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Karen MacLeod

Working with Submission Guidelines

In my earlier column, I mentioned the publisher's submission guidelines. Margaret Carr suggested I cover these ideas for this column.

MARGARET WROTE --
"Rules are made to be broken." This is one of the most common irritants. It is used to justify just about anything -- sending attachments, submitting previously published work, ignoring/ignorance of basic writing techniques or whatever the writer just doesn't want to be bothered with. Frequently what they don't want to be bothered with is finding and reading the guidelines. Since the guidelines have been linked from every month's main page for two and a half years at least...

Most publishers would take your manuscript and put it in "the circular file" (trash can) if you don't follow their guidelines. Why should they bother if you aren't conscientious enough to investigate what they require, and take the time to supply them with material that meets that requirement?

If the publisher asks for an exclusive submission, submit just that. However, let them know they have a limited length of time, probably three months, to get back to you if they are interested in the work. If they are not interested within the time you have offered, then you are free to market your manuscript elsewhere. It is embarrassing for an acquisitions editor to be enthusiastic about a project for her publishing house, only to find the author has submitted it (contrary to submission guidelines) to many other places, thus, not keeping it available to this editor.

It's important for you to follow all the specifications about submissions, so the professionals won't be turned off by your presentation. Agents and editors of larger publishing houses usually have hundreds of manuscripts sitting on their desks for consideration at any one time. You don't necessarily require an agent to handle your book deal, especially if you do follow the publisher's submission guidelines.

The opening paragraphs of your manuscript should be able to reach the reader, and grab them forcefully into your story. Don't open your work with backstory. If you get the acquisitions editor's attention, they will ask for more from you.

Keep a notebook of which manuscript you have submitted to which publisher. Include any and all contact information in that ledger for each manuscript. You can easily track the status of your work through the pipeline at various publishers this way. You can then do query letter follow-ups if you don't hear from the publisher within the months you have allocated to leave the manuscript with them. While waiting to hear, don't sit around and do nothing, begin on your next project!

In my role as editor, I keep a computer folder for each book I have edited, or am working on, if the work reached me electronically. I retain that material until I know for certain that the book has been published. Usually authors are so proud that the book has been released, they tell me. Only at that time, do I eliminate the folder from the computer.

Elizabeth Caldwell (SACRED HONOR, previously mentioned in the November column) wrote me to say: "I just wanted you to know that Publish America is taking a chance on Sacred Honor and publishing it. I'll keep you up to date."

Needless to say, I'm thrilled for Elizabeth. I'm also glad I kept her folder, as she was looking for her "Timeline" and could not find it. I had it, already edited, and mailed it back, saving her many hours of work. Until she has the published work in her hands, I will retain everything we had discussed, each draft and portion of her work.

I also keep a conventional file folder for each manuscript I may have received in paper that I am responsible for. The same personal rules that I created for my electronic submissions, apply also to anything that was submitted by conventional mail.

MARGARET STATES --
Then there's the opposite approach; analyzing the guidelines and back issues in excruciating detail looking for loopholes. "See! See! See! In March 1998 you published..." Can't help but wonder what those writers could accomplish if they spent the time writing instead of justifying.

Guidelines tend to change with time. The guidelines I created for A COMPANION IN ZEOR, my Sime~Gen fanzine, back in 1978, surely did not apply to website publication, electronic submission, or the changes in copyright law.

Take guidelines as they are presented in the most current version. If something seems unclear to you, prior to submitting material, contact the publisher. Ask for clarification of the specific section that puzzles you. Be as concise and clear in your question as possible. You might even wish to include a self- addressed, stamped, envelope (SASE) for the information you have asked for.

A writer's time should be productively spent creating their work, not tearing apart guidelines. NBI has changed manuscript formatting guidelines since the first book I edited for them eighteen months ago. Accept that "old news" is just that, and continue.

We all have our "day jobs," be they continuing our education, raising a family, earning a paycheck. If you love writing, the time you take to devote to your craft is likely "stolen" from somewhere else. Pondering over guidelines will take away those precious minutes from your writing, giving you less time to produce the self imposed "page a day" or more that you've set for yourself.

If you follow submission criteria as supplied, you'll be less likely of receiving a rejection letter. Publishers tend to look favorably on those authors who take the time to submit that which the publishing house is looking for, both in content, and format. They want to accept your offering because they are searching for good books to publish. Give them what they ask for. It is a perfect door-opener for the acquisitions editor to consider the selection of your book above all the others that are in the submissions pile.