do Excerpts work?

Some writing magazines have "RX for this novel" type of articles. Was that what this was?

Rx = prescription of the medical kind.

aadams73 said:

Rx = prescription of the medical kind.

Click to expand...

It can also mean: A remedy, cure, or solution for a disorder or problem (from Dictionary.com).

In the way I was using it above, an article dealing with how to improve someone's novel. Often such articles do have such catchy titles as the one I used.

I was just asking how the excerpt was used in the magazine the OP saw. I didn't mean to derail the thread.

alleycat said:

It can also mean: A remedy, cure, or solution for a disorder or problem (from Dictionary.com).

In the way I was using it above, an article dealing with how to improve someone's novel. Often such articles do have such catchy titles as the one I used.

I was just asking how the excerpt was used in the magazine the OP saw. I didn't mean to derail the thread.

Click to expand...

Oh I knew exactly what you meant. I was just reluctant to explain further in hopes that the OP was smart enough to apply "prescription" to what you'd said and derive the right answer.

I guess it depends on the purpose of the excerpt.

In what context? Was this an article, an ad, a publicity gimmick?

I suspect you're talking about the Writer's Digest critique article. They have writing instructors who take works in progress, either from writers they're teaching or those who send them in, and then print a critique for educational purposes for the magazine's readers. A friend of mine did this once, with an instructor I know and worked with.

If you're asking, "do they work to get you good feedback?" it depends on who's doing the crit. You get a good critiquer and you'll likely get good advice. I think you can get similar advice from joining a good crit group or posting work in SYW here.

If you're asking "do they help you get published?" I'd have to say probably not. I'd guess that how-to magazines are not high on the reading lists of most agents and editors, as they have so much to read already. Although they would "help" in the sense that anything that helped you improve your work gets you a step closer to selling it.