I'm going to post this message in a couple of different forums for as much feedback as possible.

I've been submitting to magazines for a couple of months now, and I've gotten one huge bite on an article for a well known magazine.

I wrote a poor query - didn't really understand the purpose of the query before I wrote a letter to this particular editor - and he emailed me with a "no thanks". But in his email, it is was obvious to me that my query did not represent at all what I wanted to say, so I emailed him back and tried to professionally explain that my article was exactly what he indicated he was looking for, for this particular column. He replied and asked me to send my article to him.

That was more than a week ago - almost two. I emailed him several days after I mailed my article to him by snail mail, asking if he received it, and if he thought it would work for the column. He hasn't replied to my email and I've heard nothing since as to whether or not he likes the article.

Now I'm wondering how long I wait to get a response, or if it is time for me to physically call his office and get the scoop. I don't want to see overly eager, but this is my first and only article (so far) close to being published. I am extremely anxious to have it published.

How do I handle this? I am unpublished (as you've probably already guessed) but am trying to break into freelance writing. I've written a children's book, and three other articles currently being submitted to other magazines. They went after this first one did, so I'm not terribly concerned about them right now. This particular piece has been floating out there since the beginning of April, and this magazine is the first one I've submitted it to. I just thought once they reviewed my piece, I would know fairly quickly as to whether they would want it or not.

Any advice? Other than to quit stressing and be patient.....:o)

(P.S. After this query incident, I took it upon myself to really dig deep into how to write a good query. I have improved dramatically!)