.
I’m usually the “silent” partner for WordWise Media. But today, I’m the guest blogger. My job normally includes helping our fiction clients polish their novels before Steve works his magic pitching them to publishers. However, I’m also a gatekeeper. While Steve always gets the email submissions first (please don’t send them to me; I’ll just forward them to Steve or put them in the virtual round file), he sends interesting fiction to me for further evaluation. Unfortunately, most of those end up getting a thumbs down. Sometimes two thumbs down. There are a lot of reasons for this, but there are some issues I see over and over. Avoiding them will help aspiring writers get past the gatekeeper, whether it is at an agency or publisher.
The most basic thing to remember is that publishing is a business. And like any business, there are rules and standards that you’ll need to follow in order to succeed. You may have written the next Great American Novel; but if you think you don’t have to make sure your manuscript is polished or if you’re not willing to follow submission guidelines, it’s very unlikely your book will ever be read. You need to appear professional. This is the only way to convince someone to take a chance, put up a large amount of money (or in the case of an agent, a great deal of time) to publish your book and risk not making a profit—or even making back the investment. And that means putting in the work to educate yourself, by avoiding things such as:
