A quick question tonight, since it’s already way late, and I spent the entire day amidst serious renovations. My fingers are sore and my back’s about to give out, so this is about the limit of my time in front of the compooter today. Will writes:
I wrote a novel that originated from a published short story of mine. Should I mention that in the query? Is it better to change the title or keep it the same?
Absolutely.
This is what we in the business call a credit, and we love when authors who are querying us have them. It shows us that you’ve been edited (usually) and that someone other than your friendly neighborhood critique group or grandma or local class of 8-year-olds thinks your writing is nifty.
The title is immaterial — lots of titles get changed from submission to publication. the one that I would try to make clear is WHY you felt the need to expand it from a short story that (clearly) worked. If you cover than in your query letter as well, you should be hitting the major plot points and be ready to go.
And I’m off for bed before I mix any more metaphors.
(Side note: my work boots are nowhere near as cute as these. I wants.)
