reference for freelance writers.  My query letter was based on examples from the book, and tailored specifically to fit E’s writer guidelines.  I didn’t submit my idea to any other publications because I knew E was the right place to publish my research.  If I had gotten rejected, I would offer the story to my second choice publication which I did not pre-determine.  I had every intention of being published in E magazine.  There was no doubt my query was on target.

My second query letter was submitted about two weeks ago to a local publisher, Cincy Magazine.  My idea was made-to-order based on Cincy’s guidelines for writers, so I am optimistic about the assignment.  Local magazines want to publish location-based stories.  That’s a no brainer, right?

Only time will tell if my rookie success will last.  I sure hope it does!