Positive Query Response

I was going to wait until I knew what would happen one way or the other, but either way this is a first for me, so I thought I'd go ahead and share it!  A newspaper in Chicago is looking at one of my articles, ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTION.  They are doing a multi-part series on the topic I wrote about and said "perhaps" they could use my piece! This would be my first paying publication. 

To other writers: Don't count out the query check-in e-mail.  I submitted this article in March, but hadn't heard anything.  So I wrote back, asking if they'd received my query, with a brief description of the article.  The editor responded in less than an hour, saying she hadn't received it, and informed me about their upcoming series.  The next morning, after some edits and spending some time on what I viewed as a second-chance query letter, I submitted my work.  The editor this time responded in less than 5 minutes, saying she would read my article and get back with me in a couple weeks!

I'm excited and hope things work out, but even if I get rejected, I'm encouraged.  I know the rejection won't be "we aren't looking for this kind of story", because they are looking for exactly the kind of story I wrote.  So I hope that if she thinks my writing sucks, I'll get some advice on how to make it better.