Craft of Writing

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Craft of Writing

Joan McNulty Pulver

Get Out of the Slush Pile

Imagine getting your first job in the publishing industry. You have some experience as a columnist and short story writer and you apply for the entry-level position of Submissions Coordinator. You receive an email from the Editor in Chief offering you the position and describing your duties.

“WOW!” you think. “This is truly my dream job. As first reader, I get to look at all these great manuscripts before anyone else even knows they exist. Then I send a response to the writers telling them that their manuscript is being sent to the readers for consideration. How great is that?”

My job consists of reading all the mail that comes into the office for queries and submissions. I check these daily. I use a list of our submission guidelines, looking for compliancy and handle the different problems that may arise.

The guidelines for my publisher, as with most publishers, are fundamental and straightforward. They are clearly readable and understandable on our website.

Please make sure your manuscript is free of typos and misspellings and is as grammatically correct as possible. Be sure to include your name, the title of the book, your email address, an alternate email address, your postal mailing address and an estimated word count.

We accept manuscripts for novels of 50,000 – 150,000 words. Send your printed manuscript to address above. If you prefer to submit electronically, make sure your file is saved in .rtf and send it as an attachment to Submissions@writersworldwide123writersworld.com. Please direct all comments and questions to Info@writersworldwide123writersworld.com.

My first day on the job I opened the Info (information and questions only) email address.

I had 2 emails. One was a submission in .doc format. The other was an advertisement. I deleted the ad as it was spam, and I e-mailed the author of the submission asking him to please read our complete guidelines, save his manuscript in .rtf format and resubmit to the correct address.

Then I opened the Submissions email box. I found a submission that was written by a person whose native language wasn’t English but who professed to have a good grasp of the English language. I opened the manuscript and was amazed at what I found. I wrote the author a rejection letter stating that there were too many spelling and grammatical errors to even consider.

So, what happened to all the great manuscripts I would get to read? We have received several. I have assisted editing one, and am the lead editor on an excellent craft of writing book.

It's important to note that my boss is sympathetic to all would-be published authors. Some publishers just discard manuscripts that don't follow the guidelines. Not mine, though, which is good. She believes in responding to each author who submits, even if only to ask that the manuscript be in the right format and errors are corrected so the author may resubmit, or to give whatever other advice will help a writer become published. For this reason, please endeavor to follow the guidelines of each publisher. They can differ greatly, but one thing is certain for all publishers, whether print or electronic: their guidelines are there for a reason, and they expect them to be followed.

During my months at this publishing company, I have seen quite a bit of bad writing (with typos, poor grammar, etc.) passing for finished manuscripts. These get rejected. Some people ignore, just gloss over or don’t understand the guidelines. Once I explain it to them and they resubmit in the correct format, they have viable novels, etc., which I can then ask the readers to look at. Most publishers don’t give directions. They just toss the manuscript or delete the file from their email without a backwards glance.

Another gentleman sent his submission in .doc format and said he didn’t have access to .rtf. That is one stipulation that our editor is adamant about.

He kept insisting his word processor program didn’t have Rich Text Format. I explained that most word processors did except Microsoft Works. Instead of telling me he didn’t know what Rich Text Format was, he just insisted that his didn’t have it and that he had Microsoft Word.

The real problem wasn’t that his word processor didn’t accommodate .rtf but that he had no idea what I was talking about and was either too proud or too embarrassed to ask. Of course, when I realized this, I told him how to save it in the correct format, and we received the manuscript within two days.

If there is something an author doesn’t understand, it is much better to ask. The only way we can help is if we know exactly what the problem is. If you don’t know or don’t understand directions, say so! The only silly question is the one that isn’t asked. It would have saved a lot of time and effort on his behalf and mine if he had just said, “What is Rich Text Format and how do I use it?”

I can’t stress enough the importance of reading, understanding and following each publisher’s guidelines. They do differ from one to another. Some want it in the body of an email, others as an attachment and still others want a hard copy. Some want you to query first and others don’t. Most do want .rtf format for sending through e-mail but not all of them do. When not sending it in an email, the publishers may require certain fonts, margins, etc. Some want the manuscript formatted in a certain way while others don’t.

I enjoy my job and want to succeed at it both as an Acquisitions Coordinator and an Editor. Please make my job and the jobs of others trying to make it in this industry easier by following the guidelines. If you don’t, they may ask you something unthinkable—like “Please follow our guidelines before resubmitting,” or worse yet, they may just delete the email and never even acknowledge that they received it or throw your paper manuscript in the trash without even looking at it.

If you want to be published, be sure to read all of the guidelines. Print them out and make a checklist to ensure that you are following everything exactly the way that particular publisher, magazine or e-zine, wants it or your manuscript may wind up in the trash bin or cyberspace without being read or even looked at. As I have stated, not all publishers will go to the trouble of sending you a letter asking you to please read the complete guidelines, give you the URL for them and explain that they must be in a certain format to be considered.

Good luck in your endeavor to get published. The next time you glance at a publisher's guidelines, whether a struggling start-up small press or a big publisher of mass market books, remember this column and think about how you are presenting your work. Is it the best it can be and is it in the guidelines of that particular publisher? In order to be considered a professional writer whose work is worth looking at, make sure that it is.

About the Author
Joan is an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers writing and editing to be her vocation. Her love of writing shows in her short stories and monthly column, “Recognitions” at The Writer's Ezine. She is the Acquisitions Coordinator/Editor at ePress-online and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel. In an effort to help pass on what they've learned working at ePress-online and to help other writers reach for their dreams, Joan and Donna Sundblad will open the doors to their editing and critiquing business Team Spirit Critique and Editing, LLC in the near future.