Are there any simple tricks that I can do with my finished manuscript that will help a publisher be a little more impressed with my work?
Yes, there is are two very easy tricks that you can do that will impress the heck out of a publisher:
- Follow their submission guidelines.
- Run your spell check and grammar check and correct everything.
Those two tricks alone will get you far. You have no idea how many of the manuscripts I received didn’t do these two very simple and very easy things.
Easy enough! I’m gonna do it!
I just looked at some articles I submitted online and found spelling errors! I quickly corrected them.
I would imagine that a good, thorough final read would be quite beneficial as well. If anything to check for all those little things that a spell checker can’t find aka their, there, they’re, etc. It might be worth an hour or two.
I find it easier to spot mistakes when I print out my manuscripts and read them as a hard copy.
And, LDSP, you forgot some of my favorite hints–money placed between pages, perfumed pages, colored paper, fancy fonts, and the best one, a box of gooey chocolates included in the submission packet. Be honest, you like those submissions the best :).
I do all that stuff and still get rejected, LOL
I always have to re-read after a week or so of being away from it. And Rebecca is right about using hard copy for editing. I always catch more that way. And a good second pair of eyes never hurts.
I will not look at that servant! I would rather die a horrifying death than entertain the thought that it could be that easy to be healed
Great advice, LDSP.
Rebecca, they asked for SIMPLE tricks. All those other ideas, while exceptional, require thought and work.