Some may not realise it, but publishers- even smaller ones- receive hundreds and hundreds of submissions on a weekly basis. Once submissions are received, they are sorted through and read by the commissioning editor, who will decide, based on the quality of the manuscripts, whether or not they are eligible for publication. Authors tend to face a great deal of rejection during their careers, and submitting a manuscript to a publisher can consequently be quite a nail-biting experience.
We receive submissions in all shapes and sizes with all manner of quirks, some in an absolutely ideal state, and some in a much less-than-ideal state. Today, we thought we’d outline some fairly critical things to bear in mind whilst submitting a manuscript to a publisher.
1). Understand the Publisher’s Guidelines
Publishers, as you might imagine, have specific guidelines for submissions! For example, many publishers request specific file types for web submissions; typically PDF or Word documents. Additionally, publishers always have formatting guidelines for online submissions, which absolutely need to be adhered to. For example, submission guidelines will often ask for the document to be named in a specific way, i.e. AuthorName_BookTitle_Date_Submission.docx.
Furthermore, there will also be guidelines for the content of the manuscript, such as specific font types and sizes.
Make sure you peruse these guidelines before submitting! You don’t want a great story to end up rejected on a minor technicality!
2). Editing, Editing, Editing
Often times, publishers will receive very half-baked manuscripts, riddled from start to finish with repeated grammatical and spelling errors that really strike a blow to the overall quality of the work. This will likely mean it will end up in the rejection pile. The best way around this is to ensure that your manuscript is in the most pristine condition that it can be, and a great way to guarantee this is to make sure your prose is vetted for mistakes.
3). Curate a Cover Letter for Each Submission
Sending a cover letter alongside your work is always advisable, but it’s not so advisable to send the same cover letter to every single publisher you send a submission to.
Personalising a cover letter can go a long way indeed; think of it in the same as applying for a job. A company or a hiring manager will be most interested in candidates who have done their research! A publisher is no different, and if they receive a cover letter from a prospective author who has shown a genuine interest in the publishing house and its’ catalogue of books, this is sure to catch their eye. Submitting a generic cover letter with no real specifics can communicate that you are solely seeking out a service.
4). Don’t Submit Incomplete Work
This sounds painfully obvious, but sometimes, authors will submit incomplete manuscripts under the impression that the publishing process will fill in the gaps or complete the work for them. This is simply not the case. Publishers want completed manuscripts! The production process in publishing involves editing, proofreading, book cover design, illustrations, marketing, the whole nine yards, but what a publisher will not do is fill in the blanks. The content of the manuscript is your story, your characters, your world, your everything! No one else can bring those ideas to a completed state but you!
