How to Jump from the Slush Pile Into the Arms of an Agent or Editor
One of the biggest jokes in publishing is the slush pile–that place no editor wants to go without hip boots, that place where paid “readers” hold their collective noses while they shovel through the manila envelopes, glance at cover letters, and then stuff everything, including a rejection note, into the SASE. So putrid is the stink coming off the slush pile, it is thought, that it is often the lowest of the low in publishing–interns and assistants, who don’t yet know where to hide and look busy–who become the gatekeepers and decision-makers about whether a submission will wind up on an editor’s desk or be tossed quickly onto the cart headed for the mailroom.
Question: How can you get an over-the-transom submission to stand out from the rest of the submissions so that yours gets a serious read?
Answer: You’ve got to be able to sell the seller, and therein lies the problem.
Last week I offered to review twenty submissions to try and find out what was wrong with them. Why were they being returned again and again from publishers as large as Random House and as small as…. Well, I didn’t even recognize the names of the publishing companies, but shouldn’t they have been begging for manuscripts?
Anyone who dropped by The Publishing Contrarian was welcome to send a copy of the cover letter, author’s marketing plan, and a few pages of the manuscript. Hundreds of people came to my blog. My behind-the-scenes “counter” went mad. Only nine people turned in submissions. I held spaces for a number of authors who were working on their marketing plans. These writers didn’t show. The doors closed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Amazingly, my little “slush pile” had only good, plausible story ideas, clearly written by intelligent and articulate people. (Why…let’s call them authors!) The problem was that had I been the gatekeeper with return envelopes in hand, I would have returned every single submission without getting past the cover letter. I’ll bet it’s the cover letter that gives off the stink in every slush pile. True, there may be more fecal matter in the mix, but the first whiff of something bad is originating with a weak and poorly organized cover letter.
If, as a writer, you cannot can’t grab the attention of a submission reader in the same way a book jacket is supposed to grab the attention of a book buyer, you cannot expect a reader to make it to page one anymore than you can expect a buyer to make it to the cash register with your book.
Tomorrow I will try and have an example of a letter that a writer and I hammered out over 20+ emails back and forth.
In this letter you will see
- The author establishes her writing credentials and piques interest in her award-winning, but as yet, unpublished, manuscript. (She’s got my attention!)
- She wanders a bookstore and does her research into similar genres to find the name of the publishing company and the editor so she can affix a name to her mailing label and avoid the slush pile completely. (How smart and how flattering I think!)
- She synopsizes a rip-roaring tale in hard-hitting prose that, if the copy were squeezed onto a book jacket, would have the books flying out the door. (I want to read this book!)
The author is plenty smart and writes really well, but her original cover letter was like everyone else’s: much too general, didn’t emphasize her strong writing credentials (the award was buried at the bottom of her original cover letter), and didn’t really present the story in an exciting way. Actually, I had absolutely no idea what the book was really about until we had an email slug-fest about why people should care about her characters and what happened to them. Once she understood what I was looking for, she pounded out the copy.
No editor or agent cares about your marital status, number of kids, that this is your first or 100th book, that your dog is named Skippy. That’s the kind of info that goes on an inside flap of a book jacket or at the tail end of your book on the last page.
Editors and agents want to know what makes your book unique, and they want to know it upfront in the cover letter. They want to smell the money potential when they open the envelope–not the poop.
March 28th, 2006 at 10:07 am
I often read and hear of how hard it is to market literary fiction, particularly from first-time authors and especially if the book is a short story collection. I’m curious to hear your take on how to best market such work, in a cover letter. I’m assuming some of the strengths a writer would leverage would be:
I’m sure I’m missing some, or more than a few, and I’m eager to hear your opinion.
Many thanks,
TSL
P.S. My book’s official pub date was 3/25. Received advance copies this past week, very exciting.]
March 28th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
I’d be interested in knowing the credentials and qualifications of the average “hired reader” who brags he can read a manuscript in 15 seconds. Do they actually even read the cover letters any more than that, or do they toss them aside to get into “the meat” of whether the book itself is any good?
March 29th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I didn’t submit anything because I found out too late!
What about us author wannabees who do not have any awards or previously published works or writing credentials except a blog or message board moderator?
Is there anything that can jump that hurdle?
April 1st, 2006 at 3:27 pm
You don’t have to have established writing credentials to get attention when you submit your cover letter and materials to an agent or editor. Great if you do, but don’t worry if you don’t.
Start off with a reference to a book of the same genre that has done well. (Yes, sorry, you have to do your research, but there is a good chance you are familiar with the genre and that’s why you are writing within it.) Run parallel to Rigel Crockett’s letter that appears in the comment section of the previous post or Krista Wilson’s in the body of my most recent post. I’m handing you a formula!
You can also start off with a quote from a well-known person who says something that pertains to your subject matter. Example: If you are writing a novel that involves baseball and your protagonist uses steroids, quote a famous sports figure in baseball who has had a problem with them or has an opinion about them. Be creative! You could even drag a famous quote out of Bartlett’s if it is appropriate. Use your imagination! Just make sure that first sentence in your cover letter grabs ‘em and hints at what is to follow.
With regard to “hired readers” who boast they can determine whether a book has merit within a few seconds, I think that just confirms what I have been saying: you’ve got to grab a reader with the first sentence and then sustain the interest with the rest of the letter.
April 2nd, 2006 at 8:36 am
Lynne - I am so appreciative of your continued help and support. Your edit of my letter geared toward special sales was nothing short of genius. Just as important, your willingness to help is beyond generous.
Before we crossed paths, I had no idea of the extent of creativity the marketing process demanded. I feel so fortunate to have found you and your blog - your suggestions are brilliant.
I look forward every day to reading the Publishing Contrarian; there is so much information packed into each and every post.
Thank you again. You are a gem.
Lorra