Chuck Sambuchino of the F+W Guide to Literary Agents recently delivered a little gift to 20-plus writers and members of SCBWI (see, you really should join) at Borders in Montrose.
The gift he delivered? Good news, bad news, and laughs to make it all go down a little easier. From my admittedly incomplete notes:
On agents -- you should identify your top five agents and query them, not send out mass queries. And yeah, you can query agents and publishers simultaneously, but that's kind of dumb. (What good agent wants to rep a manuscript that's been turned down by 30 different publishers?)
On agents, 2 -- simultaneous submissions are OK, multiple submissions are not. (eg, don't submit three different manuscripts to the same agent - send your best!)
This surprised me -- we're so often cautioned NOT to call I was surprised to hear CS say it's OK to call a publishing house to say (honestly) "I loved the book [title here], can you tell me who the agent was who represented it?" and then query the agent.
Do your homework -- read blogs! Many agents have them.
Do your homework, 2 -- send your best work, and your best query. See QueryShark.com to sharpen your query.
The 5 versions of your book/manuscript you must develop:
1. Log line (the one-sentence description; include the who/what/where/when/why)
2. Pitch (arguably the most important part - the back-of-the-book description that piques interest in 3-5 sentences but does NOT give away the ending)
3. Short synopsis (1 page, single-spaced or 2 pages, double-spaced)
4. Long synopsis (approximately 1 page for every 45 pages of the book)
5. Manuscript (ms) (always double-spaced)
Why you need both short & long synopsis -- some agents specifically ask for one or the other; if the agent doesn't specify, you should send the better of the two with your query.
About the rules -- There are rules because there are rules. Deal with it. There are always exceptions to the rules but most rule-breakers get to make exceptions because first, they played the game by the rules. The first Harry Potter book in the series wasn't much longer than the average YA novel. Success allows for a lot of latitude, after the first book was out JK Rowling was a proven commodity, an exception who was allowed to break the rules.
Note -- the above rules apply to fiction. For non-fiction works, the rule is to make the BUSINESS CASE for your book.
Showing posts with label manuscript. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manuscript. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Simultaneous Submissions - Or, can you do two things at once?
Are simultaneous submissions OK?
Yes.
Sometimes.
Well...
Here I venture into an area already covered by thousands of scribes.
Is it OK to submit the same manuscript to several publishers at once?
The answer is yes, no, sometimes, and well, it depends.
The latest discussion I've read on the subject was one of the sanest. It boils down to this: When submitting a manuscript, follow the publisher's rules, use common sense, common courtesy, and good communication skills!
Recently, when I submitted to a small publishing house, I intended my manuscript be for that house only - for a while. But, I failed to say so in my cover letter. (Whoops.)
So, a couple of weeks after sending the ms, I followed up with a letter to the editor stating (a little more professionally than this, I hope), "this is for your eyes only - until the week of Thanksgiving. If you want more time to "digest" the submission, let me know."
See, there are oodles of publishers and billions of oodles of writers out there. And that's just taking into account the good ones ;) Everyone has their own rules.
Some houses will consider ONLY exclusive submissions; others are cool with knowing their transom is just one of many a manuscript may cross - on the same day.
Some writers (I suppose) are content to wait for a response from one house before moving on to another house. I'm not. But common sense must prevail.
In the case I described above, there were extenuating circumstances. Let's face it; there always are. That's why common sense, good manners, and clear communication is critical in the writing/publishing game.
In my case, I think I did a good job selecting a publisher where my manuscript would "fit." I had queried long ago, and received a note of interest - so I felt I "owed" the publisher a period of time to review the manuscript in its entirety without feeling I'd offered the (fabulous) idea to another house.
And of course, I think it's really fabulous. I can't wait to see the thing in print. On bestsellers' lists, even. So, while I'm content to wait (about six weeks) for a reply, I'm not going to wait around forever.
After all, there are readers waiting to hear from me, right?
Yes.
Sometimes.
Well...
Here I venture into an area already covered by thousands of scribes.
Is it OK to submit the same manuscript to several publishers at once?
The answer is yes, no, sometimes, and well, it depends.
The latest discussion I've read on the subject was one of the sanest. It boils down to this: When submitting a manuscript, follow the publisher's rules, use common sense, common courtesy, and good communication skills!
Recently, when I submitted to a small publishing house, I intended my manuscript be for that house only - for a while. But, I failed to say so in my cover letter. (Whoops.)
So, a couple of weeks after sending the ms, I followed up with a letter to the editor stating (a little more professionally than this, I hope), "this is for your eyes only - until the week of Thanksgiving. If you want more time to "digest" the submission, let me know."
See, there are oodles of publishers and billions of oodles of writers out there. And that's just taking into account the good ones ;) Everyone has their own rules.
Some houses will consider ONLY exclusive submissions; others are cool with knowing their transom is just one of many a manuscript may cross - on the same day.
Some writers (I suppose) are content to wait for a response from one house before moving on to another house. I'm not. But common sense must prevail.
In the case I described above, there were extenuating circumstances. Let's face it; there always are. That's why common sense, good manners, and clear communication is critical in the writing/publishing game.
In my case, I think I did a good job selecting a publisher where my manuscript would "fit." I had queried long ago, and received a note of interest - so I felt I "owed" the publisher a period of time to review the manuscript in its entirety without feeling I'd offered the (fabulous) idea to another house.
And of course, I think it's really fabulous. I can't wait to see the thing in print. On bestsellers' lists, even. So, while I'm content to wait (about six weeks) for a reply, I'm not going to wait around forever.
After all, there are readers waiting to hear from me, right?
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