{"id":716,"date":"2005-05-17T21:25:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-17T21:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/writing-query-letters-for-fiction-or-poetry-markets\/"},"modified":"2020-10-07T19:35:39","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T23:35:39","slug":"writing-query-letters-for-fiction-or-poetry-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/writing-query-letters-for-fiction-or-poetry-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing query letters for fiction or poetry markets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing a query letter for fiction or poetry is a bit different from writing a query letter for a nonfiction piece.<\/p>\n

Short Fiction and Poetry<\/h3>\n

In the case of short stories or poetry, you in general won’t be writing many query letters; editors may be mildly annoyed at getting a query letter about a piece when their guidelines clearly state that writers should simply submit such pieces. Thus, you will write query letters in only a few circumstances:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You’re writing to find out if the publication is currently accepting submissions; do this only if your market research has yielded conflicting information. This type of query should be short and to the point:
    \n

    Dear (insert title and editor’s last name here),<\/i><\/p>\n

    Are you currently accepting materials for NAME OF PUBLICATION? I have a (5,000-word\/50-line\/whatever) (science fiction short story\/poem\/whatever) that I wish to submit. My work has appeared in (list relevant credits).<\/p>\n

    Thank you,
    \n(your name here)
    \n(phone and email)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  2. You’re writing to find out if they’re willing to look at a piece that falls outside their submissions guidelines (for instance, you might have a short story that’s a few thousand words longer than what they say they’ll take).<\/li>\n
  3. You’re trying to get into an invitation-only anthology or chapbook.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the latter two cases, you will be writing a letter similar to the one for the basic are-you-accepting-work? query above. There are a few things to keep in mind when writing such a query:<\/p>\n