Do you want your manuscripts back?

I don't want them back. I even mark mine as "disposable copy".

Well, since I could always print out a fresh copy, I really can't find any reason why I would ask for my manuscript back... Then again, I have heard of instances when lawsuits start getting thrown around at people over "the publisher used the story I sent to them years back and gave the credit to another author, blah blah blah..." Hey, it's not that common, but it happens. If you don't want to potentially be in that situation, then by all means tell them you want it back if they won't have it.

Consider your personal expenses, Nandi, and the costs of you printing a new one vs. providing an SASE. I use a laser printer, so it really cost me a pack of paper each time I mailed a full manuscript, and pennies on the dollar for ink, so mine was also marked disposable.

But you're right, the returned manuscript can return with wrinkled pages and bent corners. You can always reprint the messy pages and replace the damaged ones, if the SASE is your cheaper choice.

I don't want it back. Why do I want to pay (it's expensive) to have the whole thing shipped back with coffee rings and smudges and germs when I can just print a fresh copy for much cheaper (even considering paper and ink)?

Disposal ms. is the way to go. 'Cuz it also saves the agent/editor a lot of trouble tracking down and putting the thing back into the mail.

Although it is expensive to print and send multiple copies of a MS that's 300+ pages, wouldn't receiving a wrinkled, thumbed-through MS be a turn-off for publishers? And that return postage isn't exactly cheap, either.

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Wouldn't it be even MORE expensive to have it shipped back? Last I checked, postage is more expensive than ink and paper.

You know your novel is really bad if they're willing to pay the postage to send it back to you . . .

;-)

maestrowork said:

Wouldn't it be even MORE expensive to have it shipped back? Last I checked, postage is more expensive than ink and paper.

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It depends on your printer, I'd expect. Some of the older inkjets won't last longer than one thirty-dollar cartridge per manuscript print.

The most I ever paid to ship a full was $17 and that was across the country.

I certainly wouldn't want them back due to my location. It would be very expensive (and potentially useless as I don't think returned manuscripts are of a high enough quality to submit again).

With a laser printer, I do not want them back.

alleycat said:

You know your novel is really bad if they're willing to pay the postage to send it back to you . . .

;-)

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Accck. That meant Harlequin really hated a ms. I sent them a few years ago. I told them to recycle it and they paid to mail it back.

Virector said:

I have heard of instances when lawsuits start getting thrown around at people over "the publisher used the story I sent to them years back and gave the credit to another author, blah blah blah..." Hey, it's not that common, but it happens.

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I would like to see firm documentation of a specific instance of this occurrence.

caw

Disposable.

I don't want it back... I want it published! ;-)

I would want mine back because it seems like such a waste not to have it returned and re-print the damaged pages.

A) You don't know the publisher's recycling policy and B) It's bloody expensive printing out an entire manuscript again.

And it runs away with your printer's page counter if it has built-in obsolescence.

blacbird said:

I would like to see firm documentation of a specific instance of this occurrence.

caw

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Well, I don't have any credible sources. Someone once mentioned something like that to me, that's why I brought it up, but I have no facts. I'm just mentioning. That kinda thing is very common in the music industry, though, where a no-name submits a song to a label or whatever and they're "not interested", then a couple of years down the line, some big pop star comes out with a new hit single-- which was written by someone who was never acknowledged. Now that I have facts about, but books? meh. I just figured it can't be too far fetched...

Virector said:

Well, I don't have any credible sources. Someone once mentioned something like that to me, that's why I brought it up, but I have no facts. I'm just mentioning. That kinda thing is very common in the music industry, though, where a no-name submits a song to a label or whatever and they're "not interested", then a couple of years down the line, some big pop star comes out with a new hit single-- which was written by someone who was never acknowledged. Now that I have facts about, but books? meh. I just figured it can't be too far fetched...

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Okay, I have heard of this. One agent blog mentioned the culprits were mainly other writers, so be selective about how much you post online about your novel. That agent's name I don't recall, but another guy's post I do know where I read it. Anyway, I'm going to find the agent who mentioned getting a copyright on anything you submit. I read it on Guide to Literary Agents Blog, so I'll be back with the link and the statement.

Edited to include the links
***here's the link for being cautious:

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/Is+It+Safe+To+EMail+Material.aspx


Another one by the same blogger:
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/default,month,2008-10.aspx


And here's the agent giving the copyright advice:
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/Agent+Advice+Paul+S+Levine+Of+Paul+S+Levine+Literary.aspx


It's just something to think about, I'm not saying a writer should or shouldn't do it, because after what happened with the woman who wrote a book to get kids to eat their veggies (I think it was called Deceptively Delicious or something close to that) and then Jerry Steinfeld's wife wrote one some months later that was eerily similar (even the cover reminded me of the other one), a copyright may not be enough.

***Edited to add

This case is probably is to what you originally stated. Seems the author sent the book proposal to the same publisher, was rejected and when she say the other book, filed a lawsuit
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/books/12sneak.html

"The “Sneaky Chef” dispute began last summer, when Ms. Lapine received an eight-page promotional brochure for “Deceptively Delicious,” a sort of mini-version of the book. Ms. Lapine said she was stunned to see the similarities between the books, down to Ms. Seinfeld’s cover (a winking chef and an attempt to hide carrots).
Ms. Lapine’s book had been rejected by HarperCollins and was eventually published in April 2007 by Running Press, an imprint of the Perseus Books Group. Six months later Ms. Seinfeld’s book was published. "

Virector said:

Well, I don't have any credible sources. Someone once mentioned something like that to me, that's why I brought it up, but I have no facts. I'm just mentioning. That kinda thing is very common in the music industry, though, where a no-name submits a song to a label or whatever and they're "not interested", then a couple of years down the line, some big pop star comes out with a new hit single-- which was written by someone who was never acknowledged. Now that I have facts about, but books? meh. I just figured it can't be too far fetched...

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S'ok, Vee, blacbirds' answer: I'm guessing but without firm documentation. he doesn't want it back.

And thanks, Vee for throwing out all the possibilites for our poster. : )

Here's another twist on this subject:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702366.html

I don't know if any of you ever heard about the young Harvard student who lifted essential parts of an established authors book, but stated she'd had help crafting the plot
Excerpt from article:

"The ordeal has focused attention not only on Viswanathan -- a first-time author whose story about an Indian American teenager from New Jersey closely mirrored her own life -- but on the "book packaging" firm that reportedly helped her along the way.

According to news reports, Viswanathan had been introduced to this firm through a consultant her family hired to help with college applications, and it helped her shape the book's plot. The arrangement seemed to pay off: reports have said that Viswanathan received an advance of about $500,000 for the novel, which had a first printing of 100,000 copies, and a second book, and already had a deal with a movie studio."

***
I guess it's a question of who do you trust, because you have to get your work circulated out there in order to get signed.

scarletpeaches said:

I would want mine back because it seems like such a waste not to have it returned and re-print the damaged pages.

A) You don't know the publisher's recycling policy and B) It's bloody expensive printing out an entire manuscript again.

And it runs away with your printer's page counter if it has built-in obsolescence.

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I really recommend you get a laser printer - yes the toner cartridges cost a little more than ink cartridges but the overall savings is too great to ignore.

I haven't wanted one back since I got a computer and printer, honestly. Back in the day when EVERY page was hand-typed (no carbon-paper, no Xerox copy please), it was pretty essential to get the ms back so I didn't have to retype all 400 pages again. Much easier to retype only those pages that needed it.

But nowadays, I think the disposable submission is standard.

When agents asked for my manuscript they had me email it as an attachment.
When I did mail them out to those who still wanted a hard copy I NEVER asked for them back- Even gently used manuscripts are too used for most agents.

I send a small envelope for the response and mention in the cover letter that the manuscript can be disposed of.

Nandi said:

I am starting to submit my completed manuscript directly to independent publishers. I had been told that the industry standard is to include a large SASE so if publishers are not interested they can return the MS to the author.

How many of you do this?

Although it is expensive to print and send multiple copies of a MS that's 300+ pages, wouldn't receiving a wrinkled, thumbed-through MS be a turn-off for publishers? And that return postage isn't exactly cheap, either.

My inclination is to send a fresh MS to each publisher.

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The version you get back is generally in pretty good shape, in my experience. If your printing expenses are higher than mailing expenses, let one copy go the rounds a few times before printing up a new one.