Letters to the Editor: Allison Winn Scotch

Allison Winn Scotch has answered a question of mine that's been bugging me for a while.

I've read (or think I've read) about new writers using letters to the
editor as published clips. What's your take on this? Is this a legitimate
practice, or one of those new writer pipe dreams?

Noooooo!!! Don't do this.

That's pretty much what I figured. It sounded fishy when I first heard of the idea, and because of said fishy-ness, I've never done it. However, she says something in her answer that rubs me the wrong way just a wee bit...

If LTTE counted as published clips, then everyone from my grandmother to a
second-grader could be considered a published author, and sorry, they're not.

Well, if their written words are published, then by definition, they are. They may not be a professional, but they most certainly are a published author. A published author of a letter to the editor, but a published author none the less.