Tag: Submitting

Having concluded the 2010 Best Cover Contest, I want to talk a little bit about subjectivity and fairness. A few comments expressed disappointment that certain covers had been selected and others neglected, disbelief that some covers got as many votes as they did, and even a few inferences that maybe the voting was rigged.

I want to address the last one first. There is always the possibility in any contest like this that people will vote multiple times, using various computers. Or that a publisher will have everyone in their company go vote for their books. Or that the mother or best friend of someone involved will call all their friends and relatives and threaten to disown them if they don’t vote in a particular way. I have no control over that and I can’t stop it from happening, so we assume good faith and a certain level of integrity here.

As far as I can tell, no one cheated, nor did they apply undue pressure on voters.

What is more likely, however, is that some people just help spread the word about the contest a little better than others, and the natural result is that they encouraged people with similar tastes to come vote. That’s just the way of it. The winners won fair and square within the guidelines of the contest—to subjectively select the most appealing covers.

Subjectivity is a fascinating subject. Subjective refers to “relating to the mind of the thinking subject [the person] and not the nature of the object being considered.”* It’s a matter of personal taste and preference.

I have this compelling interest to know why someone chooses one thing and someone else chooses another thing. Often it’s based upon completely intangible and indiscernible preferences, rarely upon the instrinsic value or structure of that thing. I find it fascinating that people voted on book covers based upon whether or not they liked trains, or had a fear of drowning, or preferred the color blue. I happen to have had a passion for mermaids since I was in fifth grade, which may have had as much to do with why I chose The Forbidden Sea as my favorite as did the enchanting illustration.

Such is the case with subjectivity—and again, I say the winners won fair and square.

Subjectivity is also one of the reasons why some manuscripts are accepted and others rejected. Yes, there are certain levels of quality in writing that can be measured objectively—grammar, format, plot line, timing, characterization, etc. But even those can be influenced by individual preferences and idiosyncrasies.

As for whether or not a story is “good”—there’s as much subjectivity involved in that evaluation as there was in our book cover contest. Pay attention to the feedback you get from readers. If they all say the same thing, it’s more than subjective. Fix whatever it is and try again. But don’t let a few rejections cause you to give up on your dreams of writing. Keep submitting until you find a subjective match!

*Dictionary.com

Is a memoir fiction, since it’s written like a story? Or non-fiction, since it’s based on true events? Do I have to write the whole thing before submitting? Or do I write some samples and an outline and query, like a non-fiction book?

A memoir is non-fiction. It’s often shelved in its own section, or with autobiographies, but never with fiction.

However, submission requirements for memoirs are usually the same as for fiction—meaning, you send your query and/or cover letter, synopsis and/or outline, and the first three chapters or sample pages (in order, not random chapters), as requested by the publisher’s guidelines.

Some publishers have separate guidelines for memoirs, but most don’t.

This may be a really stupid question, but when a publisher or agent asks for three chapters, do they mean the first three chapters? Or three random chapters? If my book has a prologue, is that considered the first chapter? Or do I send the prologue plus three chapters?

You send the first three chapters. Always. [Unless specifically instructed otherwise by the agent or publisher.]

If you have a prologue and it’s absolutely critical to understanding what is happening in the first three chapters, then call it chapter 1 and send the next two chapters (renumbered as 2 and 3). Most of the time, however, you do not send the prologue.

This is only a stupid question if you ask me after you’ve sent in three random chapters.

I have a vampire novel I’d like to submit nationally. Does it have the proverbial snowball’s chance at being accepted? Or is that trend totally dead.

From a reader’s viewpoint, that trend is still going strong. Just notice what books women are reading at the airport or the doctor’s office. And if you check out the fantasy best sellers, at least half of them are paranormal—meaning, they deal with vampires, werewolves, demons and such.

From a publisher/agent viewpoint, the trend is done. Probably.

I say, “probably” because really there are only about a dozen or so plot lines in the world—which are constantly being recycled with a twist. A good book with a twist still has a chance at acceptance, even if the trend is on the downturn.

The questions you have to ask yourself are: 1) have all the vampire twists been used up?, and 2) does my novel provide a twist that’s new, unique, and captivating?

Just off the top of my head, here are some of the unique spins put on the vampire legends that have made them feel new and fun:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon)—a vampire with a soul.
• Twilight Series (Stephenie Meyer)—Good, “vegetarian” vampires vs evil vampires. They glitter in the sunlight.
• Peeps (Scott Westerfield)—vampirism is an enhancement to prepare the world for what is to come.
• Morganville Vampires (Rachel Caine)—Vampires have taken over a town where they “sponsor” humans. A vampire illness creates a war between bad and not-so-bad vampires.
• Sookie Stackhouse/The Southern Vampire Mysteries (Charlaine Harris)—Synthetic blood allows vampires to come out of hiding and join society, sort of.
• Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead)—There are good, mortal vampires (Moroi) and bad, undead vampires (Strigoi).
• Vampire Diaries (L.J. Smith)—Cain and Abel, but vampires, both in love with the same woman. They can go out in the day if they have a special ring.
• Angel Falling Softly (Eugene Woodbury)—”LDS” vampire story. Vampirism is the result of a virus. (This book would have been much better if that had been explored more deeply.)

So, anyway, back on topic. Does your manuscript have a chance at publication? If you can create a unique spin, perhaps. Polish it fast and start submitting it. Be sure to emphasize your unique concept in your query. If no one accepts it because the trend is over, put it in a drawer and wait a few years. Most trends eventually come back around again.

What is the worst advice you’ve seen someone (like from another blog or a writer’s book) give a writer?

The absolute worst advice I’ve seen is recommending that you NOT follow the publisher’s submission guidelines.

The guidelines have been created because they make things go more smoothly within the publishing house. You may not like the hoops you have to jump through, but if you want to work with that publisher, you need to jump through them anyway.

The next worst advice is that you don’t need to worry about getting your manuscript perfect because your editor will fix it, and as a tangent to that, to purposely leave in something “bad” because editors feel like they have to change something and that will give them something to change and they’ll leave the rest of your book alone.

That is just ridiculous! First, if your manuscript is too far from perfect, it will be rejected because it will take to long to clean it up. Second, editors don’t have time to fix things that don’t need fixing. Leaving in something “bad” is just idiocy and makes you look like an inconsistent writer.

One last piece of bad advice is to look at what’s hot and then write a formulaic novel based on the current trend.

This is just so wrong. Formulaic novels are usually boring and will be rejected. And by the time your book makes it through the publishing process, the current trend will most likely be old news.

I have a question for you. I resubmitted a manuscript with revisions at the request of a large LDS publishing company. They’ve been in possession of it for eight weeks now and I haven’t heard from them yet. When would it be appropriate (or is it?) for me to send them a courteous follow up email inquiring about the status of the novel? They got back to me very quickly the first time through (four weeks) with the request for some revisions, and now I’m a little nervous about the increased wait time. Would you share your opinion/experience on handling this situation?

While eight weeks is a lifetime for an author, it’s the blink of an eye to a publisher. It’s probably still in committee, or out to readers. I wouldn’t worry about it. Give them another four weeks, then send a quick email.

You said, “you then can re-pitch the mss you sent during the poor economy.”

Can I do that? I thought once an agent/editor rejects you it’s over.

First, let’s clarify something. An agent/editor is not rejecting YOU. They are rejecting your manuscript.

That distinction may not help your heart in the moment that you’re reading the form letter, but once you’re through crying about it and you’re ready for rational thought, it’s an important distinction to make.

Unless they’ve specifically said that they never want another word you’ve written to cross their desk, you are free to continue to send new queries to the same agents/editors who’ve rejected previous ones.

Okay, now for the issue of re-pitching previously rejected manuscripts to the same agent/editor. In most cases, your previously rejected queries/mss will have been rejected based on the quality of the work, so no, don’t waste your time re-pitching old stories. Move forward with what you’ve learned since you submitted that first mss, and write new stories to bring to the table.

However, if you know for sure that your mss was rejected solely due to marketing reasons, such as a slow economy or timely issues, you might (that’s MIGHT) be able to re-pitch at a later date if: 1) those marketing reasons have changed, and 2) you are now a published author through the agent/editor who previously rejected the work.

For example, let’s say you submitted a vampire book pre-Stephenie Meyer and it was rejected because vampire books weren’t selling. However, the next novel you submitted was accepted and published and sold at or above expected levels. Then Meyer bursts onto the scene. It would be perfectly legit for you to contact your agent/editor and remind them that you had a vampire novel they’d previously rejected because vampires weren’t selling but now that they are selling, would they like to take another look at it. (Except you’ll be much more eloquent in the wording of your query than I just was.) (And yes, it would be a revised query that you would send them, with a reminder of your basic plot, how it’s like and unlike Meyer’s book, blah, blah, blah.)

A future scenario might be you’ve just received a rejection and it says, “Loved the story. Wish we could publish it but must reject due to the current economy…” Then suddenly this fall, Obama saves the world and we’re all sitting pretty with gobs of cash to burn. In that case, yes, you could send a quick 1-page query to the agent/editor and say, “When you rejected my manuscript, The Story of Edgar Bookman, last winter, you said that you wished you ‘could publish it but must reject due to the current economy.’ Now that you have plenty of money, would you like to take another look at it? ” Then continue with the basic query to remind them of what it was.

It could happen. Maybe. But ONLY if they indicated that it was solely economic reasons that you were rejected.

However, outside those two scenarios, no, re-pitching old stories is not a good idea, unless your agent/editor specifically asks you if you have a book dealing with a certain topic, and then you could say, “Yes, but you rejected it two years ago…” and go from there.

Recently, I’ve read a lot on writer’s forums about how bad the book-selling industry is doing right now with the down economy. I’m hearing (reading) that agents and editors are taking on very few new projects, and selecting the ones they do take on with extreme care.

So, I’m thinking of stopping my querying for my novel for the time being (months, years) until the economy improves. I currently have nine outstanding queries, and I think I’ll see what comes of them, but wait to send out any more.

My thinking is I want to wait until the market improves so I won’t get a bunch of rejections that otherwise could be acceptances in a better economy. There are only a finite number of agents and publishing houses and if I exhaust them all now, when they’re not in the buying mood, I may lose them, possibly forever.

At least that’s my thinking on this matter for the time being.

Am I wrong?

Well, I’ve heard the argument on both sides—and I suppose waiting may have some merit, but. . . I wouldn’t.

Yes, agents and publishers may be tightening their belts but they’re still looking for good—as in, really good— manuscripts. If your mss is really good, they’re going to snap it up because they want something that will sell well even in a depressed economy.

If your mss is not that good, they’re going to reject it even if the economy is going gangbusters.

If your mss is so-so, it might have a better chance with some publishers in a good economy, but is that what you really want?

So I’d say, make sure your work is as polished and perfect as possible, and keep submitting. (Your chances of acceptance may even be a little better if other authors are thinking like you and not submitting as much.)

If they reject you, it’s not like you’ve lost them forever because you’re writing new stuff, right? (If you’re not, you should be.) You can always submit the new stuff to these same agents and publishers in the future.

And let’s say your mss was passed on strictly due to economic reasons. If you submit another novel in 6 or 12 or 24 months down the road, and it’s accepted because the economy is better, you then can re-pitch the mss you sent during the poor economy.

I recently got this inquiry in my LDS Publisher e-mail. See if you can figure out what’s wrong with it.

I came across your blog (Contests!) and am wondering if you would consider letting me submit a guest post on your site. I am new to freelancing, and I am trying to build my online portfolio. I don’t know if you have a formal procedure or are willing to accept a guest writer, but please let me know if this is possible. I would appreciate you getting back with me with and I can send over an article for your consideration.

In terms of the topic for the article, I’m thinking about writing something that relates to the general theme of your blog, but if there is something specific you would like me to write about, just let me know…

Did you figure it out?

1. Big issue: The writer wants to do a guest post for my Contests! site? Something on its general theme? If s/he had spent even one minute perusing that site, s/he would have realized that there is no theme other than posting contests, and that guest posts are not appropriate for that site. If s/he’d clicked on any of the links at the top of the site s/he would have discovered that the LDS Publisher site was the one s/he really should be querying about guest posting.
2. Little issue: S/he really should have proofed her/his query a little better. S/he did include two links to articles s/he’d written and they were clean, no typos there. The writing was nothing spectacular, but not bad either.

As a publisher/editor, I can overlook the little typo issue. I’m not excusing it. Your query should be perfect. But we’re all human, cut and paste errors happen (even in published books!), and most of the time I’m willing to look at the sample writing sent with an imperfect query.

But the big issue is, well, BIG. And it happens all the time. Queries get sent to publishers who aren’t looking for that type of story. Although some publishers are a little vague on what they want, most publishers are very clear on their website. For example, my site said, “We do not publish picture books.” And yet, at least once a month, I’d get a query for a picture book. It was a waste of my time, my assistant’s time and the author’s time and money.

Five minutes or less—that’s all it takes to look at a publisher’s website and determine whether your manuscript is something they’d like to see.

I’m a newbie, writing for a national market, not the LDS market, but I’m hoping you can help with this anyway. I’ve been querying agents for my first novel. I’ve gotten three rejections but the rest haven’t responded yet. However, one of the rejections had a hand-written comment at the bottom. It said, “Sorry I have to pass this one up. Looks good. Please submit again.”

I may be stupid to ask this—(Thank goodness you keep us anonymous. You do keep us anonymous, right? Right.)—but would he mean that I should rework the query and resubmit it? Or to submit another book? Also, am I wrong or is this comment on a rejection letter actually a positive thing?

I can’t speak for everyone, and there may be an agent/editor out there who has time to hand-write a little note on every rejection, but most of us are way too busy doing the other parts of our jobs to soften the blow of rejection out of the kindness of our hearts.

I only added hand-written notes to rejections if I thought they were very close to publishable or if the rejection was for some other reason other than quality of the work (like my calendar was full or it was too similar to something else we already have). So I would have to guess that yes, that comment was a positive thing.

He’s asking you to submit a new book. That’s a very positive thing.