Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Repartee · Jul 31, 2009

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Does anyone have any experience with EQMM? Have you or a friend been published in it? I'm considering sending my short story to them, but I'd like to have some input first.
I'm trying to find a bookstore somewhere, anywhere, that carries it so that I can read it and decide if my work is of the same caliber.

TIA.

By the way, it's a 12600 word crime/thriller, I don't have an agent, and I haven't submitted it before.

alleycat · Jul 31, 2009

There is also their sister magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Both are friendly to new writers and you don't need an agent to submit.

12,600 is a little long for either magazine; would you be able to cut it down by a thousand words or so?

I believe you can order a sample issue of either magazine for just a few dollars.

ResearchGuy · Jul 31, 2009

Repartee said:
. . .
I'm trying to find a bookstore somewhere, anywhere, that carries it so that I can read it and decide if my work is of the same caliber. . . . .

Try a drug store that has a magazine rack, or a convenience store. I have seen it on the shelves of my local Borders store and local Barnes & Noble store, too. Unless you are in a quite out-of-the way place, it should be easy to find.

I am puzzled that you would even consider submitting to a highly competitive publication that you do not read regularly. That said, EQ and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine regularly publish work by new writers.

--Ken

James D. Macdonald · Aug 1, 2009

You don't need an agent to submit short stories. Please follow their guidelines to the letter.

Does your local library have copies, including back issues? Or, you could buy a sample copy direct from them.

Repartee · Aug 1, 2009

My local library sucks. I'll probably end up buying a sample copy from them, since I couldn't find it at Barnes and Noble.

alleycat · Aug 1, 2009

If you're in the US, and it would help, I would be glad to put an old copy of AHMM in the mail to you. I have a subscription to it; I don't have one to EQMM, but the two magazines are very similar.

If you would like me to do this, send me your address by PM.

BeluvdLily · Aug 10, 2009

You can check out both magazines at www.themysteryplace.com. They have stories online as well as writer's guidelines.

James D. Macdonald · Aug 10, 2009

AW regular Dick Stodghill has published in EQMM and AH, I believe.

Maryn · Aug 11, 2009

I've published in Ellery Queen and had 'excellent' rejections from Alfred Hitchcock, with handwritten notes asking for more of my work (which has also been excellently rejected with handwritten notes...)

In my experience, EQ is not very interested in long works from newcomers. Regular contributers like the late Ed Hoch fill those slots. They're far more likely to jump at something fron an unknown if it comes in under 5,000 words. If you can do 3,500 or even 2,500, that's better. So your long story might not be the best choice even once it's edited to meet EQ's length requirements.

As you'll find when you get your sample issue, they're not really into darker material. My critique group (which is genre-specific to mystery and suspense--and all of us published by either EQ or AH) jokes that they strongly prefer Murder, She Wrote to Se7en.

Both EQ and AH, which are quite similar markets, seem to accurately estimate their turn-around time (at three and five months respectively), running over them by no more than a few weeks. In general, the longer they hold your manuscript without rejection, the better it is for your chances. Be aware, though, that AH is freakin' serious about no simultaneous submissions, so your story could easily be tied up for five months while they consider it.

Maryn, who's usually more Se7en-ish

jpmartino31 · Aug 23, 2009

I've had an "SF Police Procedural" rejected by both EQ and AH. Prompt response, but form letter.

ResearchGuy · Aug 23, 2009

jpmartino31 said:
I've had an "SF Police Procedural" rejected by both EQ and AH. Prompt response, but form letter.

Congratulations on making the effort.

--Ken

JKabol · Aug 24, 2009

brother ken-

ive been reading eq and ah for a few years now and i have wanted to publish with them. i have had an mss out to the missouri review for a month now and have considered sending it to eq. many publishing houses are more accepting of simultaneous submissions. the missouri review and even glimmertrain are both now accepting simulat submissions. but i dont know how stringent ah and eq really are. and i'm reasonably certain the missouri review will reject my mss anyway. do you think, though, if hell froze over in the next four to six weeks and the missouri review comes to want my story and i let eq know about it right away, that i could potentially piss off the editor and receive unfavorable treatment with future submits ?

thanks

JKabol · Aug 24, 2009

a polite bump, for anyone in the know..

jaksen · Sep 6, 2012

Omg bumping an older thread because ...

I just sold to it! I hadn't sold to EQMM since the mid-90's so this is a big deal ....

Came as a total surprise for reasons I won't write here, but wow, I'm excited so....

So back to writing the current WIP.

MJNL · Sep 6, 2012

Awesome, congrats!

Maryn · Sep 7, 2012

Excellent! Can you share how long it was between submission and acceptance?

Maryn, curious

juniper · Sep 7, 2012

jaksen said:
I just sold to it! I hadn't sold to EQMM since the mid-90's so this is a big deal ....

Congratulations! I subscribed to it last month (starts with Dec issue) because I can't find it anywhere in stores. B&N carries Alfred Hitchcock but not Ellery Queen.

I've read a story or two of yours in AHMM and will look for one in EQ. Writing under same name? Not same boy?

jaksen · Sep 7, 2012

Maryn said:
Excellent! Can you share how long it was between submission and acceptance?

Maryn, curious

I submitted in mid-March, 2012 and received acceptance on September 6, 2012. (I posted this also on Duotrope.)

jaksen · Sep 7, 2012

juniper said:
Congratulations! I subscribed to it last month (starts with Dec issue) because I can't find it anywhere in stores. B&N carries Alfred Hitchcock but not Ellery Queen.

I've read a story or two of yours in AHMM and will look for one in EQ. Writing under same name? Not same boy?

Thank you!

I write under the same name, and write two basic series. (And a few stories not-in-a-series.) This particular story - for EQMM - features my other main character, Carrie Drew, aka Melanie Wilkerson. She's a 'reformed' party girl who worked with a criminal gang on the west coast, then moves east in an attempt to escape her past.

(My teenaged protagonist will be in featured in a different story in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of AHMM.)

Smish · Sep 8, 2012

Congrats, jaksen! :TheWave:

tanyadavies · Sep 17, 2012

Repartee said:
Does anyone have any experience with EQMM? Have you or a friend been published in it? I'm considering sending my short story to them, but I'd like to have some input first.
I'm trying to find a bookstore somewhere, anywhere, that carries it so that I can read it and decide if my work is of the same caliber.

TIA.

By the way, it's a 12600 word crime/thriller, I don't have an agent, and I haven't submitted it before.

Good luck!

NonieMaus · Jun 30, 2015

Received a pleasant rejection after three weeks that, though declined the submitted story, invited me to submit future work.

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

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