Selling Stories to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine #2

An Interview with Jackie Sherbow

ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE - 5-8c a word - 250-12,000 - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (EQMM) has been around since 1941 and has been cited as “the finest periodical of its kind” by The Readers Encyclopedia of American Literature. I’ve been reading Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine since the age of 9 years old and enjoy the short twisty tales. I was fortunate to have one of my first sales here.

“Three Calendars” was selected to be featured in the Department of First Stories. Janet Hutchings bought my first story, but Jackie Sherbow has asked to publish my second! Jackie is the new editor of EQMM.

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Jackie Sherbow has taken over the helm of Editor at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine as Janet Hutchings (read her interview here) retires after 33 years.

I’m very excited to work with Jackie Sherbow on my latest mystery story, “Det. Ellie Stone’s Nutty Halloween Murder Mystery” slated for an upcoming issue.

There have been big changes in the world of magazine publishing this year as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, along with five other top-tier legacy magazines in the spec world (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,) were purchased by 1 Paragraph, Inc., a company in Norfolk, VA.

In operation since 1941, EQMM is lauded as “The World’s Leading Mystery Magazine” and has featured stories by Ernest Hemingway, Alice Walker, Stephen King, and Charlaine Harris. Let’s sit down with Jackie Sherbow and find out more!

AF: What changes, if any, can readers/writers expect with the transition to new ownership and the 1 Paragraph, Inc Must Read Books label?

JS: Much will be staying the same, at least for the foreseeable future, in terms of things like the magazine’s format and frequency, customer-service team, newsstand availability, etc.

The new ownership is a tech-forward start-up team, so readers and writers can look forward to some accessibility and user-experience upgrades to our web presence and digital editions.

Right now, we are going through some growing pains, but the delays customers may have experienced with their subscription or finding the mag at the store, and that writers may have experienced with their contracts, should be recovering soon. Otherwise, I’m hopeful that the new ownership will give us a fresh chance for new revenue and to get everyone subscribing to EQMM and her sister mags.

AF: You’ve been working at EQMM for almost a decade. How has the industry evolved?

JS: The core needs of the writers, publishers, and readers in the short mystery fiction industry haven’t changed much since I began: Readers need cost-effective and accessible ways to subscribe and purchase; writers need paying markets; publishers need subscribers and revenue. But the way we all address these needs has changed: New technology, changing work and consumer styles (especially since 2020); new anthology markets; online journals.

The question of “Will print survive?” has stuck around, but print is still here!

AF: What kind of stories are you keeping your eyes open for? How does your taste differ from Janet Hutchings?

JS: Janet and I have similar sensibilities and both take EQMM’s founding tenet to publish quality mystery fiction of all different subgenres to heart.

We also have similar tastes, but mine is informed by my point of view as a queer millennial and a poet as well as the current socioeconomic climate.

Janet published many experimental stories during her tenure, and I will be looking for that too among the traditional. I’m always keeping my eye out for characters and settings that stick with me.

AF: Will there be any changes in the format, content and/or delivery of EQMM?

JS: Again, we don’t expect many changes here from a delivery and format standpoint, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it did change at some point. Same with the content: I don’t have big changes planned, but things will change. Right now, after our columnist filled us in on some challenges with the column, we are planning a new one to take place of the “Blog Bytes” column beginning in 2026. Any changes I make will be editorially driven and with the needs of the contemporary reader in mind.

AF: You are also a writer! Can you tell me more about your creations?

JS: Oh, sure! I am a published poet, short-story writer, and essayist. I am also working on a novel (of course I am! Who isn’t!?).

AF: Janet Hutching mentioned to me that the majority of writers who submit to EQMM are male. Is that still true?

JS: Yes, it is—I haven’t done any math around it, but there is a higher percentage. As we all know, others have been habitually and purposefully gate-kept from publication and the literary community in general.

As an editor—a gatekeeper myself—I am trying my best to make sure authors and readers from chronically under-represented communities will feel comfortable submitting to and enjoy reading the magazine.

AF: Do you have any tips for nailing the opening of a story?

JS: There are so many hard-and-fast style rules shared . . . I think the best thing to do is see those as options. Tool around with the opening using all the different advice writers get about it (Start with an image? Start with dialogue? Don’t give details? Give many details?) and see what works best for the story. If you can, workshop it with your writers’ group. In the end, writers, pick what you think works best! Keep the other options in your idea bank.

AF: Who are your influences, and what do you read/watch when not working?

JS: Believe it or not, I read mostly mysteries when not working. I like to read series written during the time I was born and came of age (so the 1980s to the mid 2000s). I also read poetry, nonfiction (politics, true crime, philosophy, instructional texts in a variety of areas) and listen to a lot of true crime podcasts. As for movies and TV, I don’t watch as much of those as I’d like. I tend to pick a show or film and play it frequently as background while doing other things. My early influences were things like The Westing Game, The Face on the Milk Carton, The Egypt Game, YA horror, and, you know, The Babysitter’s Club. I read a lot of classics at a young age and my favorite was Jane Eyre. My favorite novel is One Hundred Years of Solitude . . . wait, what was the question?

AF: What’s next up for Jackie Sherbow? Dream goal?

JS: Having a hard time answering this one, Angelique, so I’m glad you asked it!

If I were ever to have a dream job, it’s the one I have now. So let’s say I want to see EQMM on every book shelf, and I want to continue to live in strong community with those around me.