[Publisher] Baen Books

I got a reject from them after 14 months in early February. It was a personal reject too, with a few excellent remarks of what didn't work with the manuscript, so I was happy even with a rejection. Now I know what to work on when I do the next revision.

Good luck with yours!

sounds par for the course

have to agree . Sometimes personal stuff comes into the game. I had problems before like this .

Wow, that's a lnog wait. I have one MS with them but it's only been there a few mnoths. I've revised it a lot since then. I've pretty much given up and am targetting other places now.

anybody who has experience with Baen Books slush pile? (merged w/Baen thread in B&BC)

Ok, I'm not quite sure if this belongs here, but anyway: Baen Books have a slush pile, and there is mention about a 9 to 12 months for response on their FAQ, but from what research I have done it's actually more 'several months over a year' right now. Plus that is only if the answer is a rejection at the first stage, if the first reader passes it the manuscript goes to Toni Weisskopf, and then it might take several years before she has the time to look at it, and find out if they can buy it if she likes it. So, I'm mainly curious if there is anyone here who has gone through the longer process with their slush, am I right about how that system works and the big question: how long did it take?

So, there aren't that many publishers who have a slush pile now, and that seems to be the slowest one of them. I do have a manuscript in there, and I suppose the best idea with the one I'm finishing now is to see if I can find an agent for it. Just wondering how long it will take before I'll get that earlier one out - it's been in there long enough that if the first reader rejects it I should be getting that rejection about now. So if it takes a few more months without that email I have to decide if I can bear waiting possibly several years for the final answer. Since that damn thing is the first novel length thing I have written that will probably be 'no thanks' anyway, but since it's the first novel length thing I have written and if it manages to get past the first gatekeeper maybe I should just leave it in there and concentrate on working with other things while I wait...

Oh hell, I'm probably agonizing over this way too early anyway. I'll probably get that rejection within a few weeks.

I believe Jim Hines went through the process

Mine has been in there for 16 months now.

I believe Jim Hines went through the process

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Yep, back when Jim Baen was still alive. It took roughly 2.5 years from submission to the day his offer showed up in my e-mail.

By that time I had sent a message withdrawing the book (which they apparently never got), submitted elsewhere, and signed a deal with another publisher.

Well, my god. I got a near misss with a bunch of comments after 19 months. I sent the manuscript in myself, without an agent back then. It was a crap shoot, knowing that the book was a crichton-esque thriller. They loved it, but refused it for the genre reason. "This was very special" sez them. Gak. Well, the book sold anyway but that publisher is in breach right now. I have a good mind to take it back and do a rewrite.

One of the best rejections I have ever received from a large house.

Tri

Baen Books

http://www.baen.com/default.asp

Anyone ever dealt with them? I know they are legit, but I've never read anything from them because of the cover art. Kind of curious to hear people's answers.

Completely legit. A friend of mine is multi-published with them and they treat her very well. She got hard-cover deals with them when her previous publisher wouldn't do that.

They've recovered well since Jim Baen died. The only warning is that I think that it still takes them a while to get back to you--but they're one of the few that will take a full ms straight up, IIRC.

And, FWIW, they publish more than military SF. My friend doesn't write anything CLOSE to that. She writes SF faeries, actually. LOL!

Existing thread here. I'm sure a mod will be along shortly to merge the threads.

I didn't see that thread. In any case, there's really nothing wrong with their art, imo. It just feels old fashion.

Gee, maybe because most of it is still *painted* instead of Photoshopped collages of stock images? Given the sophomoric cover attempts I've seen from some other big sf&f publishers recently, it's good to see actual art still being used.

Filigree said:

Gee, maybe because most of it is still *painted* instead of Photoshopped collages of stock images? Given the sophomoric cover attempts I've seen from some other big sf&f publishers recently, it's good to see actual art still being used.

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Erm, have you actually checked out Baen covers? They're notoriously mock-worthy in many circles and it has nothing to do with the medium.

What I don't understand is why anyone would be put off of submitting to one of the best publishers of genre fiction just because of the covers. While it's true that Baen has more than its fair share of whoppers, it's still a great publisher. The whopper covers don't seem to put off enough readers to actually matter, and for some readers, they're part of the charm of Baen books.

The caution about bad covers being a red flag is pertinent to micropresses that don't have established cache', not to top dogs like Baen.

I'm not putting off submitting to them. In fact I was going to when I finish my WIP. I was just talking about reading, and yes I'm extremely picky.

Why are you even considering submitting your work to a publisher whose books you don't read?

Exactly. Baen has many free reads on their site, if you don't want to spring for the purchase.

Tri

James D. Macdonald said:

Why are you even considering submitting your work to a publisher whose books you don't read?

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Honestly? I don't know. I should just deal with my art pet peeve and read their books. In fact I think I will read one of their books when I'm finished with "The Edge of the World."

triceretops said:

Exactly. Baen has many free reads on their site, if you don't want to spring for the purchase.

Tri

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I forgot they had free books on their website.

Any info on current wait times? I'm anticipating a year +