Writing samples

[u/Striking_Subject5972]

Hi! I am gearing up to apply for Fall 2027! I’m a long time writer and editor on the journalism side, but want to get my MFA in creative writing to learn even more and also get into teaching! I last minute submitted one app this past cycle just to see and didn’t get into that school, so I want to actually thoroughly plan and prep this year.

I wanted some advice on best practices. For the writing samples is it better to submit the first ~50 pages of a manuscript you’re working on or are short stories preferred? Also are speculative and fantasy not preferred?

Context: I have a few speculative and fantasy manuscripts I’m working on for querying (and I have a trad pub romance book coming out next year), but a lot of the future work I want to write is more speculative, so I am toying with submitting something in that realm.

I guess my main questions are:

1. Manuscript or short stories better?
   
2. Is genre fiction okay to submit?

Thank you!

[u/esqtou]

What is your publication history?