[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 8 December 2009

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:
"There's a fine line between pestering editors and letting them forget about you. You have to give them time to react to your query before you contact them. Also, be flexible. Often times people will propose something I like, but it will work better as a shorter piece or with a different focus. I like it when a writer says, 'OK, I can do that.'" John Willoughby
I used to do reviews for one of the professional journals. One of the editors commented that one of the reasons they liked working with me was that I didn't argue when they needed to cut something to make it fit the available space, and I responded quickly to requests for changes. I think part of this was my early experience working with a small community newspaper, where I learned about fitting words into the available space.

Anyway, learning to work with editors is part of the publication game. In fact, you may have more than just a single editor to work with. And in some ways, while you know your story best, the editors and others know their audience and their publication best -- so if they suggest changes, at least consider them. The key here is reaching the audience, and they may have some ideas to make that better.
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 16 September 2009

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:
"Send two or three clips with each query -- you don't want to bog an editor down with too many, and sending just one won't show your range." Dorothy Lehman Hoerr
Editors are busy. Don't overload them. Main points first, and cut the extra.

Hum. Obviously from the non-fiction side of the world, but... like the person who chatters on for pages in a cover letter, the point is that while you want to show your range or abilities to the editor, you are also dealing with a busy person who doesn't have time to go through everything. Don't overload them.

It's interesting, one of the regular speakers at MIT was a communications consultant who came in and gave a talk to the students. One of his key points was to remind everyone that while in school, teachers could usually be counted on to read the whole thing, no matter what -- in business, no one has to read your paper. So you have to give them a good reason to read. Just keep in mind, your reader doesn't have to read this.

Consider using newspaper style -- headline, summary of main points right up front, then the details. Especially for cover letters -- just the facts.
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting Fri, 20 Aug 1993 18:00:04 JST

From "On Writing Science Fiction" by George H. Scithers, Darrell Schweitzer, and John M. Ford, Owlswick Press, 1981. p.7
"What are your chances of actually being published?..."
"If you write prose that is at all competent, if your ideas show any novelty, your characters any believability, your backgrounds any color, then your chances are very good indeed, because you will be better than 90 to 99 percent of the people who think they are writers. Any writer of good science fiction will have no difficulty selling virtually all the material he can create."
Who are these people, daring to contradict the folk wisdom that selling fiction is hard, and the chances slim?

The subtitle of the book is "The Editors Strike Back." These are working editors, who I suspect know what they are seeing... Further, while they refer specifically to SF, I suspect the same is true in every writing arena (except, possibly, poetry...).

So - write, finish, and submit. Those editors are waiting for competent work, let alone the sparkling wonders we have around here...

(sorry, gotta get back to work on my next potboiler...:-)

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