{"id":2359,"date":"2023-03-29T15:19:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T23:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marycmoore.com\/?p=2359"},"modified":"2023-03-29T15:19:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T23:19:53","slug":"skimming-vs-deep-reading-submissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marycmoore.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/29\/skimming-vs-deep-reading-submissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Skimming vs Deep Reading Submissions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I quietly opened to queries ten days ago for the first time in over two years. I was closed for so long mainly because my clients were turning in multiple manuscripts regularly. It was averaging 30 manuscripts a year, which meant there was no time nor room in my head for deep-reading<\/a> fulls in my submission pile. And the idea of opening up to queries was daunting, I\u2019d been hearing from others how there\u2019s been a surge in submissions since lockdown. But a few things aligned that pushed me forward. Most important, I caught up with my clients. On top of that my baby is now posed to enter toddlerhood, so the newborn days are a foggy memory. And lastly we revamped the website at the agency (check out the new Kimberley Cameron & Associates site<\/a>, it is lovely, professional, and friendly in my totally biased opinion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My cat Rainbow has a sixth sense for when I\u2019m reading on my tablet. <\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once I made the decision to seek new clients, I realized I was ready, keen even, to read subs. When over a hundred submissions rolled in that first weekend, I was surprised, but not overwhelmed, jumping in late at night, as the baby slept curled against me. I tweaked my submission form a few days later to find the quickest way to work through them thoughtfully, and plowed on in the odd hour I could find here or there. I skimmed through some fantastic pitches and lovely samples, all of them had potential, but only a few I set aside for further consideration. This is the easy part, the scanning, skimming, flicking through text. If this was all there was to it, writers would never have to wait long for a response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of course that\u2019s not how it works. Many of you probably have partials or fulls that have been with an agent for months, even a year. Sure enough, five hundred submissions later, I\u2019m slowing down. The maybe pile is growing. As eager as I am to find a new client or two, I\u2019m not going to rush this part. Although I can enjoy a quick read, see potential in a few sentences, I\u2019ve learned from experience that I have to truly sit with and deeply read a manuscript in order to absorb it, to have an editorial vision for it, to know if the connection I feel will be enough to champion it through the ups and downs<\/a>. And that is a must before I take on that manuscript for representation. To find that vision, I have to be in that \u201cDeep Reading\u201d space. There\u2019s a fantastic interview by Ezra Klein with literary scholar Maryanne Wolf on the difference between scanning and deep reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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