Storytellersunplugged

A friend sent me a very timely email today, in which he quotes the wise Tom Petty:

“The waiting is the hardest part.”

Tell me about it, brother. I’m a writer, not yet a professional one (by my standards anyway) but I keep trying. I devote about three hours a day to writing. The other twenty-one hours I spend waiting.

My current worry stones include three novellas sent to three different publishers, all out about three months, two novels to one publisher, one at around four years and the other at two, a comic script sitting with an editor for close to four years, and yet another novel I’ve been waiting to hear back on for close to a year. None of these response times are out of the norm or out of line. Publishing (or even failing to get published) is a slow process. There are also a half-dozen or so agents, some of whom I’ve met in person at one convention or another, and who have requested, face to face, to see my work. They always give a timeframe in which to contact them if I haven’t heard back. I never do hear back, and when I send them the requested reminder, it also goes unanswered.

I’ve nearly given up on agents.

I am confident I will get a thumbs up or down from most of the above-mentioned editors eventually, a few others I am confident I will never hear back from.

Brush-offs, like waiting, are a part of the game. You learn to deal with them.

Now before this descends into a rant (I can feel it wanting to veer that way already), I’m going to hand over the reigns to three true professionals in the field. These three men are a part of the reason the horror genre is thriving today. They are responsible for tapping some of the greatest talent in the horror, suspense, and thriller genres. They are, in part, the reason I’m loosing my hair at 34 and squeal like a little girl every time I hear my email go off.

Lets have a big hand for Shane Staley (Delirium Books), Larry Roberts (Bloodletting Press), and Don D’Auria (Leisure Books). I’ve asked the three of them a series of questions, and they’ve taken time from their very busy schedules to answer them for us. They have also offered words of general advice.

Aspiring writers, pay attention.

If you are not an aspiring writer, but simply follow Storytellers Unplugged as part of a general interest in the world of publishing, you should find this interesting. You’ve probably been reading the various rants and tirades of frustrated writers for years, so here’s a rare opportunity for you to get a view from the other side of the editor’s desk.

In the interest of clarity, because far too many aspiring authors don’t understand the difference between solicited and unsolicited submissions … a solicited manuscript is one that an editor has asked you to send, either in response to a query letter, or just because they dig your work. An unsolicited manuscript is one that they have no idea is coming to them.

Now without further pontification, I give you Shane, Larry, and Don!

Q: How many submissions do you receive in a month’s time, and how many hours a day, on average, are you able to devote to reading submitted manuscripts?

Shane: Delirium receives 50-100 unsolicited, non-book length submissions per month. Delirium isn’t open to unsolicited full-length manuscripts throughout the year, so in addition to that, we receive about 75-125 solicited full length manuscripts throughout the year.

I usually devote an entire weekend, once a month, to unsolicited submissions. I review solicited manuscripts weekly, when I have time, usually spending an average of 1-2 hours per day.

Larry: We receive about 25 unsolicited manuscripts a month of which I can personally get to only about five to seven. So as you can see the pile just gets bigger and bigger. However we’ve recently taken on some new readers that will help us make future decisions on manuscripts. So our hope it to get a better turnaround time for the writer while continuing to increase the quality.

Don: It varies wildly and I’ve never sat down to do an actual count, but I would guess the average number per month is somewhere between seventy-five and a hundred. Plus queries. I hardly ever have time in the office to do any reading. Most of the day in the office is spent doing other things, like answering emails and phone calls, having meetings, writing copy, etc. So I do most of my reading at home at nights or on weekends.

Q: How long can a writer expect to wait for an acceptance or rejection on an unsolicited submission, and how long for a solicited manuscript? What is the longest you’ve held a manuscript before deciding to publish it?

Shane: Unsolicited manuscript, 3-8 months. Solicited, generally less than 3 months. Longest I’ve held a manuscript was a year.

Larry: It sometimes it takes us 6 months to give an answer on a book. We recently accepted a manuscript that we had in our “to be read pile” for five months.

Writers need to know that if your story is a good one then it will find its way into print. Believe in yourself and your story.

Don: Given the number of submissions I get, you can understand how it could take me longer than I’d like to read them all. I wish I could get through them faster, but I appreciate the authors’ patience. I can’t really pin down estimated times for different submissions because there are so many factors involved. But in general, the “no’s” come back much quicker than the “yeses.”

Q: What are your personal pet peeves when dealing with writers who have submitted work to you?

Shane: Simultaneous submissions. When I devote time to someone’s work, that’s an investment by me. So it’s quite a loss of time and money when I go to accept a submission only to find out that the author has placed it elsewhere and is awaiting a response from another publisher. At which time, I generally withdraw my offer to publish the manuscript. Delirium’s submission policy states clearly that we do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Larry: Receiving manuscripts without solicitation has become troublesome only because I feel a responsibility to the author. I know the writers have often put many months into the creation of the work and I feel a responsibility to that creative process by giving it a chance at success. As our press grows this is getting harder and harder to do.

Don: One thing that annoys me is when authors choose not to send me what I’ve asked for. I’ll often ask for the first three chapters and a synopsis. But I’ve had authors tell me the first three chapters aren’t very good, so they’re sending me three chapters selected from various places throughout the novel. Or they’ll tell me they don’t have a synopsis and don’t want to write one. I’m also not crazy about authors who send me four or five manuscripts at the same time and tell me to pick one.

Q: What can an author do, aside from sending you a great story, to improve their chances placing work with you?

Shane: Get excited about the work you’ve submitted and be eager to help the publisher get it out to the readers if accepted. Marketing and self-promotion go a long way in decision-making.

Larry: It would be helpful to send a synopsis of the first three chapters of the story. The most valuable commodity for a publisher is time and anything you can do to help him will be greatly appreciated and likely rewarded. Also a little cover sheet about yourself and your writing. I always like knowing something about the author I’m reading. Also read some of the books that we publish, if you send me a fantasy, complete with elves and dragons, you’re just wasting both our time and future manuscripts from the author will likely make it to the bottom of the pile.

Don: Be professional. Check out our guidelines. Make sure what you’re submitting fits what we publish. Submit your work in a professional format. That means double-spaced, neatly typed in a decent-sized font. Don’t go out of your way to make it harder for me to read your work.

Q: These days, thanks to the Internet, writers are able to interact with readers, potential readers, and possible business contacts in ways that were not possible only a few decades ago. Sometimes however, that can be more a curse than a blessing. Does a writer’s online antics, embarrassing behavior, or bad reputation have an effect on your decision to publish or reject them?

Shane: It does. The thing is that there are an over-abundance of great writers out there. Publishers, particular small press ones, really have the freedom to pick and choose who they want to publish and promote. Personally, I’d rather deal with someone I like, who is also a great author, than someone I personally don’t care for and who is a great author.

For me, it’s all about building a relationship with an author and building a business plan. Trying to promote an author and my company at the same time. And, of course, I want the right personnel to represent my company.

Larry: Authors are artist, and as artists they can be a bit eccentric. Let’s face it these folks spend a lot of time in imaginary worlds of their own making and that’s enough to make anyone a little different. I’m more concerned with the story than the authors online persona.

I prefer working with an author that is not going to forget that he or she has written the book as soon as we accept the manuscript. Those authors that promote their work and my press in any format will likely see me asking for more manuscripts in the future.

Don: That’s an interesting question. I suppose in a perfect world the only thing that would matter would be the quality of the writing, but I can imagine extreme cases where behavior or antics would color my decision. For example, if an author were notoriously erratic and unreliable, I might wonder about how he would meet deadlines. Or if he were found to have plagiarized in the past. If an author is abusive, belligerent and insulting to everyone, I’d wonder how difficult he’d be to work with or how good he would be at public appearances. Sure, if a manuscript is brilliant I’ll put up with a lot, but if I have to choose between two equal manuscripts, I’ll pick the one by the author I’ll be able to work with. But again, this would only be in very extreme cases. I browse a lot of the message boards and websites and I’ve seen a lot of posts by and about authors, but I can’t remember anything yet that made me think, “Hmm, I’d better stay away from that guy.” Writers are human just like anybody else, and everybody does something embarrassing now and then. It’s a stretched simile, but think of the internet as a bar and me as someone who’ll be interviewing you later for a job. Chances are, there isn’t much you could do in the bar that would make much difference to me, but if I saw you sucker punch an old lady and steal her purse, it could have an effect on how your interview goes.

Now, a bit of general advice from the editors:

Shane: Believe in yourself and your work. Take an active role beyond just being an author. In this day and age, promoting yourself and your work is important.

Larry: Don’t stop, keep writing every day and perfecting your craft. Believe in your voice and your work.

Don: The best advice I can give writers regarding submissions is to be patient. It may be tempting to try to force an answer from an editor, but the only answer an editor can give quickly is “no.”

Well, there you have it. Nothing much I can add, except to say thanks to Shane, Larry, and Don for their time.

Until next time,

Brian Knight