...keeps the creditors away!

No seriously...I don't know how anyone does it. I have just spent the better part of mid-day working on a pitch -- well, two -- tailored for one specific magazine. I'll sit on that one for a little while - let's hope I hear back. Then I'll move down to the next market and give it a go.

It'll be a lot easier to devote my undivided attention to queries once I leave my day job. My last day is next Friday - woohoo! Maybe I'll spend a lazy 4th of July weekend brainstorming. That's the only problem with freelancing full-time: your work is never done.

Knowing that I'm going to need motivation, I've collected some of the best essays I've read about query letters. The first three are from mediabistro - gosh, Laurel Touby's got a good thing going over there. I really like Carolyn See's article "Grace Notes," so I don't know why Mediabistro no longer lists it in their archives.

• Grace Notes: The Value of Sending One Charming Letter Every Day

• The Blind Pitch: How to Guarantee That Your Pitch Isn't Immediately Deleted – and, Hopefully, That It's Actually Accepted

• Pitching for Dollars: Transcript (requires membership)

• The 5-A-Day Query Plan
  

Alas, my writing work is done for the day. On to another pointless meeting at 3, then I'm leaving early for the Yankees-Orioles game. Yay for me!