I have a shot at being published in a magazine, and I need help doing it.

Comerica Park, Detroit.

Warped Tour 2011.

On this day, I was, (not so much,) minding my own business, browsing through the booths looking for interesting merch, even more interesting people to talk to, signing and stage times, and most of all, free shit. It was there that I happened to stumble upon the Substream Magazine booth, and, being the Gotta Know Everything About What's Happening in Music person that I am, I braved the giant, sweaty crowd and dived toward the tent, dragging my boyfriend, (who was interested in the makeshift "free stuff" sign the booth owner was holding,) along with me.

After asking the mandatory, "So, you have free things?" question and shoving said items in our backpack, we started chatting about her job, like what she does, if she travels a lot, does she like it blah blah blah boring stuff that nobody but me is interested in, because I do actually want to get into the industry. My boyfriend, being the businessman/sweetheart that he is, chimed in with saying that I had the apparent brilliant idea of becoming a writer for a music magazine, because I not only enjoy writing and do it in my free time, but I have a way about myself when I describe music and its elements that make up a whole. (You can imagine this made me very happy and proud of myself and him for being such a good boy.) She then told me that her boss is always looking for freelance writers, and this perked my interest even more.

The kicker was when she told me that I should email her boss, and gave me his address.

She told me that I should tell him that she met me at the Detroit show, and send him a little sample or something. There are indeed a few problems with this, though.

1. I'm a timid-ass person and I don't know if I should be incredibly formal in my email, or quirky to catch his interest.
2. I have never really written a journalism piece before; all of my writings primarily consist of very personable, casual-sounding short stories.
3. I would still have to develop a writing style to my articles, and I'm afraid of sounding wishy-washy when I write my sample/possible real pieces.

So, I humbly ask all of you for your advice: How should I present the email? What should I say? What should I write about? How long do I have to send this email? Do you have any journalism tips for me?

Seriously, anything and everything you have to offer in the ways of advice, encouragement, or whatever else you can think of, would be greatly appreciated more that you can imagine. This is so incredibly nerve-wracking for me, because I feel like this could be such a huge, wonderful opportunity for me in so many ways, career-wise and personal.

There is nothing more I want than to be in the music business somehow, and the only way I can do it is to get my name heard.