writercises | TECH: 101 Tips (64) (Reply)

Original posting 14 April 2010

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"While it's essential for nonfiction markets, a query letter by itself is usually not needed by fiction editors. If you're approaching a magazine to find out if fiction is accepted, a query is fine, but editors looking for short fiction want to see how you write." 2004 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market

That's an interesting point -- a query letter for fiction really isn't as important as the fiction itself. You might be able to write a wonderful query letter, but if the fiction -- the story, the manuscript, what the reader will see -- isn't the best it can be, who cares. So put your effort into the meat.

As that old ad asked, "Where's the beef?" Make sure your story is 100% USDA approved...