Question.

Bartholomew · May 4, 2006

I'm thinking of starting a slush site. Sort of an archival of MS.'s the authors themselves could update, meant for editors to peruse should their own pile of Ms.'s run short.

It'd be free, of course. I'm just wondering if the idea is at all practical. How could I entice editors into visiting? How could I ensure the safety of the author's MS's, etc.

Would my resources be better spent elsewhere? Or am I maybe onto something?

RG570 · May 4, 2006

When I saw the first sentence in the post, I figured you meant to make a site where people could read slush pile rejects so we could see how NOT to write. That sounds like an awesome idea.

I don't know anything about the business really, but it seems to me that publishers have a steady deluge of slush to deal with...Not sure if it would ever get to the point where they'd seek it out on the internet. We should only be so lucky! But it's an interesting idea. Maybe it could work somehow.

icerose · May 4, 2006

From what I understand, Editors hate slush, they hate their own slush so much they make up excuses not to read them and to put them off to another day. They hire assistants to read it for them, so they don't have to read all of the garbage. I have never heard of a publisher who is short on scripts to read. Most have to close their doors for a while just to wade through all the ones they have already have.

Furthermore on the internet anything could be taken. If there is an exceptional manuscript on that site, what is to keep others from lifting it and passing it off as their own? In light of recent plagarism scandals, I don't think anyone is risking it.

If you find a way to make it work, more power to you, but I do not think editors will be looking for manuscripts outside their own office any time soon.

unthoughtknown · May 4, 2006

RG570 said:
I don't know anything about the business really, but it seems to me that publishers have a steady deluge of slush to deal with...Not sure if it would ever get to the point where they'd seek it out on the internet. We should only be so lucky! But it's an interesting idea.

These were my thoughts too...

Bartholomew · May 4, 2006

RG570 said:
When I saw the first sentence in the post, I figured you meant to make a site where people could read slush pile rejects so we could see how NOT to write. That sounds like an awesome idea.

Actually, this IS a cute idea. Maybe I could solicit a few editors for bad MS and get their opinions on why they were rejected.

Hmm...

icerose · May 4, 2006

Bartholomew said:
Actually, this IS a cute idea. Maybe I could solicit a few editors for bad MS and get their opinions on why they were rejected.

Hmm...

Why a bad manuscript is rejected is obvious. If you get a good or better manuscript and ask why it would get rejected, then you are getting somewhere!

Bartholomew · May 4, 2006

icerose said:
Why a bad manuscript is rejected is obvious. If you get a good or better manuscript and ask why it would get rejected, then you are getting somewhere!

I'd have my OWN opinions too of course!

icerose · May 4, 2006

Bartholomew said:
I'd have my OWN opinions too of course!

Of course, but it would give those of us who are almost but not quite a good window into the publishing world, so we could see the areas we need to bring up in order to be in the pile of the accepted manuscripts.

Bartholomew · May 4, 2006

icerose said:
Of course, but it would give those of us who are almost but not quite a good window into the publishing world, so we could see the areas we need to bring up in order to be in the pile of the accepted manuscripts.

Ahhh...! I see what you're saying.

Hmm. I'll write a few letters and see what I get.

reph · May 4, 2006

This idea reminds me of the episode in Catch-22 about chocolate-covered cotton.

Bartholomew, there's no shortage of slush and no market for it.

Bartholomew · May 4, 2006

reph said:
This idea reminds me of the episode in Catch-22 about chocolate-covered cotton.

Bartholomew, there's no shortage of slush and no market for it.

Obviously, sir, you have not been inside a 7-11 lately.

reph · May 4, 2006

Bartholomew said:
Obviously, sir, you have not been inside a 7-11 lately.

If you'd be so kind, please address me as "Obviously, madam."

Aconite · May 5, 2006

Bartholomew, what you're proposing has been done to death. There's an acronym for it: YADS (Yet Another Display Site). Editors have more than enough slush of their own, and don't go looking for it.

There are also already sites for rejections, etc. Rejectioncollection.com is one. There is also already an excellent article on why manuscripts get rejected, written by Teresa Nielsen Hayden, who works at Tor: Slushkiller. So, really, it's all been done. No need to reinvent the wheel.

maestrowork · May 5, 2006

Editor has enough slush to go through on their own, thank you very much. There's no reason they would troll Internet sites for more work.

Now, the other idea of showing slush material and dissecting them and see why they are slush and what can be done with them... that sounds like fun.

Bartholomew · May 5, 2006

reph said:
If you'd be so kind, please address me as "Obviously, madam."

Well, I was guessing. Madam.

---

YADS? Wondered what that meant...

JerseyGirl1962 · May 5, 2006

Bartholomew said:
Well, I was guessing. Madam.

---

YADS? Wondered what that meant...

YADS = Yet Another Display Site.

~Nancy

Kasey Mackenzie · May 5, 2006

maestrowork said:
Now, the other idea of showing slush material and dissecting them and see why they are slush and what can be done with them... that sounds like fun.

It sounds like fun for US, of course, but I would imagine you'd need to get the permission of the slushees...*snicker*...to actually post and dissect their material or you'd risk violating their copyrights. Query letters with identifying info redacted is one thing, actual manuscripts are another. Then again, I'm only studying to be a paralegal, not an attorney, so...I could be wrong! =)

Aconite · May 5, 2006

maestrowork said:
Now, the other idea of showing slush material and dissecting them and see why they are slush and what can be done with them... that sounds like fun.

Both Miss Snark (when the Crap-O-Meter is open for business) and Torgo do that.

MadScientistMatt · May 5, 2006

Miss Snark did an excellent job at disecting first pages, synopses, and query letters with her Crapometer series. She was so flooded with demand, though, that she only did it a short while. Torgo still runs his Honest Critiques blog but has been pretty busy. Now there's Evil Editor, who specializes in query letters. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before he got flooded with query letters too (I sent him one, in fact). Seems that critiques by industry insiders are in very high demand and short supply, even when, like Miss Snark or Evil Editor, they publically poke fun at the authors' material.

I suspect that a slush website dedicated to bad manuscripts and why they're bad might have little trouble finding authors willing to let them use their stories.

maestrowork · May 5, 2006

I will do it, if someone would be kind enough to send me their slush. I would be happy to do a few dissection and critique just for fun and education.

Gillhoughly · May 5, 2006

Speaking as an editor (part time!) I don't have time to cruise the Net looking for the next best-seller.

That will be found on my overloaded desk. I hope.

Your site might be helpful for writers to get feedback on their submissions, but editors are too busy slogging through the slush that has been sent via the usual channels.

Ditto for agents.

Anyone sending me (or any other editor) a link to such a site--and I've gotten a few--can expect at most a 10 second peek to find that it's yet another place I can avoid. Other editors will likely just delete the mail or put a "block sender" on the addy. They might mention the business over lunch to their friends. ("Hey--I got one of those mails again...")

It's great to want to help other writers. This is a lonely profession and contact with others can keep you going through the low spots. Put your site up for writers to get feedback. Post links to publishers/agents with their submissions guidelines.

Oh, wait--isn't all that to be found here at AW?

Question.

Bartholomew

Comic guy

RG570

icerose

Lost in School Work

unthoughtknown

practical experience, FTW

Bartholomew

Comic guy

icerose

Lost in School Work

Bartholomew

Comic guy

icerose

Lost in School Work

Bartholomew

Comic guy

reph

Fig of authority

Bartholomew

Comic guy

reph

Fig of authority

Aconite

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Bartholomew

Comic guy

JerseyGirl1962

I heart Malamutes! :-)

Kasey Mackenzie

One Hit Wonder?

Aconite

MadScientistMatt

Empirical Storm Trooper

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor