I mucked up

KimJo · May 14, 2005

I recently submitted a YA series I've written to a publisher who was listed in the 2005 Children's Writers and Illustrators Market. According to that, the acquisitions editor prefers complete manuscripts (for the first book only, if it's a series) and accepts series proposals. A while after I sent off my submission packet, I read something from March in which the editor said she prefers queries and accepts series proposals. So, naturally, about a week later, I got my rejection letter. That's what I get for not doing my homework. (Though I did check the company's website, and that also sounded like complete mss were okay.)

I'm assuming based on the turnaround time (3 weeks from my mailing the packet to my receiving the rejection) that it was rejected based on my not following the submission procedure, because I don't think they had time to read it. Part of me thinks I should resub correctly, but mostly I think that's a bad idea. Any thoughts?

triceretops · May 14, 2005

Kimjo, I don't think you were rejected for not following the proper guidelines, unless this editor really adheres to them, with no leeway at all. In my experience, an editor will begrudgingly overlook a submission mistake, and give you the benifit of the doubt. Most editors/pulishlers are not cold-hearted authoritarians. What kind of rejection did you recieve? I doubt very seriously if they would have taken the time to inform you that your completed manuscript was never even looked at because you screwed up with their guidelines.

Just my thought

Triceratops

Torin · May 15, 2005

KimJo said:
I'm assuming based on the turnaround time (3 weeks from my mailing the packet to my receiving the rejection) that it was rejected based on my not following the submission procedure, because I don't think they had time to read it. Part of me thinks I should resub correctly, but mostly I think that's a bad idea. Any thoughts?

Don't assume they didn't have time to read it. I submitted a full ms via email one afternoon (it was requested by the publisher) and the next morning I got an email offering a contract. It's a 70,000 word book and she evidently read it overnight. What did the rejection say? Was it a form letter? Did it say something like "this doesn't meet our needs right now"? In any case, I'd move on to the next publisher on your list.

Good luck

Torin

KimJo · May 16, 2005

Triceratops and Torin, thanks for answering.

All I received was a form rejection (thanks but it doesn't suit our needs), which makes it impossible to tell what their reason was. I was basing my assumption that it was because of not following the guidelines on having heard from other writers that it had happened to them (not necessarily with the same publisher) and on how quickly I heard back. A writer who has published several books with the publisher read my first chapter and was sure her editor would like it, but obviously that wasn't the case. Since I don't really know why it was rejected, I'm going to do another read-through of it, tweak what needs tweaking, and send it off again after CAREFULLY reading submission guidelines.

I'm still bummed, though, because this publisher was the best fit I've found for the series.

Jamesaritchie · May 16, 2005

Guidelines

KimJo said:
Triceratops and Torin, thanks for answering.

All I received was a form rejection (thanks but it doesn't suit our needs), which makes it impossible to tell what their reason was. I was basing my assumption that it was because of not following the guidelines on having heard from other writers that it had happened to them (not necessarily with the same publisher) and on how quickly I heard back. A writer who has published several books with the publisher read my first chapter and was sure her editor would like it, but obviously that wasn't the case. Since I don't really know why it was rejected, I'm going to do another read-through of it, tweak what needs tweaking, and send it off again after CAREFULLY reading submission guidelines.

I'm still bummed, though, because this publisher was the best fit I've found for the series.

It's always good to follow guidelines, but it's also usually pretty easy to tell whether or not something was read. An editor who really doesn't want to read a complete manuscript will almost always just hand it back to the mailman unopened. If the submission package has been opened, you can bet the edior read enough to know she didn't want to buy it.

I wouldn;t worry about tweaking anything. This can hurt more than it ever helps. Unless an editors asks for changes, just submit it again somewhere else as is. There are a thousand reason the editor might have rejected you novel, and most of them are reasons tweaking won't. Probably none of them are. You were rejected by one editor. Don't think twice about it. Just move on to the next.

I mucked up

KimJo

Outside the box, with the werewolves

triceretops

Torin

Wandering vaguely

KimJo

Outside the box, with the werewolves

Jamesaritchie