Submissions

How to Format Your Fiction Submission

Published on
owl
When the sample is formatted poorly, it does not motivate us to read it.

Digging through the slushpile is hard work. For every query an agent answers, two more come in. We must get through them quickly or risk drowning, so as horrifying as it may be, often those that are formatted poorly go straight to the rejection pile. In the interest of giving your submission a fighting chance out above the hundreds of others, your best bet is to have a clean concise query letter and a well-formatted writing sample.

This particular post focuses on how to format your sample writing. First, remember that your sample/partial or full manuscript is a draft, not a published piece, so you are looking to create pages that are stripped down to just the writing. You want the quickest and cleanest read for the reader without all the fancy parts. (And yes this is true of picture books too!) Here are some tips on how to format your sample correctly.

First page:

  • Top left hand corner has your name, contact information (address, phone, email, and website)
  • Top right hand corner has the word count of the ENTIRE novel, not of the sample
  • A few spaces down has the title
  • Directly following is the opening line of your manuscript
  • Do not include a table of contents, an acknowledgments page, quotes, title page, or any other front matter. It is unnecessary and simply takes the reader longer to reach that important first line.

Body:

  • Double spaced
  • First line of each paragraph should have a 0.5 indentation
  • Simple font, (Times New Roman or Arial are safest), black, 12pt, you may use italics or bold for emphasis, but avoid using colors, different fonts etc.
  • Page number, title, your last name in the top right header
  • Do not include images, fancy headers, or blank pages between chapters. Do not use underline for italics or double spaces after a period (these are outdated).

There are reasons for these formatting requirements, if you don’t know them ask in the comments. Samples of a front page and body page below.

Clean Manuscript Format Front Page

Clean Manuscript Format Body Page

In Defense of the Form Rejection

Published on

I recently wrote a short story, my first in over a year. Inspiration struck and I listened.

Unlike novel writing, short stories are short-term rewarding because you reach “the end,” while you are still loving that muse whispering in your ear. I was particularly excited about this story, as I knew exactly which magazine I was going to submit it to. A few years ago, said magazine had rejected another story of mine, but with glowing praise and a request to see more of my work. I kept that in mind, because this magazine is a professionally paying market and one that would be quite a feather in my writing resume. Thus after some furious late nights, anxious waiting for the beta reads to come back, and a lot of editing, I sent off my beautiful 3k-word gem to this magazine.

Another rather sweet aspect of short stories is these days most magazines use submission software. This means you can stalk, I mean track, your submissions. And, at least in the SciFi/Fantasy professional market, many of them have fairly quick turn around times. This is in part because they don’t allow simultaneous subs in part because the stories are shorter. Altogether it’s a much quicker and less frustrating process than novel submissions.

So a week full of checking the website later, there it was, that email. I took a deep breath and opened it to find… a form rejection letter.

The range of emotions that followed is one every writer is familiar with. But there was one more. Understanding. Working for a literary agency, I’ve sent out hundreds of form rejection letters over the years. And recently I opened up my own inbox to queries. In the beginning I tried to make each response a bit personal, a note here, a comment there. I knew what it was like to be on the other side, and that experience pushed me to communicate personally as much as I could, especially if the writing had potential. However, I discovered, to my dismay, that the majority of personal rejections were not appreciated, in fact they were often responded to with a “could you clarify this?” or “can you take this further?” or “what can I edit to change your mind?”

My personal notes were not received as the compliments they were meant to be, but rather as an opening for an editorial conversation. One that I had to ignore. It made me feel guilty, not continuing the conversations, but there is not enough time in an agent’s schedule to answer every author question that floats through our inbox. I was also spending more time coming up with ways to make the reason I was passing on the project sound nice and encouraging and editorially useful, rather than focusing my energy on considering each submission carefully. Which made me reluctant to open my inbox. I had burned out. Thus more and more I found myself responding with a form rejection, both in the interest of time and clear communication. My defense of the form rejection:

  • It’s a clear answer.
  • You receive said answer faster.
  • It’s less emotional.
  • It helps prevent slushpile burnout, so the agent/reader can focus on what’s important, considering the submission itself, rather than coming up with something to say in response to it.
  • The form rejection helps to keep expectations in check.

I know most authors who don’t do their research don’t understand this, because they don’t see the other side. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard writers say, “it couldn’t be that hard to respond to a query!” Let me tell you, yes, yes it can.

Every once in a while, if the writing jumps out at me, or if I’ve met the author in person, I will still respond personally, but for the most part I’ve become a fan of the form rejection. Sure you could argue that if I hadn’t gotten that personal response back in the day, I wouldn’t have been as eager to submit to the magazine, but I also wouldn’t have had as high of hopes. At least you can take comfort in the knowledge that I’m getting them as good as I’m giving them. We all just have to keep on keeping on. My so-called gem of a short story is already sunk into another slushpile.

*All artwork by street graffiti artist Banksy.

Follow me on Twitter @Mary_C_Moore for more tips and updates on queries and the slushpile.

 

 

 

2016 SDSU Writers’ Conference: Five Questions with Literary Agent Mary C. Moore

Published on

 

Interview with Mary C. Moore

Read my interview with the SDSU Writers’ Conference: http://www.ces.sdsu.edu/blog/2015/12/2016-sdsu-writers-conference-five-questions-with-literary-agent-mary-c-moore/

I am faculty at the conference and will be taking pitches at the conference at the lovely SDSU campus:

SDSU

Rather excited! If you are there stop by and say hello.

 

 

Taking Pitches at the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference

Published on

 

PNWA
If you’re looking for a writers conference to attend, PNWA in Seattle is a great one. They offer four days packed with informational panels as well as two days of agent/editor pitching.

Both Amy of Kimberley Cameron & Associates and myself will be attending and taking pitches, so come say hello if you are there!

–

Taking Pitches At SFWC This Friday!

Published on
I and my esteemed colleague, Amy Cloughley, will be taking pitches during the Agent Speed Dating sessions at the 2015 San Francisco Writers Conference.
I have gotten a few questions whether I am taking pitches even though it states that I am closed to submissions on the KC&A website.
Although my current schedule does not allow the time for unsolicited queries via email, otherwise known as the slushpile, I am always looking for new clients, albeit at a slower pace. Thus conferences are one of the few places I do take pitches. (I also make requests via #PitMad, a wonderful resource for writers, and I consider Writers Digest Bootcamp participants.) I hope to someday soon to be open to a slushpile, but for now those are the places I take submissions.
If you are attending SFWC, I am most actively seeking adult science fiction and fantasy. I also will consider literary/upmarket fiction with magical realism or a surrealistic bent, romance, historical, and speculative YA. I am not interested in non-fiction (memoir included), mystery, or women’s lit.
Amy, on the other hand, enjoys literary and upmarket fiction of all types in addition to commercial—including well-researched historical and well-told women’s fiction. She also loves a page-turning mystery or suspense with sharp wit and unexpected twists and turns. She has a soft spot for distinctive, strong, contemporary characters set in small towns. She is also interested in narrative nonfiction when the plot and characters are immersed in a culture, lifestyle, discipline, or industry and will  consider a travel or adventure memoir.
She is not currently focusing on military/government thrillers, fantasy, or YA projects.
So if you have a project that fits one or both of us, stop by and give us your pitch!
Looking forward to seeing you there.

@AmyCloughley

 

Rejection and Publishing

Published on

Rejection, it’s a word all writers loathe and fear. I myself have been rejected as an author by zines, agents, editors, workshops, and readings. It’s a difficult road, and I feel for the thousands of writers that pass through our slushpile everyday. It’s hard not to take each rejection like an arrow to the heart and I’ve seen writers who have become bitter, angry, sad, and then broadcast it online. They vent their frustration, believing they have been wronged, calling publishers, editors, agents alike nasty names and blaming them personally for the rejections.

One of the most important things I have learned since entering the other side of publishing is that rejection is not personal. Publishing is first and foremost, a business. The people within publishing love books (they have to, for it is rarely a lucrative career), but they are not artists per say, so they are looking at each submission with a practical eye. For example, as beautiful as your prose may be, if the book is hundreds of thousands of words long, an agent knows that a publisher will not probably not pick it up because to publish a book that large costs more money. No one is saying the writer is a bad writer for having a long book, it just means the writer probably doesn’t understand the business side of publishing and is likely inexperienced.

So if you are like the average writer and wish to have a financially successful career, do your research, know the business and understand that it’s similar to any other job. Your first project is your entry-level resume. You’re going to have to submit it to as many places as you can, be rejected or ignored, and even if you do get hired, you won’t be the CEO within the year. But if you keep honing your craft by going to school or workshops or conferences, doing online research, critical reading and practicing writing, just as you would invest in another career, your odds of success become much higher.

And you will see that rejection is just business as usual.

On Faculty at the Whidbey Writer’s Conference

Published on

nila_header3

Hello all you wonderful peeps. I will be on faculty at the Whidbey Writer’s Conference this year! Packing my bags as we speak and preparing for a lovely weekend here:

WhidbeyIsland.jpg

…where on Friday I will be speaking at one of their infamous “Chat House Sessions” with the talented agent Margaret Bail of Inkling Literary. We will attempt to cover what an agent can offer an indie author and what an indie author can anticipate when trying to get an agent. On Saturday I will be listening to author pitches and hopefully finding some gems. As I am not open to unsolicited queries, conferences are a great way for authors to get my attention.

If you are there, say hello!