The Renegade Writer Blog

Alison asks: Is having an MFA in Writing worth mentioning on a query letter? I hear conflicting things: on the one hand, that it will show that I’m serious, and on the other, that it’ll show that I’m an overeducated, pantywaist buffoon.

I didn’t know the answer to this, so I contacted some editors I know and trust to tell me whether they think you’re a serious writer or a pantywaist buffoon. I also asked them what they think of other creds writers typically include in their queries, such as membership in the American Society of Journalists and Authors or personal experience. (Some of the editors wished to remain anonymous.)

Maria Schneider, Editor of Writer’s Digest:

I’ve never given anyone an assignment because they have an MFA degree, but it certainly wouldn’t deter me from offering an assignment. I wouldn’t recommend featuring your degrees prominently on your query letter since it’s really the idea and the writing that count most. But it’s fine to include a brief bio in your last paragraph. It might catch my eye if the degree was an MFA from Iowa or Columbia.

Editor at a general interest magazine:

I’d think pretentious, overeducated — probably can discuss the worth of Keats and Yeats until the sky turns purple but can’t report or write for our purposes. I’d also question why someone spent good time and money earning a master’s in a discipline best learned by doing it. I highly doubt some Ivory tower dwelling academic can teach a person about writing and reporting better than the experience of spending a midnight shift in a patrol car, or spending a week in a courthouse, or a day at a plane crash, or an afternoon on a stranger’s porch.

Editor at a health magazine:

I’m more impressed if someone has personal experience with the subject than with any degrees. Most of the people I know with MFAs are fiction writers, and while they may write wonderful stories, it doesn’t tell me if they know about health and how to do research. I would expect an incredible, writerly lead, of course. I’m more likely to give it some weight if they’re doing personal essays–but again, it’s not the degree but the product that’s most important. I may be a little prejudiced. I once worked at a newspaper with a guy who had an undergraduate degree in architecture and a law degree. His first week he went out to cover a bank robbery and came back with nothing. I got the story over the phone.

I don’t care if someone is a member of ASJA, but I’ve known many editors who see that on a resume or query and figure that this writer is going to cross out all sorts of things in their contract and be a royal pain in the ass. I worked with a former head of ASJA and that wasn’t true–but the perception is there among some editors I know.

Chris Caggiano, editor of Deliver magazine:

It wouldn’t matter to me at all. I certainly wouldn’t hold it against someone for having an MFA, but it’s not going to make any different as to whether I’d assign a story to that writer. I’m most interested in whether writers have applicable experience in the subject matter at hand, and whether other editors have found them reliable.

On the whole, I would counsel writers to leave any mention of an MFA out of a query letter. Unless for some reason it was germane to that particular pitch.

Editor at a parenting magazine:

An MFA, PhD, or membership in a professional group like the ASJA does not mean anything to me. The most important thing is clips. But personal experience can be very influential. If a writer is pitching a story on colic, for example, and includes a few compelling graphs on what it was like dealing with constant crying, what worked, what didn’t, and how she got through it, she could get a chance based on her story.

Lisa Hannam, senior editor at Oxygen:

The credentials matter most to me when the topic they’re writing on is related to their academic background. For instance, a RD writing a diet plan; a MD writing a health story; a CSCS writing a fitness article, etc. You get the picture. The reason it matters is because it tells me whether the writer is a source, too. As for writing credentials, they can be listed; it’s not wrong. It tells me a bit about their experience, expertise, and ability to handle challenging topics. But clips speak stronger to me, though.

Editor at a sports magazine:

Hmm. . . . I think this would matter more if I were an agent or someone who published creative work. What I want to see is that the writer has credentials that relate directly to the work I need to have done. An MFA in writing doesn’t tell me that the person knows how to write an article, interview sources, etc etc. I’m not sure what it does tell me. But if you mention some places you’ve written for, or include some clips, or tell me how your interest in [topic] has ruled your life for twenty years (and your introductory letter looks like it was written by a sane person), that makes a difference. I think if you didn’t have much practical experience (i.e., not many clips) then you might mention writing related degrees to show that you’re serious about being a writer.

I don’t care about membership in writers’ organizations; there’s usually no bar to entry. When there is a bar to entry (ASJA), that does mean something, but on the other hand, I have experience with all of these organizations and I don’t necessarily have the same opinion of ASJA as someone else. I might think (not saying I do, just saying I might) that ASJA is populated by a bunch of quarrelsome pain in the ass writers with delusions of grandeur about their writing talent. So you never know how something like that will be received. Better, I think, to stick to the credentials that specifically impact whether you can do the work or not — related clips, related experience, a special interest in the subject matter and a well-written letter.

Elaine Grant, former editor at Inc.:

My feelings about credentials are decidedly mixed. An MFA in writing wouldn’t necessarily help someone who wanted to write for business magazines; in fact, it can signal to an editor that the writer is really more interested in writing novels, or perhaps other kinds of nonfiction, and is querying business magazines as a second (or third, or fourth) choice. Perhaps if I had experience as an editor for the Atlantic, the New Yorker, or other more literary magazines I’d see that particular credential differently. What impresses me, generally, is experience and credits, and yes, I am interested in someone who has experience working in the field they want to write about. Writing group memberships can help slightly — it means someone is sufficiently professional and interested enough in the field to spend time getting involved — but it doesn’t signal to me that this person is a better writer than someone without those memberships. So I guess my bottom line is that experience FAR outweighs degrees and memberships. Degrees without experience? Pshaw. I’ll turn to someone else first.

On the other hand, I admire anyone who has a literate enough of a sense of humor to refer to themselves as a “pantywaist buffoon!” I love a sense of humor, especially a self-deprecating, ironic one like this.

Editor at a health magazine:

I like knowing if a writer has an advanced degree. That tells me s/he is smart. But I don’t like it when it’s flaunted. If a writer wants to broadcast it, s/he needs to have a good reason. Re membership in a writing group, I don’t really care either way.

*****

So there you have it — honest answers from editors. In short: include a credential if it relates to the story you’re pitching — otherwise, leave it out.

Got a question for the Renegade Writers? Send it to us at questions [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com. [lf]

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