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It’s hard to give a useful answer to this question, because the vast majority of work submitted for publication is really, really awful. One editor has a “rough breakdown of manuscript characterist...
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#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/9417 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
It’s hard to give a useful answer to this question, because the vast majority of work submitted for publication is really, really awful. One editor has a “rough breakdown of manuscript characteristics, from most to least obvious rejections” [here](http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html) (scroll down to the numbered list). If you can write a story that is engaging to _any_ reader who is not a close relative or otherwise concerned about hurting your feelings, then you are not guaranteed a sale, but you are already ahead of the curve, so to speak.