An easier topic today :)

Hi, I hope everyone's Monday is going well!

Over the past almost 2 weeks we've covered a lot of writing topics; some in length, others, not so long. So today I thought we'd talk about something not so heavy and thought intense.. the hows and whatnots to subbing to publisher's and/or agents.

The first or close to first thing that should be looked at again before you send out anything, is their website. Check their guidelines and follow them to their detail. The guidelines are there for a reason, so always always stay true to what they are asking of you. If you find that your ms doesn't fit and you send it anyway, well, from what I've heard or seen, more times than not, a rejection letter will be the outcome. Sure, there has been a time or two where a ms has hit their desk and was a smash hit, like similar to hitting the NY Times Bestseller List ms. But this is not the norm from a solicitation, aka, slush pile manuscript, that doesn't fit what they are looking for.

You'll want to make sure all they are asking of you before you send to them is in order. Once you hit the send button or pop it in the mail, there is no do-over. It's on its way and you only have 1 chance to make a first impression. To know they wanted a cover, a query, the first three chapters, a 10 page synopsis.. and you only sent half of what they wanted, well, may not settle well with you, or them either.

So, take a deep breath, write out the list of what the manuscript requirements are and cross them off as you gather them up. Double check the list, just to make sure that your eyes haven't played tricks on you. At this point, for me, my last step before I send it out, I read it out loud one last time, just in case there's a spot that doesn't sound right. I can fix it right on the spot.. and know I've done my possible best for my story. It's ready to go! :)

What now? Well, it can take some time before you hear back. I won't get into the time frame here because I'm not talking about any specific agent/publisher and they all aren't the same. What I do now, instead of watching the clock or days/months roll on by, or refreshing my email several times, I sit back in my comfy chair and outline another story to work on right away. This keeps me busy, and it does help take my mind off of when I'll hear something.

I hope this helps :) Happy Writing!