From Windstorm's Senior Editor
Hello, writers.
I think I may be able to shed some light on what's happening in terms of response times and, in some cases, a lack of response from WSC to those of you who have submitted work.
Steve and Debra – I’m sorry, I checked our logs and we have no record of your submissions. If you have not heard from us, I can only assume that your query or sample chapters were misrouted or MIA between your mailbox and ours. Additionally, I cannot imagine a question about a contract going unanswered for 5 months, but without more information it’s impossible for me to respond to that particular situation.
We get thousands of submissions and in truth, we try and take a look at every one of them. This takes time.
Every publisher has to put some guidelines in place in order to save everyone a lot of headaches. We spent a lot of time on our submission guidelines and we think they’re not only comprehensive, but will really give you a sense of whether or not your work is within the realm of what we publish. To that end, here are a few additional tips.
1. All submissions must include the following: A submission form and submission label (available from the website) and a SASE. Any submissions which do not have all of these three essential elements are destroyed.
2. If you haven't heard back from us -- or from any publisher -- after the designated waiting period (which is usually stated in the submission guidelines). It is okay to send a follow up letter. Include a SASE for response. Please don't phone, however, as that is generally frowned upon unless you're under contract.
3. We have a small staff and do our very best to get back to everyone as quickly as possible. Books we know aren't for us right off the bat which have the proper forms are returned quickly. Books which we would like to review are generally held longer. Unlike other situations where a publisher's silence means rejection, ours means that we're reading your work and considering it.
As a writer myself who has waited for both publishers and agents to return my calls, letters and queries, I understand how frustrating it is to wait. We honestly try to the best we can to get back to writers quickly.
As far as Slayrre's comments go, I am going to address them because he posted them openly in a public forum and the issues he raised are important ones.
Before I tackle his specific complaints, I will remind anyone considering working with an independent press or a small press that there are trade offs. The biggest pro for working with a smaller house is that you will hear from a real person with decision making power. Right now, I am the author/artist contact, so every single author and artist under contract with Windstorm who emails me with questions gets a response that I've either written myself or that my personal assistant has written from my notes to her. You get a lot of personalized interaction, but because of this, it may take me more than 24 hours to answer your email. It may take me a week or even two. But I will answer it.
Timely questions and requests are always addressed immediately -- email and phone messages are retrieved daily. Contract issues, readings, signings, tours, and other matters of this type are handled quickly. The writers and artists may feel that they're project is top priority, but they're not aware of the 50 other messages that also figure into a day's work.
In terms of Michael's (Slayrre's) specific issues, he *was* given a timeline and a production schedule, which we followed. That production schedule included information on publication date. We also addressed his questions regarding marketing on several occasions and gave him concrete information about how and when the book/game would be marketed.
His phone calls were returned in a timely manner. During the time the book was waiting in the layout queue, he didn't hear from us because we had no news for him and the project was on schedule. Additionally, we asked what he wanted to see on his cover and whether or not he had an artist/designer in mind -- which is completely unheard of in corporate publishing. Then we followed up on his ideas and suggestions.
In the end, it was the writer's own antagonistic attitude which soured the relationship.
We make every effort to be fair, to foster open communication and to provide an atmosphere where the writer has a lot of input into and control of the process. In some cases it's just a bad "fit" and the best thing we can do is release the unhappy writer and his or her project from the contract.
This is what we did. He is now free to take his game anywhere he'd like.
I hope this helps answer some additional questions about Windstorm. I can't promise I'll be able to post here regularly, but I will try and stop in now and then to address other questions and concerns. In the meantime, I wish all of you good luck in placing you work.
Sincerely,
Cris DiMarco
Senior Editor
Windstorm Creative
www.windstormcreative.com