Look, I’ve been in the publishing business for approximately 0 seconds, and I already have a great deal of sympathy for editors (except the ones who don’t pay…more on that next week, if she hasn’t coughed up) now I’m experiencing the other side of the submissions process.
I’m publishing book-length character-driven speculative fiction by Australian authors. We ask for a synopsis and the first three chapters. You can read all about Winterbourne Publishing on our site.
Though I’m beginning to think expecting people to read anything is a little optimistic.
I happen to think the submission instructions are pretty clear: Australian. Speculative Fiction. Novels. First three chapters. Synopsis. I also think I’m pretty lenient on the submission process and formatting requirements, especially compared to some other publishers, given you can send me just about any format or layout and if I can read it, I’ll review it; I don’t have strict requirements for cover letter and synopsis length; and I’ll even forgive a typo.
So why I am receiving poetry? And memoirs? And submissions from Americans? And non-SF (at least it’s fiction, so we’re getting closer). And submissions without synopsises (synopses? synopsi)? And incomplete manuscripts? And various combinations of.
Because it seems that quite a few would-be writers out there do not read the submission guidelines before submitting. Don’t even glance at them. And don’t look at the hundreds of writing and publishing advice sites that could give their submission a basic level of professionalism.
No wonder the slush pile is a thing of nightmare for publishers. It’s not the truly dreadful you have to fear — it’s the incompetent.
I am a writer myself and I know how hard the whole publishing process is. I started this game with idealistic notions of giving helpful feedback to every writer who submitted, and yet I’m already reduced to the form letter response because I’m running out of patience with people who don’t have the basic respect to read the plentiful information we provide on our website to help them. How long will it be before I too start kneejerk rejecting writers because I don’t like the first few words of their cover letter? (Never, I hope).
So, new writers. Here is your helpful writing tip for this week. Editors are people too. They give you instructions for submitting to help you. As a gesture of respect — to the publisher, to yourself, and to other writers — read and follow the instructions.
At the very least, think for three seconds about how your submission will be perceived if you don’t follow the instructions.
Ugh, we get the same thing with job applications. People who think that reading instructions is beneath them. People who believe they’re such special snowflakes that their jewellery design experience will get them a job as an editor or programmer.
I don’t know where they come from, or where they go when we reject them – but it makes it harder to find the people who are doing the right thing and deserve a job based on their skills and qualifications.
Of course, didn’t even think it’d the exact same thing with job apps.
“but it makes it harder to find the people who are doing the right thing”
Exactly.
I’ve been on both sides. As an editor, I definitely find it peculiar to get memoirs and Westerns when the guidelines clearly specify SFF. And here’s a note for all people who can’t proofread: hire someone. Seriously. I’m not going to read an MS which gives me a headache.
As a writer, I believe in following publisher guidelines but sometimes find them either persnickety or surprisingly well-hidden. E.g., an agent wants “a summary” with the query, but you have to grovel through her blog to learn that she regards a proper summary as 5-10pp. A particular publishing house wants 2pp summaries. One big-name agent announces clearly that no summaries longer than a single page shall ever be considered, so saith he. Some demand straightforward and professional query letters; others say your query letter should demonstrate your writing voice. Many say one thing in their guidelines but demonstrate other preferences in their blogs and forums. What’s a writer to do? Catering to all these different preferences takes far too much time away from the actual writing.
So, back on the receiving side, I can’t blame people too much for putting together one good-enough package to use for every agent and publisher. If one agent demands 5pp summaries and gets a 2pp summary, the agent can freakin’ deal with it. They can also freakin’ deal with Times New Roman instead of the Courier New they hold so dear, with “crimes” like opening the letter with a question, and with whether the writer does or does not mention his/her other work (which is the crime depends on which agent/editor you ask).
I don’t write a custom resume every time I apply for a tech job–I have one standard resume and I send that with a custom cover letter over which I’ve slaved for perhaps 5-10 minutes. I shouldn’t expect more from writers. A sample, a synopsis of a sane length, and a somewhat tailored cover/query letter will do it for me.
You can keep the memoirs, though. Submissions to a fiction publication really ought to be fiction. :-\
Oh, yeah, those are all really good points — certainly don’t want to be one of those people and I have 0 requirements on length of synopsis or font to use or any other part of their formatting — just that they give me a good taste of their SFF ms (which is why it’s so irritating to not get that…”but I’ve made it so easy for you…”)
I’ve written before about how het up and rule-bound writers get about the query letter/synopsis requirements to agents (for good reason), and I’ve said it before: if someone would reject your ms solely because you committed whatever obscure sin they personally don’t like, then you don’t want to work with that person anyway.