Ten Rules of Writing: Rule #2

2.  Avoid prologues.  They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword.  A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

I am guilty of doing this.  I like to put my murder in the first scene, and it's not always an appropriate start.  I've been told publishers do not like prologues in general--maybe because they feel it's too much information too early so the mystery is not as mysterious as it could have been.  Of course, I don't do forwards because of my genre.  I think nonfiction would be more likely to have them.

I don't want the reader to know what the whole story is about, nor do I want them to know too much about one or more characters that may be in a forward.  I believe in backstory however.  A hint at the motive of the murder or a reaction of the players is something I do want.  So because of his fame, perhaps Elmore Leonard's suggestion is something I should try more often.  What do you think?