How to avoid the slushpile

[Teresa Edgerton]

However, it would not be a very understanding agent who would expect you not to submit to more than one agent at a time. In fact that's stupid. Of course you do.

I'd say that it was a not very understanding author who expects a busy agent to read a whole manuscript when the book is already under consideration by another agent. Agents don't get paid to read manuscripts -- the honest ones don't anyway -- and I think they have every right to decide what they will and won't read, without being accused of stupidity. We contact them, not the other way around. It would be different if they came around soliciting our business.

 

[Anastasia]

I have no idea why Courier, let alone the worse Times New Roman got to be industry standard. Both are a devil to read if you have the slightest sight problems, and evil for dyslexics (even mild dyslexics like myself). I think some publishers are living in the dark ages!

I use Comic Sans for all my university work, as I was advised to by a disabilities officer. I could submit it in anything my tutor required, of course, due to the wonders of MS Word but so far, all the comments I've had have been "Wow, what's that font? It's really easy to read!"

Of course, these days everything is submitted as an MS Word attachment anyway, so I think it's going to be less and less important what font you actually write in. But it would probably be a great idea to find out what your publisher requires before submitting work.

Thanks for this amusing post - it tells a lot of truth, I'm sure. I heard an even funnier "What not to do" however - a guy who stapled a photograph of himself and the map reference to his house, on the front of a manuscript!

 

[vintagefury]

This was a fun read It kind of validated something I learned in my gaming days for me: someone who can listen to instructions is more valuable than someone who can get the job done. I suppose this works in all walks of life.

 

[hippokrene]

Works are rejected because the author used a pseudonym?

As soon as you see anything, no matter how trivial, that causes your attention to wander from the prose, stop...

Given that this is the only part that deals with the manuscript itself, a bit more info would be nice. What usually causes a reader's attention to wander from the prose?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Works are rejected because the author used a pseudonym?

Not really. There is a good deal of truth behind some of the humor in that article, but it's largely just silliness meant to get a laugh.

 

[DarkBunni]

ehehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehehehhehehe
ehehehehe
eheheheh
eheh
heh
eh
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That made me laugh O_O

 

[Urlik]

if you've read Tom Holt's My Hero, you would do everything in your power to keep your characters out of the slushpile.
that is a really scary place and no-one, however fictional, should be sent there

 

[Toby Frost]

Ultimately some of the comments in the article are more valid than others. It's a shame in a way that it is written to be comic, because in exaggerating for effect some of the truth is lost. Many aspiring writers honestly do not know how true some of these points are and never will, because they get no explanation of why their manuscript was rejected except some standard letter. It's one thing to know they didn't like the story, another to wonder if it got sent back because the spacing between lines was a bit wrong. (Obviously because of volumes of submissions there will have to be standard letters, but the point stands).

Two bits of advice I've found out: One, treat the whole procedure as business. Writing the book is pleasure, getting it seen is business and calls for professionalism and thick skin. It is no longer about fun but about you and others making money from the fun.

Two: try to get some sort of credits first - short stories, articles etc. It may not help, but it's good practice for writing and it can't hurt. I am pretty certain that coming runner-up in a newspaper competition did getting my novel read no harm at all.

As a general point, I think joining a writing group is incredibly useful. Not only do you get criticism from unbiased people (and you do have to get used to taking - and knowing when not to take - criticism), they may well also have information, resources and contacts.

 

[busby777]

thanx for the info, and the entertainment!

 

[Loucifer]

This whole thread has proved to be very interesting... and the original post made me laugh!

As you can tell, I'm new to this forum (what with this being my first post and all!) and I'm also pretty new to short story writing too - so this article will be of infinite use to me! (Well, I hope it will, I just need to actually finish some stories now!)

 

[Mharvey]

Thank you for posting this - in a way, I find it very positive. If you follow these rules, you suddenly narrow your competition from thousands to dozens... and this is not hard stuff. Just keep your day job, and don't scrimp on the materials.

I don't doubt this is exactly what happens in publishing houses.

 

[Sylvetra_Snake]

I think more often you have to be cruel to be kind. Mentions about the ink and the font should be obvious. They need to be able to read the manuscript clearly, and the darker the ink the easier to read. I think if you want someone to publish you then you are going to do whatever they ask for (within reason).

The first post was a good read!

 

[bluerayarchangel]

Hi, I have been one of the lucky ones to have her script read, and they even sent me the script back saying that they loved it, but didn't want to publish it. That has happened to me a few times by different publishers so where did I go wrong there then???????? I dont know how they could love it and reject it at the same time,

can anyone shed a light as to why they rejected,

any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. thanks

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I dont know how they could love it and reject it at the same time,

can anyone shed a light as to why they rejected,

Print publishers can receive an enormous number of submissions but they don't have endless publishing resources, and even on-line publishers can't publish everything they might like to publish. So even if they love your story, they may be able to to fill their magazine or their anthology with stories they love even more.


It would be necessary to see both your story and the stories that were accepted to even hazard a guess as to why the publishers found other stories just that little bit more appealing than yours. When editors have to choose between two stories they like, they may choose, for instance, the one that is more polished and professional, or the one by an author whose name is more familiar to readers, or the one that best fits their publication. And often these things are decided by more than one person, so that the person who writes back is the one who adores what you've done (and says so), but the rest of the editorial staff is less enthusiastic. There are just too many variables to ever be sure.

On the other hand, if they don't like your story at all, it's sometimes easier to figure out why.

 

[mercs]

Fantastic, if only i saw this thread five weeks ago before i broke pretty much half of those rules and sat anxiously by the post box waiting for a letter to come

oh well better late than never to learn a few lessons!

 

[Vargev]

I'm glad i saw this before i actually sent my manuscript out, i've already done most of what you have outlined here, typeset it in courier 12, set the margins, double line spaced the whole manuscript. and double tapped new paragraphs, however sometimes its good to get another viewpoint, especially since i am relatively new to the publishing world. And completely unknown at the moment.

 

[HBrookhouse]

Hey all.


And who the hell WANTS to read Courier? I read a lot, and I sort of like good, readable fonts, but why would anybody want to read Courier exclusively?


Totally agree! I HATE courier and find it INCREDIBLY hard on the eyes. If that's what they want, that's what we must give, but we can still ask "why?"

There was only one point which made me shudder and that was the covering letter. I had followed what the website told me to include, but now I'm thinking "Yikes! I got that wrong!"

I also have to agree with an eariler poster suggesting a random pick. But rather than arguing that many novels fail, I'd argue that so many are rubbish!

However, as I said, if this is what they want, this is what we must give them. (the submissions process, not the rubbish novels!)

The biggest problem, though, is people writing slush - I'm talking about the literary equivalent of X-Factor or American Idol applicants who are completely tone deaf, have no personality and storm off stage when told what millions will be able to see for themselves - there was a very good reason they were working in a pork pie factory.

 

[FionaW]

A couple of years back my MA hosted a 'meet publishers and agents' evening. Of course it wasn't - it was a panel discussion - you don't think they'd actually let us talk one-on-one, do you?

Anyway, two editors (from two of the biggest litfic imprints in the UK) told us that their slush was read by sixth form students on work experience and the odd undergraduate on day release from an english degree.

To give him credit, the agent from Peter Fraser Dunlop was visibly retrieving his jaw from the floor when they said that. He said he reads at minimum the first paragraph of everything that is sent in to him.

Now, there is a fair amount of stuff in the critiques section here from would-be writers in the 17-22 age range. Most of it is about the same level as mine when I was 17-22. My comprehension of what good writing was, well, probably much the same, too.

Do I think that publishers who hand the slushpile over to teenagers are doing themselves any favours? No. However, that evening was really the first time I began to cotton on to the idea that unsolicited submissions to major publishers were most likely an exercise in pointlessness. (Small presses are different.)

Then I met someone who had almost signed a contract with an agent...when he discovered that she'd submitted the manuscript to every editor in a 500-mile radius. Not unreasonably he pointed out that it was very hard, even for an agent, to resubmit a manuscript that had already been rejected everywhere.

So now my plan is:

Write the best, best story I can, and edit it to what I think is perfection
Take it on a good course and let other, experienced writers at it.*
Rewrite.
Get it edited by a professional book doctor ('ware scammers!)
Rewrite.
Submit to agents only.
If that doesn't work, then maybe send it out to a couple of publishers that indicate that they do pay attention to unsolicited manuscripts.
Meanwhile, start a new story...


*In the UK, I'd recommend the Arvon Selected Fiction course.

 

[Ursa major]

Anyway, two editors (from two of the biggest litfic imprints in the UK) told us that their slush was read by sixth form students on work experience and the odd undergraduate on day release from an english degree.

You mean our manuscripts are not moved straight from In Tray to circular Out Tray by jaded professionals, but are seen by bright-eyed innocents who haven't seen it all before? (Not in their first week or so, that is.)

To give him credit, the agent from Peter Fraser Dunlop was visibly retrieving his jaw from the floor when they said that. He said he reads at minimum the first paragraph of everything that is sent in to him.

* Makes note to self to write longer first paragraphs. *

 

[The Judge]

Not unreasonably he pointed out that it was very hard, even for an agent, to resubmit a manuscript that had already been rejected everywhere.

I know it is received wisdom that you cannot re-submit, and your friend's experience reinforces this, but I can't help feeling there's a logical inconsistency here.

If the slushpile is read by sixth-formers on work experience/holiday, then after a few weeks (by which time they will have been replaced by other fresh-faced enthusiasts) how will anyone know if you have previously submitted or not? I can't believe they keep lists of rejected would-be authors complete with title of opus.

Even if the publishers use someone with a little more seniority, who might be there longer than a few months, we are continually being told that they have several million m/s landing in their in trays every day** and that they can't allow more than a few minutes to each. After a lengthy spell of that purgatory, is that reader really going to remember rejecting something 6 months before and reject it again for that reason alone? Particularly if there have been substantial amendments to the synopsis/opening paragraphs?

That's not to advocate sending out stuff before it's in a perfect state, or trying to by-pass agents, but it just seems odd that's all.

J

** I couldn't remember the real figures so this might be a slight exaggeration