tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post651810025077865169..comments2024-03-28T05:28:28.567-04:00Comments on Editorial Anonymous: Proof of LifeEditorial Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294247222893767117noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-16924828566461471842007-06-07T16:05:00.000-04:002007-06-07T16:05:00.000-04:00Yes, it was Holiday House. Please do tell me abou...Yes, it was Holiday House. Please do tell me about your situation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-72264117636154158532007-06-06T21:05:00.000-04:002007-06-06T21:05:00.000-04:00Hey, question asker:I don't mean to name names or ...Hey, question asker:<BR/><BR/>I don't mean to name names or anything, but was it by chance Holiday House that was not getting back to you in this story? Because I had practically the same exact thing with them, and the person who was looking at my manuscript also left the house for grad school in December. <BR/><BR/>COINCIDENCE????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-16371776987197490832007-06-06T15:17:00.000-04:002007-06-06T15:17:00.000-04:00When it comes to having to wait a long time for a ...When it comes to having to wait a long time for a response to a submission, I don't tink authors should necessarily take this as suggesting the decision is likely to be negative. from my experience, slush piles can grow very big, very quickly, and it can take months for us to get around to reading the mss (including agented ones). If the editor reads something and then passes it to their colleague for a second opinion, you can add several more weeks to this, and yet again, months if then mss is then passed further up the chain or sideways to another department. multiply this situation to the nth degree, and, yes, 3 years is ridiculous....but i can sort of understand how these things happen. hang in there - and keep submittingraspberry berethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11818036801098489630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-1371379234724594472007-06-06T08:30:00.000-04:002007-06-06T08:30:00.000-04:00Replying to the question about the option clause -...Replying to the question about the option clause -- My contracts have never contained one. But if a contract does, and it's not stricken, then you do want it defined/limited somehow, by length of time, type of book, or both. In this case, a short-ish time limit is reasonable and necessary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-1130009695161488752007-06-05T22:06:00.000-04:002007-06-05T22:06:00.000-04:00When I was talking about exclusives I meant for ag...When I was talking about exclusives I meant for agent submissions. If you query an agent and they ask for a full some will ask for a 2 or 3 week exclusive. I gave it to my agent when she asked.<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't give an exclusive in a cover letter...that doesn't make sense. In fact, my agent said while talking to a group of writers at a conference, "Whatever you do, don't tell me that I'm the only person you've sent your MS to. Send it to several people and tell me who you've sent it to so I know that I have to act quickly if I'm interested."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-37208846318354624042007-06-05T21:59:00.000-04:002007-06-05T21:59:00.000-04:00For EA or Anonagain or those who have published .....For EA or Anonagain or those who have published ... does your contract indicate how long the editor might have exclusive rights to your next work? That's how I thought it worked. Once, say, two months or whatever is up, isn't it understood by both parties that the manuscript may be heading elsewhere? <BR/><BR/>And I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who waited an extraordinarily long time and then had a manuscript accepted. My experience has been that a long wait usually precedes a short "no."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-50844028806457567462007-06-05T21:40:00.000-04:002007-06-05T21:40:00.000-04:00I had a similar experience of an editor calling me...I had a similar experience of an editor calling me out of the blue to say she "loved" my picture book, keeping me hanging for months with assurances that "everyone loves it," then... I never heard from her again. I wrote a few times, then gave up. I thought perhaps she left the company, but no, she's still there three years later. I figured that they didn't really love it all that much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-82821237988530501022007-06-05T21:06:00.000-04:002007-06-05T21:06:00.000-04:00I don't go for exclusives with time limits, for th...I don't go for exclusives with time limits, for this reason: Let's say you give an exclusive for three months. Let's say they don't even open the envelope for four months. They see your three-month limit in your cover letter, and there's their reason to reject you. You just handed it to them. Many suggested time limits for exclusives are so short (4, 6, 8 weeks)that you hardly have a prayer they'll read it by then, much less be able to reach a decision that is dependent on committee meetings, p & l's, in-house support, etc. Even if they read it within your time limit, if they know they can't offer a decision that fast then what will stop them from just cutting you loose unless you're the next JKR? I think time-limited submissions are too likely to backfire, and that unreasonably short times may even show ignorance of the business, or sound demanding or presumptuous. "Read and accept my opus within four weeks, or lose your chance." I wouldn't blame an editor for greeting this with little more than a yawn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-47836042121186438142007-06-05T16:12:00.000-04:002007-06-05T16:12:00.000-04:00You are so patient!Makes me feel a tiny bit better...You are so patient!<BR/><BR/>Makes me feel a tiny bit better on the fulls I'm waiting on.Stephanie J. Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17997433466625207454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-73972981949547669182007-06-05T15:41:00.000-04:002007-06-05T15:41:00.000-04:00I feel the need to defend the industry...I have no...I feel the need to defend the industry...I have no idea why. I'm not stoned or drunk. I think reading, making revision comments, proof reading, copy editing, all those things take enormous amount of time and energy. Plus, remember, the kitchens of agents and editors are stacked throat-high with mostly horrible manuscripts for which authors are each anxiously awaiting a thoughtful response.<BR/><BR/>I think agents and editors are saints. Yes, I wish they communicated more often and worked more quickly and liked more of my exquisite prose. But, dang, I couldn't do what they do. I have a stack of magazines a foot high and I can't get through it. I toss most of them -- unread.<BR/><BR/>The answer is, indeed, simultaneous submissions (or exclusives for 2 weeks or 3 max.) Keep your work out there...it's bound to bubble to the top of some murky slush at some point or another. (Or better yet, send it to agents instead of editors. Agents have more impetus to read their slush than editors...editors get to focus on manuscripts that have been offered by agents, and prescreened.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-5106894465706312092007-06-05T15:13:00.000-04:002007-06-05T15:13:00.000-04:00"I think maybe the norms of publishing are so coun..."I think maybe the norms of publishing are so counterintuitive and author-unfriendly that some writers will put up with absolutely anything."<BR/><BR/>Right on. Compared to other businesses, the norms of publishing, particularly the actual sale/acquisition of the ms., are completely different and radically, permanently skewed in favor of the buyer. No seller of any other kind of product would put up with this, period, and no potential customer would still be in the running after hedging and dithering and hemming and hawing for three years.<BR/><BR/>This is not rare, folks. A member of my critique group is in the same situation -- 3 years and counting -- with a company she has already published with! -- and I know it's not the same company the questioner means. There are two ways I know of to mitigate this situation. (1)get an agent; then it's his/her headache more than yours; (2) DO NOT do single or exclusive submissions. Ever. Make it your business policy. Your career should halt for three years, your product should be off the market for three years, while ONE company yanks your chain? Or, more often, doesn't? I don't think so. <BR/><BR/>I'm a published author of a number of books, and guess what, that fact doesn't speed up the process! Which just brings me back to (1) and (2) above. I don't know what else you do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-81756010826990379212007-06-05T14:46:00.000-04:002007-06-05T14:46:00.000-04:00Wow! This really gives me some perspective for the...Wow! This really gives me some perspective for the five months that I've been waiting. Glad I finally decided to just get busy working on the next project. I'd have lost my mind by now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-39987463291097840942007-06-05T14:24:00.000-04:002007-06-05T14:24:00.000-04:00I know someone who published a picture book with a...I know someone who published a picture book with a small but reputable house. Her second picture book, they sat on for two years (the last I heard) with no response. Two years! The editor--the same editor she'd already worked with--didn't even return her calls. Did the writer send her manuscript anywhere else? No. She just sat and waited to hear something from this one publisher. Why? I don't know. I think maybe the norms of publishing are so counterintuitive and author-unfriendly that some writers will put up with absolutely anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-64271057664774872192007-06-05T13:43:00.000-04:002007-06-05T13:43:00.000-04:00Yes, you have the patience of a saint.In terms of ...Yes, you have the patience of a saint.<BR/><BR/>In terms of doubts, are there not always doubts? Or is it that some doubts are greater than others? <BR/><BR/>How often does a ms come in that is so clean and sparkly and perfect that there are no doubts?<BR/><BR/>What percentage of mss do you fall in love with completely from the word go? And have no doubts over?<BR/><BR/>Sorry for all the questions. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-71966157657529593492007-06-05T13:35:00.000-04:002007-06-05T13:35:00.000-04:00Why would you want to publish a book with people l...Why would you want to publish a book with people like this? It's like marrying a guy who treats you atrociously when you're dating. Even if they did ultimately buy the book, do you really want to be stuck with them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7986595816238301046.post-85150546455751571842007-06-05T13:20:00.000-04:002007-06-05T13:20:00.000-04:00Does this also speak to the value of having an age...Does this also speak to the value of having an agent? Maybe this author could submit her MS to an agent, saying that she has a publisher interested but has been unable to get clear information regarding what revisions are required. My agent had revision suggestions -- so maybe even the agent will know what it needs.<BR/><BR/>Since I'm one of those hand wringing authors -- I have to tip my hat to you for being so patient. Good lord.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com