Writers Helping Writers: Lisa Collier Cool

Ever since I bought How to Write Irresistible Query Letters, I’ve been a fan of the book’s author, Lisa Collier Cool. That book was a great help to me as a beginning writer and later as a full-time freelancer, giving me needed help in writing query letters. It also presented a collection of successful queries, a welcome addition for those of us interested in how others write query letters.

Last month, I picked up my copy of Parade Magazine and found there “The Dog That Changes Lives,” Lisa’s article about therapy dogs. In case you missed the piece, you can read it here.

I decided to write and ask Lisa about the query letter that sold the article. She was most generous in her response, agreeing to share her query with readers of this blog. I was much impressed with her query. It is a fine example of an effective way to interest an editor of a large national magazine in an article idea.

Below, you’ll find both our emails and her query to Parade:
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To:
Lisa:
I loved your article this week in Parade. Congratulations!

As soon as I read the article, I knew I wanted to ask you about the query you used to sell the piece. I’ve been a freelancer for about 30 years and I also have a blog, Words into Print, about writing (it’s at  ldaley.wordpress.com) where I try to help others get published. I’m wondering if you would be willing to share that query letter with readers of my blog.  Yours is a great example, I think, of a short inspirational piece that not only packs a lot of emotion in relatively few words but also gives vital information to the reader.

(My daughter works at a health care facility in Charlotte and she tells me about the great impact that therapy animals have on patients there).

I do hope you will agree to share your query and I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you, Lisa

Sincerely,
Laverne Daley
Cordova, Tennessee
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Lisa’s answer:
Sorry to be so slow in replying.  Thanks for your interest in the Parade story! Below is a copy of the query letter, which you are welcome to include in your blog, as long as you credit me as the author.

Best,
Lisa

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Therapy Dog Proposal to Parade

I’d like to write about a remarkable therapy dog named Boo, who has an uncanny ability to sense what each person needs–and work what some call miracles.  At Maryknoll, a NY retirement home for nuns, some of whom suffer from Alzheimer’s, Sister Jean was lost in her own world of silence and spent her days clutching a stuffed animal for comfort.  No one could get through to her until she met Boo, who sat by her side radiating sympathy and love at each session.  Little by little, the sister responded.  First she stopped bringing the stuffed toy to sessions, then she amazed everyone by uncurling her tightly clenched hands so she could stroke his soft black fur.  She started smiling when he arrived, with his trainer, Lisa Edwards, and recently, spoke for the first time in years, saying, “Hello, Boo.”

Lisa and Boo also volunteer at a library program, in which kids read to therapy dogs.  When a little boy was struggling over the words, so embarrassed by his mistakes that he was close to tears, Boo knew just how to break the tension.  He began clowning around, sniffing the boy’s shoes and tickling his ear with his whiskers and cold nose, which got the kid giggling.  After that, he decided reading was fun.  Another child felt that Boo was so enthralled by the book he was reading aloud that the kid came back week after week to the library so that the dog could hear the rest of the story.

What makes Boo an unlikely hero is that he has disabilities.  He doesn’t see too well, often bumps into things, and moves stiffly.  And as a puppy, he was such a slow learner that it took an entire year to housebreak him.  When Lisa first enrolled in a therapy dog training program, he was the class dunce and was practically laughed out of the program.  Only by chance did she discover his amazing gift of empathy: At a pet store, Boo dragged her over to two sisters, shopping with their mom.  Then he stood there, glowing with joy as the squealing kids tugged on his tail and petted him.  That convinced Lisa he had the right temperament to be a therapy dog and she vowed to do whatever it took to get him certified.

Boo’s work at the nursing home and library has NO publicity of any kind.  He also volunteers at several other programs, including one for developmentally disabled adults.  He was recently a finalist for Therapy Dog of the Year.   I’ll look forward to your reaction to this idea, which I’m sending to you first and exclusively.  I’ve won 18 awards for journalism and my work has appeared in Reader’s Digest, the Wall Street Journal, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Self, Redbook, O the Oprah magazine, and many other national publications.  You can see some of my clips on my website: http://www.lisacolliercool.com.

Best,
Lisa Collier Cool
Award-winning journalist

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You will agree, I’m sure, that hers is a fine query letter. We congratulate Lisa on her continuing success, and offer sincere thanks for her generosity. LD

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A Gem of a Website

A website that I would classify as a Gem is one that is friendly, easy to read, and offers good, practical help to others. Susan Johnston’s website, The Urban Muse, definitely fits that category.

Every time I visit her site, I take away something valuable. That happened again today when I read her (Sept. 8, 2009) post, “Give Yourself a Raise.” (The site was voted one of the “Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2008/2009.”)

In “Give Yourself a Raise,” Susan not only assures freelancers that they can ask for more money for their work, she even provides sample letters to illustrate how to go about doing that.

“I know it’s scary to ask for more money, but you won’t get what you don’t ask for,” Susan says.

Here’s one of her sample emails to an editor:

Hi Sally, I’m so glad you liked my last piece! I love contributing to the magazine, and I’m excited to get started on this next assignment. Since this is my fifth profile for you and readers have sent great feedback on my work so far, I wondered if we could discuss a pay increase? I hope to continue contributing, but these pieces are fairly research-intensive, so let me know if you have any flexibility in your budget. Thanks!
Susan

Now that’s the kind of down-to-earth help that freelancers can appreciate.

You can read Susan’s entire post here.  You can also sign up there to get her monthly tips sent to your email inbox.

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© 2009 by Laverne Daley

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Give Yourself A Raise

A Bit of Writer’s Block Advice and An Announcement

Here’s a bit of perspective about writer’s block from an interview with novelist Alice Hoffman (author of Incantation, Here on Earth, The Story Sisters and many other novels, books of short fiction, books for children and young adults, plus many nonfiction pieces).

When the interviewer asked Hoffman if she ever had writer’s block and if so what she did to overcome it, this was her response:

I didn’t believe in writer’s block until I had it — twice in terrible periods of my life. Both times the only way out for me was to start writing, and through the process of writing, something appeared. i decided I would write five pages a day and not look at them for three weeks. Part of having writer’s block is feeling it’s worthless or you’re worthless and you can’t do it right. {You have to tell} yourself, “I’m just going to write, and I’m not going to look at it. I’m not going to judge it.” By the time you look at it, there may be something inside of it you can use.”

The interview, “Writing Her Way into the Story,” by Elfrieda Abbe, appeared in the July 2009 edition of The Writer. Read the entire piece for a look at what Hoffman has learned along the way since her first novel was published when she was 21 and still a student at Stanford University. It’s a very informative piece that we can all learn from.

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Now for the announcement. Come back to this site soon for a Guest Post by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, a full-time freelance writer on Bowen Island, BC, Canada. Laurie’s post won’t be about writer’s block but about how to become a more productive writer. Her post should be up early next week.

© 2009 by Laverne Daley

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