May 27, 2005
I'm sure that part of my problem today is that it's a gorgeous Friday before a three-day holiday. I really don't want to work. I've got to fix my lawn mower so I can mow the yard. I've got to fix the pool skimmer before I can open the pool. I need to stain the new pantry doors before I can hang them. I need to open the sprinkler system. All chores I want to complete this weekend, and it's... well, you know what it's like the day before a holiday, even if you're self-employed.

Otherwise, besides forcing myself to do some work, I've been thinking about query letters. I've been complimented by one editor--who, I was happy to see, contacted me today with an article assignment, not the other way around (particularly since they're my best-paying client--saying he liked my queries because they were succinct and to the point. I don't know if they're really affective or not except that some of them seem to work. I'm more inclined to think that the real seller is the resume I attach with my queries and published clips (pdf files) that have some relevance to the topic at hand. Here's an example, though:

Dear Mike,

According to a 2005 JD Morgan report, the clinical laboratory industry is worth over $40 billion. Routine clinical testing is responsible for about $28.5 billion. Anatomic pathology is responsible for about $7 billion. Esoterics and genomics is responsible for about $3.7 billion. At the same time, although overall laboratory growth is increasing by about 7 percent a year, molecular diagnostics is increasing about a rate of about 20 to 25 percent a year. In 1993, GeneTests cited 100 laboratories offering 100 different types of molecular tests. In 2004, they cited 600 laboratories offering almost 1,100 molecular diagnostic tests. There are (at least) three trends going on in the field.


1. A shift from analyte-specific reagents or home-brews to FDA-approved, commercial kits.
2. Companies are building strong legal intellectual property fortresses around their molecular diagnostic capabilities, especially the specific bioinformatics algorithms used by the various equipment manufacturers.
3. There appears to be a shift—and this is related to #2—toward test developers also being the test deliverer, ie., the company that manufactures or patents the gene or biomarker is the test provider or licensor.


Would you be interested in an article looking at this and how it appears to be affecting the biotech industry and healthcare? I would talk to Leslie Wainwright, PhD, vice president of SG2, a healthcare consulting firm, and possibly Dr. Gennadi Glinsky with Stratagene, Henry Nordhoff with Gene-Probe, David Ladner, director of Xenomics’ Licensing and Intellectural Property division, and Michael Pellini with Genomics Collaborative.


Well, this may not be typical. It's longer than most. Much longer, with more detail, but I had recently written an article touching on this topic and had all the data on hand. And I haven't got the assignment yet, though I've worked with them before and he seemed interested. And a typical query to someone I haven't worked with before has a paragraph pitch about myself, usually: I am a fulltime freelance writer specializing in medicine, health, biotechnology and regulation. My work regularly appears in... etc, with a brief background on professional organizations and education.

What's good about the above pitch, and one thing I do try to do--and it seems very effective--is to outline who I plan to interview. This can be guessed at with a 10-minute web search, and I don't feel obliged to talk to them if they don't come through.

So why am I thinking so much about queries? Because they're hard. Because I should drum up some more work. Because, like every other writer, I'm paranoid that I'm not doing something right.

Best,
Mark Terry