My Writing Journey #2 - Following Guidelines & Waiting...

Hello Tuesday! 

"Is it raining in there? It's raining in here, too." 

I always loved that scene in Winnie the Pooh. It's raining so much in South Eastern NY, my phone alerts have gone off three times this afternoon.

I've never been good at following directions. Maybe that's why I'm not the greatest cook? lol. At least I can bake a good cupcake. But I can't skirt around the rules this time. In the current part of my writing journey it is crucial to follow guidelines and wait for the outcome.

For now, I have decided to pursue traditional publishing and I do not have an agent. Through my copious amount of research, I discovered it was possible to submit my work to publishers who don't require an agent. And I gave it a shot. I found publishers who accept my genre of manuscript and followed their submission guidelines.

I re-formatted, queried, proofread, over-analyzed, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and hit the send button. Quickly, I re-read the email over and over again to make sure I did it right. Then proceeded to freak out that I sent my erotic contemporary romance out into the world. Luckily the freak out was brief and I patted myself on the back for taking the initiative and finally submitting my work. 

Then you wait for a response...

Even if you have an agent you have to wait...

Even if you self-publish you have to wait...

Even if your Young Adult, Romance, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, or Anything...you have to wait...

Yup, waiting is inevitable...

 I don't exactly feel like Blake Lively in Shallow where she is clinging desperately to a buoy while a shark is circling her bleeding body, but I do feel like Saturday at NYC Comic Con, trying to claw my way through the masses of people trying desperately to get that limited edition prize only a few will get to win. It is a series of mixed emotions and definitely a different journey for every writer. 

The most crucial lesson I learned from this part of the process is that YOU MUST FOLLOW ALL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES or else you are short-changing the potential future of your hard work.

Let's dig in deeper...

It would be easy if every publisher expected the exact same thing. Nope.

It's not hard, but you have to follow the guidelines to submit your query or manuscript to a publisher. The same rule applies to submitting a query to an agent. I scrolled through the #MSWL - Manuscript Wishlist on Twitter last month and literary agents have very specific guidelines as well. 

If you have to submit anything, do your research, read and re-read guidelines. 

Here are some examples of how much these guidelines will and can vary.

Submission Guideline Examples

One Publisher

 ~ Query Letter Only ~

Another Publisher

~ Query Lettery  + 500 word Synopsis + 1st 1,500 words ~

Another Publisher

~  No attachments - only Query Letter and first 3 Chapters in the body of the email ~ 

One more Publisher

~ Fill out the following submission template - Query Letter + 2-3pg Synopsis + Tagline for Novel + Full Completed Manuscript ~ 

Manuscript Guideline Examples

One Publisher

 ~ Double-spaced lines & 1.5" indent for each paragraph ~

Another Publisher

~ 1.5 spaced lines, 1" indent for each paragraph, no headers, no footers~

Another Publisher

~  Double-Spaced, MS Word Doc Only, headers top right corner, # for scene breaks~ 

________________________________________

These examples are only from my personal experience and only a few different ways publishers will request information from the author. There can be many more...

I find it easier to submit one a day, if you are submitting in batches, so you can concentrate fully on the applicable publisher's guidelines. If you have an agent, I don't know if they do this process for you, but as I stated before even when submitting a query to an agent they have their own guidelines, therefore you're stuck paying attention and following directions.

Then again, comes the waiting... =)

 

Additionally, be sure to keep track of what day you submit to what publisher. Use your bullet journal or phone or plotter, anything you can trust to be with you in a month or two's time. Most publishers state somewhere if you have not heard back in a certain time frame please follow up.

Good luck to all authors who are submitting to publishers!

Oh and I have to stress one more thing. All of this will be wasted if your publisher does not accept your genre of work. Check first, before you do anything! 

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