I know I'm showing off, but I can't help it. My co-authored book got a great review in Writing Magazine.
www.lorrainemace.com
Review by Richard Bell for Writing Magazine
The Preface to The ABC Checklist makes a good point: editorial departments, in both magazine and book publishing houses, are often so oversupplied with submissions that they actively look for reasons to reject them. This obviously means that anything that looks at all amateurish courts instant rejection.
So how do you make your own submission as professional and impressive as possible? Here is a book that sets out to answer that important question. It is framed as an ABC guide, so you can seek advice on anything from agents (and how to find one) to vanity publishers (and how to avoid them).
In between there is advice on every possible question you might ask as you put together your first submission: how you should set out the presentation of your manuscript; how you should write a covering letter, what it should include and how it should be put together; how to write a synopsis; how to construct a book proposal.
Indeed new writers will find the advice helpful even before they get to making a submission. There is guidance on the art of market research, whether you are writing a magazine article or a book, and on how to send a query letter.
ggggareth | February 9, 2008 - 19:55
Do you know, I read that review, and yet the name didn't register! Well done Lorraine.
drew_gummerson | February 9, 2008 - 21:26
Good-o!
Funnily enough I was talking at a Writing Conference today and was saying exactly this - people just don't know how to present themselves, even basic things.
Shame I didn't know about your book. There were 200 people there and I could have directed them to it!
But I did point people in the direction of this site - so maybe they will see it.
Lorraine_Mace | February 10, 2008 - 09:15
Thanks both of you. I was nervous about that review coming out as a poor one would have been worse than none at all.
www.lorrainemace.com
bukharinwasmyfa... | February 10, 2008 - 16:07
I'm not entirely sure about this:
"The Preface to The ABC Checklist makes a good point: editorial departments, in both magazine and book publishing houses, are often so oversupplied with submissions that they actively look for reasons to reject them. This obviously means that anything that looks at all amateurish courts instant rejection."
I'm sure it's true in terms of agents and big publishing houses (or, in fact, smaller ones) who have wade through massive slush piles but in terms of approaching small magazines, while I don't advise amateurism, it depends very much on the editors involved whether it's a factor in whether or not you get published.
The small literary magazine I co-edit http://www.brittlestar.org.uk/ has published poems by people who've failed to send a covering letter at all - as long as they've succeeded in putting their address on the piece of paper containing their poem and either of an SAE or email address to enable a response. And we're only able to publish up to 20 poems per issue out of over 1000 submitted.
We're genuinely not looking for reasons to reject people other than not thinking their writing's very good.
I'm not criticising professional presentation. If you want to be a professional writer, it's part of the job but it's a much easier and much less important part of the job than writing something that other people would want to read.
Lorraine_Mace | February 10, 2008 - 16:25
"We're genuinely not looking for reasons to reject people other than not thinking their writing's very good.
I'm not criticising professional presentation. If you want to be a professional writer, it's part of the job but it's a much easier and much less important part of the job than writing something that other people would want to read."
I couldn't agree with you more that being able to write is more important than any other consideration, but presenting work so that it stands the best possible chance of being considered is one of the best ways of getting work read by editors and publishers.
If the writing is crap, no amount of beautifying of manuscripts is going to get it accepted, but really great work can be overlooked because it's been badly presented.
It's nice to know that you operate differently as an editor, but the reseach Maureen and I did when writing the book proves that you are in a tiny minority, which is sad, but still a fact of our writing lives.
www.lorrainemace.com
Ewan | February 10, 2008 - 16:53
"The small literary magazine I co-edit http://www.brittlestar.org.uk/ has published poems by people who've failed to send a covering letter at all - as long as they've succeeded in putting their address on the piece of paper containing their poem and either of an SAE or email address to enable a response."
Careful Bukh, there are lots of us bad writers out here reading this. :-D
Ewan
tcook | February 12, 2008 - 11:05
And Lorraine's book is available via the link on the front page to books by ABCtales authors. Lots of other good ones in there too!
Lorraine_Mace | February 12, 2008 - 11:31
Thanks Tony. :)
www.lorrainemace.com