Editors

The fascination of
words and writing

It’s Not a Suggestion!

Monday, March 5th, 2012

On Sunday, I wrote my daily writing tip about submission guidelines, and felt as I did that it’s probably worth spending more time with it than the couple of short paragraphs allowed in a Facebook update.

Here’s the point of it all: when a publisher posts submission guidelines, they’re not suggestions. They’re not something you might try if you’re not feeling particularly creative today. They’re not even something the publisher dreamed up solely to make your life difficult. There’s actually a pretty good reason that they were written as they were, and following them shows the publisher a number of things:

you’re bright enough to follow directions
you know how to read
you won’t be troublesome down the line as you’re willing to enter the publisher’s turf and play by the publisher’s rules.

Don’t like the guidelines? That’s your right. But move on. Find someone else whose guidelines you do like.

A couple of months ago a colleague and I decided to create a couple of anthologies. Here are the guidelines that we sent out:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR A HOLIDAY ANTHOLOGY

Imagine your favorite holiday stories. Chances are good the protagonists are a man and a woman, possibly even with children. But where are the stories that feature men together, or women together, that will also warm our hearts at this special season?

That’s where you come in. We’re collecting holiday stories for two anthologies, one featuring male protagonists/couples/families, the other featuring female protagonists/couples/families, and we’d like to hear from you!

Your story should run between 2,000 and 4,000 words, contain no erotica, and be in a winter holiday setting. The only requirement is that it be historical fiction. We’re looking for tomorrow’s classics in time for next year’s holiday season!

Pay will depend on securing a publisher and will be negotiated at that time for accepted stories. Deadline is June 15, 2012, but the earlier, the better. Send Word docs to Jeannine Allard at jeannine@jeannineallard.com.

If you were reading that, you may have picked up on three relevant points. We’re looking for:

LGBT stories
historical fiction
winter themes

I didn’t think it was that difficult to read. But I got deluged with stories about cousins, pets, grandmothers, and straight couples. Stories that were situated in the future or on another planet. Stories written by people who clearly hadn’t even bothered to read the entire call for submissions, but who just sent whatever they had on hand.

It was all a little insulting. A waste of my time (because I am courteous enough to read the stuff and respond to it) and a waste of the writer’s time, as well.

So that was me, one time. I can only imagine what acquisitions editors or literary journal editors must be thinking when these things cross their desks day after day after day. And I can guarantee that none of it is complimentary to the writer.

Do you really want to shoot your literary career in its metaphorical foot? Do you really want your name to be associated with slapdash work, with not being cooperative, with being difficult? Listen, it’s hard enough to get published as it is. Do you really want to make it that much harder?

Trust me: they’re not going to discover your fine literary talent hidden in the midst of your inappropriate submission. It isn’t going to happen. So consider going back to basics: read the call for submissions, submit exactly what they ask you for, no more and no less, and behave like a professional. And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: call for submissions, getting published, professional behavior for writers
Posted in About Writing, Doing the Right Thing, Editors, Frustration, Getting Published, Process Matters, Publishers, Publishing, Submissions, The Writing Life, Words, Writing | No Comments »

Agents and Editors and Fees, Oh, My!

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Right. I’ve been receiving a lot of questions, lately, about literary agents, mostly from new writers eager to obtain one. And anytime there’s a situation in the marketplace where there is a demand for something, there will be scam artists eager to make a quick buck off that need.

So here’s the scoop on who you should pay, when, and why.

“Literary agents” (quotation marks deliberate) who ask for a fee for editing, or who recommend an editing service, are likely scam artists who have no interest in placing manuscripts with publishers. Run, do not walk, away from this sort of interest in your book. Yeah, it’s exciting to hear their enthusiasm. You’ll be a lot less enthusiastic once you’ve spent time with them.

Legitimate literary agents comply with ethical standards that prohibit them from charging authors a fee (beyond minimal office expenses for postage and copying——many do not even charge for those, and most charge only against advances received).

Agents make their money only on manuscripts sold. Agents pay money to authors; they do not collect money from authors. When your book is sold to a publishing house, your agent will collect an agreed-upon percentage of whatever it is that you make from the book. You should never write a check to your agent.

Now … on to editing.

Authors who are preparing manuscripts for submission to literary agents may wish to take full responsibility for the editing of their submissions. They often belong to peer-editing writing groups, writing workshops, critique groups, etc., and I strongly advise you, if you’re writing a book, to send it through this review process.

While a pass by a professional editor may be a worthwhile investment for the submission package of a few chapters, it is not absolutely necessary.

However, a self-publishing author is a publisher and, like all publishers, is responsible for having the book professionally edited before publication. This is when you write the check, folks. Editing (which may include both developmental editing and copyediting) is a normal part of the publishing process and is best done by skilled professionals, who do not work for free.

So … clearer? Let me know if you have any other questions. Recognizing the various roles in the publishing industry and moving efficiently through them is the best way to be seen as a professional; and it will put you … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: editors, literary agents, self-publishing
Posted in About Writing, Editing, Editors, Getting Published, Proposal, Publishers, Publishing, Submissions, Words, Writing | 1 Comment »

Style Sheets

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Whether you’re an editor or a writer, stylesheets are your absolute best friend. Create them, use them, keep them.

What is a stylesheet? Well, you’ve probably at least heard of or at best worked with style manuals such as The Chicago Manual of Style, the Associated Press Handbook of Style, or the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association. You might even be familiar with The Elements of Style! These manuals tell you how to present your work in such a way that it’s clear and consistent. Wikipedia says, “A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field. The implementation of a style guide provides uniformity in style and formatting of a document.”

A style sheet begins where the style guide leaves off. Essentially it’s a document in which you maintain the “right” way to do things for the specific manuscript you’re working on. If it’s a nonfiction manuscript, you’ll want to include formatting issues, header information, and so on. If you’re dealing with fiction, then stylesheets are truly the best way to keep continuity: how many stories have you read in which Mary has black hair on page 14 but red hair on page 362?

Now I expect that most writers who are reading this will by now be shrugging it off. Isn’t that something my editor should do? Why should I be bothered?

There are a couple of reasons you should create a style sheet:

It’s the kind thing to do. I didn’t create a style sheet for a recent novel, and doing so would have saved both the editor and myself a great deal of time, as I had to change some of her changes back to the original, and explain why. It would have been far better to have made that explanation upfront.
It’s the efficient thing to do. How many times have you had to flip back in your book to remind yourself of a minor character’s last name, to check a date, or to remember what you said about Aunt Sophie? Easier just to turn to your style sheet to find the answers.

For nonfiction writers, style sheets are essential to keep you on track and eliminate long conversations with your editor when the time comes.

Many if not most publishers have their own style sheets (sometimes referred to as style guides); ask for them. It’s always easier to set up a manuscript correctly than to go back in and correct it later! Do that, and you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: manuals of style, style guides, style sheets, Usage
Posted in About Writing, Editing, Editors, Language, Style, Usage, Words, Writing | No Comments »