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Submission

A look at submission guidelines -- what they mean, how to read them, how to find them, and much encouraging to follow them.

Comments

I think...

[the-lady-m.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of reactions that you are seeing from writers, is due to the fact that each individual writer can only see the "I" - the "me" in the big picture.

Most of us do not realize that it takes a gaggle of people to create one published novel.

So, for that individual writer, who is sitting on his/her hands, counting the seconds as they go by, hoping that you've reached their own MS - those months seem an eternity.

The seconds turn to months... then a year - and for writer, that is forever as they hope for some news of what has happened to their story.

Hope becomes lost, dreams crash. The demons of "no one likes my writing" echo through our heads.

We don't see that you have literally hundreds of other writers who are doing exactly the same thing - and there are only a few of you to make the process happen, one MS at a time.

We don't see the horrible stories that are sent in.

We don't know the truth about the unsolicited projects shipped to you.

We don't know about the constant irritation of buzzing bees calling you to check on their one little, itsy-bitsy MS in your empire building tall stack of Stories.

All we know is, that like a dog, we are waiting obediently for someone to take us for a ride in the car. Or like a cat, waiting for the catnip to be brought down from the shelves.

So - thank you for posting this. It (the publishing industry) makes more sense, the more I learn about every facet. And I'm glad you're taking the demystification seriously. It gives me hope that one day, I will see my creativity in print - and that I will make it through the system with as much knowledge as possible, giving me a leg up on the competition... *g*

You're a pretty awesome person for taking the time to do this for everyone - and I hope that somehow you're rewarded for it. For all of the agents/editors/publishers taking the time to do it - it is very much appreciated.

Lady M