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. 🙂