Tag Archives: Slush pile

Wrap Up! Get your manuscript past the gatekeeper

Posted on August 31, 2015 | 6 comments

Get past the gatekeeper

Special Thanks to author Donna Galanti for spending the past ten weeks with us (Wow has it been that long?)

It has been really interesting hearing from someone who sifted through an agent’s slush pile, and listening to the actual comments she made, as well as the suggestions to avoid these mistakes.

In case you missed any of Donna’s great advice, here is a wrap up of all the great tidbits she offered and links to each topic. This will also be made a permanent page under writing advice so everyone can refer to it again.

I hope everyone found this series useful!

Introduction: Score! You guys are going to love this next series of Monday writer’s-help posts! – Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper

#1: World Building

#2: Uneven Narrative Flow

#3: Those pesky Unnecessary words

#4: Does your manuscript have CONFIDENCE ISSUES

#5: Where’s the Beef? Is your dialog too beefy?

#6: Hook ‘Em and Hook ‘Em Good!

#7: Let’s Talk About Character Development Part 1

#8: Character Development Part 2

#9: Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 1

#10: Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 2

Now go. Work on making every scene the best it can possibly be! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Donna: Donna Galanti is the author of A Human Element and A Hidden Element (Imajin Books), the first two award-winning, bestselling books in the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy, and the middle grade fantasy adventure series Joshua and The Lightning Road (Month9Books). Donna is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine and blogs at Project Mayhem. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse. Visit her at www.donnagalanti.com.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

Twelve-year-old Joshua Cooper learns the hard way that lightning never strikes by chance when a bolt strikes his house and whisks away his best friend—possibly forever. To get him back, Joshua must travel the Lightning Road to a dark world where stolen human kids are work slaves ruled by the frustrated heirs of the Greek Olympians who come to see Joshua as the hero prophesied to restore their lost powers. New friends come to Joshua’s aid and while battling beasts and bandits and fending off the Child Collector, Joshua’s mission quickly becomes more than a search for his friend—it becomes the battle of his life.

6 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged Donna Galanti, gatekeeper, get out of the slush pile, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Slush pile, what is the slush pile

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper: Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 2

Posted on August 17, 2015 | 4 comments

Get past the gatekeeper

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

PACING AND TENSION – TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE? Part 2

Be aware of things that can slow down your story – or make it race by too fast – and deflate the tension.

Backstory, continued

By weaving in just the necessary information in short bursts throughout your story it will:

*Keep the reader’s interest

*Keep tension high

*Keep the reader wondering

*Keep it dramatic – no matter the genre

Could your action be bogged down?

My First Reader Notes: “In action scenes we were slowed down by long, descriptive sentences such as during this chase scene: ‘Mr. Brown slipped over his excessively waxed floors.’ ‘His frantic breath pressed the pause button on the hot chase.’ ‘My toes became the texture of raisins as they squished up against one another like slimy slices of sautéed mushrooms.’” Descriptive sentences like these forced me to pause (and trip) in this supposed fast-paced action scene and have to create the visual from the words before moving on in the story. You don’t want to do this!

Can there be too much action on your story?

Is your story TOO active, TOO reactive and over-dense with words, concepts and emotions? This makes for a frantic tale, every moment fraught with intensity. It comes at you from every angle and is exhausting. The desire should be to invite the reader to turn the pages not run for cover.

TIPS: *How to change this? Incorporating the setting instead of using biological emotion would add a richer layer to the story.

*Take a break from the action – let it explode all around, then let it settle and give your character time to digest and reflect on all that has happened. They need to breathe.

TIPS FOR PACING AND TENSION:

Deciding HOW and WHEN to reveal information is often more important than the info itself. Decide on your method used to make a big reveal to increase pacing and tension. HINT: Don’t bury it in the middle of a paragraph! (YES, I’ve done this too!).
Move the story along by cutting out extra, unnecessary details in action moments.
SHOW more of what is happening around your character vs. his telling us.
Don’t have your character waffle back and forth! Chart their growth as they grow in the story.

Now go. Work on making pacing and tension flow with each scene! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

4 Comments

Posted in Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, editor, get out of the slush pile, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, joshua and th elightning road, Manuscript, Slush pile, submission, submit, what is the slush pile, writing

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #9: : Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 1

Posted on August 10, 2015 | 1 comment

Get past the gatekeeper

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

PACING AND TENSION – TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE? Part 1

Be aware of these areas that can slow down your story – or make it race by too fast – and deflate the tension.

Watch for creating false tension This is tension built up just for the sake of tension but in doing so a character can waffle. Readers get tired of false tension as they will come to believe then that things introduced are not really a threat

These are the notes that Donna presented on an actual manuscript that came into the slush pile.

My First Reader Notes: “The main character had conflicting thoughts that created false tension. Like ‘I can’t scale that fence, it’s too tall. Oh wait, I bet I could.’ It’s like crying wolf. ”

TIP: Create immediate tension that is not so easily resolved.

Think you need a prologue? Think again.

My First Reader Notes: “The prologue of the boy’s thoughts about his father dying is not necessary. It’s too poetic, too abstract, and too introspective with too much backstory trying to give us a foundation. His thoughts here and his people and culture can be woven into the story later. Right now it just slows the story down and kills the tension.”

Backstory

Weave it in. We, the writer can know it all but the readers don’t need to know up front about everything. Readers want teasers. They want to have questions and feel smart for guessing. Throw them into the bowels of the story right away to keep the tension tight. Readers will catch up.

Head Hopping:

This pulls you from the story – and slows the story down. A reader must re-adjust their thinking to a new point-of-view instantly. Ask yourself “Whose scene is this?” and write from that.

My First Reader Notes:

“I am at page 78 and starting to feel like this journey is dragging on. Not too much has happened since it started. The reader hasn’t really learned much more.”

TIP: See what other info can be included up to this point that we find out later. What else can we learn by now to move the story forward? Don’t wait to reveal everything later… reveal some now. Drop it in along the way.

My First Reader Notes:

“The writer needs to slow down some action scenes and even add an extra day at certain spots. I felt like I was running and couldn’t stop to see all that what was happening. I couldn’t entrench themselves in the richness of the world and story.”

TIP: Sometimes when it comes to pacing and tension we need to slow down scenes.

Now go. Work on making pacing and tension flow with each scene! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, editor, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, joshuan and the lighning road, maniscript, Slush pile, submitting, writing

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #8: Character Development Part 2

Posted on August 3, 2015 | 3 comments

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

Here are some notes Donna presented to the agent after reading a manuscript:

“The reader should have felt sympathy for the character. But we spend so much time in his head, and not enough time watching him act or react. He is always telling us what he wants, thinks, hopes for, and the same thing over and over, perhaps expressed differently, but the same idea or concept. Therefore, he often comes across as whiny and not all that capable. We need to see him go from hapless tween to reluctant hero to hero.”

Could your characters be one-dimensional?

Ask yourself:

Are your characters people we are being told about? We need to get a sense of their personality or what they fear, or what they are capable of from an emotional or physical standpoint. We can’t see this if mostly the narrator tells us.

TIPS: *The kinds of characters that have a history, actions, and reactions are the most well-developed – and the most enjoyable to read. Using the senses to show character is a great way to do this.
*Is your main character always having one emotion or the other? Like being shown as either angry or super sad. How else can he feel? Show him feeling other things. Look for repetitive sections where he is telling us what he feels and change to action. SHOW him reacting vs. TELLING us what’s in his head.

*Ground the reader in the beginning to a character’s description. When a new character enters the story describe them most richly upon entrance.

*Do a global search for your characters actions. Is your character always throwing their hair back? Snapping their fingers? Tapping their feet? Chewing their lip? You need to mix it up a little bit.

Now go. Work on building characters to care about! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

3 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, gatekeeper, how to get out of the slush pile, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Joshua and the Lightning Road, Manuscript, Slush pile

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #4: Does your manuscript have CONFIDENCE ISSUES

Posted on July 6, 2015 | 3 comments

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

Confidence issues? What could she be talking about?

How could someone know if I’m confident by reading my writing?

I mean, my character is confedent, so doesn’t that mean confidence just oozes off my pages?

Ummmm, no. Don’t let yourself fall into any of these very easy, very tricky traps.

CONFIDENCE ISSUES INCLUDE: INFO DUMPING, REPETITION, AND STOPPING THE STORY TO EXPLAIN

Exhibiting these issues in your manuscript can reveal an emerging writer not quite confident in your writing.

My First Reader Notes: “The story wanders for four chapters until we get to the inciting incident that launches us into the story and sets the main character on his journey.”

Rather than wander, thrust us right into the story and reveal the main character’s desires and motivations right up front. The reader will catch up later.

TIPS: Start with an info dump? Move it. Cut it up. Blend in later. Ask yourself, what is the incident that starts the character on his journey? YOU know it all – but the reader doesn’t need to know it all. Be selective in what you reveal and when you reveal it.

My First Reader Notes: “Several times the same information was introduced, as if we the reader might forget we were told this information earlier. I often wanted to say “Yes, we know already!”

When it comes to repetitiveness, say it once in the right place. Say it twice or three times and you make the reader feel stupid – and bored. TIP: Don’t repeat phrases across characters. Each character should have their own phrases, imagery, and descriptions associated with them that help develop their unique character.

My First Reader Notes: “We are constantly taken out of the story as the author stops to narrate about Sally: Sally was five ten. She had deep green eyes and blonde hair that was thick and mid-shoulder length. She played flute in the orchestra and three days a week worked at the hospital gift shop…etc. etc. etc.”

Do you have “You See Bob” moments in your story where you feel the need to stop and explain? Well…don’t. TIPS: *Rewrite this section in the character’s voice to see how much stronger this scene can be told, or show us the main character from another character’s point of view. *Incorporating dialogue and body language can provide another character’s point of view without breaking away from the voice the scene is written in.

Now go. Be confident in your writing! It could get you past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

3 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, gatekeeper, inters, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Joshua and the Lightning Road, make my manuscript better., Slush pile

Score! You guys are going to love this next series of Monday writer’s-help posts!

Posted on June 1, 2015 | 14 comments

Wahoo! I’m so excited!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting fellow Month9Books author Donna Galanti. While we were chatting, she mentioned that in her past life she was an intern at a literary agent.

My ears perked up. “Really? What did you do there?”

Are you ready for this? She combed the slush pile.

That means if you had submitted to this agent, your manuscript would have to get through HER FIRST before the novel was even seen by the agent.

If you are unaware, this is really, really common. Many agents use interns to weed through the manuscripts and provide feedback on the submissions. These people are the “gatekeepers”. If you don’t make them happy, you are one step closer to a rejection.

So, how do you make sure your manuscript gets through the gatekeeper?

Well, we’re going to show you!

Donna kept extensive notes on all the manuscripts she reviewed, and over the next few weeks, she is going to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly – and how YOU can keep yourself out of the reject pile.

Posts start next week. This is not to be missed if you are querying!

14 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Donna Galanti, editing, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Manuscript, Slush pile, submission, submiting, writing

Writers: Don’t worry about the Statistics

Posted on July 21, 2013 | 10 comments

I came across this article that really hit home.

Why statistics discourage prospective writers

We all hear the statistics. 1 in 500… 1 in 5000… 100,000 novels are being queried right now. They are all scary. Many people are daunted by this.

This article points out something that I hadn’t thought of. Think it over. All of us have at least one friend who is querying thinking there novel is great, and they are getting rejected. I talked to someone the other day doing this and the only other person whose read her novel is HER HUSBAND. Really? What are you thinking?

Now, if all of you count up their one or two friends who refuse to get beta readers, and are SURE they are geniuses without getting a lick of feedback… are you counting them up? Are you getting a mental picture? Get my meaning?

This is what I am getting at. So what if you and 499 other people query at the same time. If 300 of these are sub-standard, your chances just increased, didn’t they?

If 50 of the remaining 100 had bad queries, or boring plots, your chances just increased, didn’t they?

What you have to ask is this… Are you destined for the slush pile, or are you one of then ten that the agent or publisher is actually going to read?

Make your choice now, and work hard to get yourself out of the slush pile, and onto that agent’s desk.

“A Right Fit”: Navigating the World of Literary Agents (themillions.com)
Navigating the World of Literary Agents (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
Agent Reads The Slush Pile Tomorrow – Wednesday, July 25 (pubrants.blogspot.com)
How to Beat the Slush Pile (quillfyre.wordpress.com)
Where do I go from Here (michelleziegler.wordpress.com)
The Writer’s Diet (descentintoslushland.wordpress.com)
Persistence – Be A Cog in the Wheel (thewritersadvice.com)
Let It Shine (descentintoslushland.wordpress.com)
In Praise of Slush Readers (rckjones.wordpress.com)
What do agents want you to submit? (joeowensblog.wordpress.com)

10 Comments

Posted in Author Advice

Tagged Fiction, literary agent, Organizations, publish, Publishing, Reading (process), Slush pile, Writer, Writers Resources

Please don’t send me to the slush pile! I’ve been good!

Posted on March 22, 2013 | 17 comments

A temporary goodbye to the Little Blue Lady from Mars

You are going to shove me into your hard drive and never look at me again.

No, I’m not!

I promise!

But I’m a rehabilitated alien!

I made cookies last week and everything!

It’s not that. Your interviews have been great. Hundreds of people have clicked on over to read them. I’ve gotten a great response—even when you’ve been abrasive, which is a bit odd.

Then what’s the problem?

Time is the problem.

Did you know it takes a few hours to do one of those interviews?

Ha! You’re not doing anything. I’m doing all the work.

You’re just whining and complaining in the background.

Yes, but as much as I love you,

there is a little work involved in bringing you to life.

So?

Well, I’ve got writing to do, you know. I’m starting the sequel to Last Winter Red this weekend, and I have three books out to query now, and Fire in the Woods will be going to query in a few weeks.

They are more important than me?

Hmm. At the moment, yes, they are. But listen, I promise to set up an interview for you at least once a month. Twice once I get a little more acclimated to my new schedule, okay?

[Sigh]

I guess I really don’t have a choice, do I?

Sorry.

I’ll miss you.

I’ll miss you too.

But I’ll see you in a few weeks, I promise.

Free_Fridays!

Okay.

How about for the last Free Friday for a while, we give away a copy of “Make Believe”.

Great! That would be awesome.

You know, the reviews for my story Last Winter Red in this anthology have been “off the charts crazy” good! And several people have asked about more from the Last Winter Red world.

Well, I’m happy for you, but not happy that writing the sequel means I have to go back into the hard drive.

Hey, I will keep my promise.

I even have an awesome author all lined up for April.

All Right.

Please bid the Little Blue Lady goodbye for a few weeks, and everyone commenting below will be in the running for an ebook copy (your choice of format) of the “Make Believe” anthology including my story LAST WINTER RED.

17 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Free Friday

Tagged art, author, free friday, Friday, Hard disk drive, Literature, Publishing, Slush pile, Writers Resources

Give that Publisher What They Want, Dernit! Finale

Posted on February 2, 2013 | 4 comments

I am uber stoker to be able to dig into the wild and crazy brain of someone who is out there doing this crazy publishing stuff professionally. When you read this, you’re gonna want to slap yourself silly, because this is hearing it right from someone who does this for a living. For the next few weeks, we will be delving into the slush pile with professional editor and author Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Here we go…

The Writer’s Toolbox: Give ’Em What They Want! Why Formatting Is Important By Danielle Ackley-McPhail

—————————————————————–

Here is a listing of all the Posts from Danielle on this topic. Good Stuff if you missed any of them!

Post one Don’t get all creative now!

Post two Duh – Contact Info

Post three Basics 2 – Identifiers

Post four Formatting #1

Post five Formatting #2 Advanced

Post six Ellipses, Emdash, Quotes

Post seven Keep It Simple

Summing Up

You might think this article was about the technical aspects of formatting, but you would only be partially correct. What this article is truly about is respect. If you want to succeed at this dedicated hobby you’ve chosen to pursue (believe me, you don’t want to think of it as a career…it only leads to masses of frustration) then you need to get your head in the correct mindset. You are not alone in your desire. There are countless individuals who want to be authors. There are a considerably less individuals who are in a position to make that possible. Editors have to look through hundreds, even thousands of manuscripts every year. I don’t think I have to tell you that they can’t accept them all. You know what that means? It is your job to make their job as easy for them as possible. You can do that in two ways:

Ignore what I’ve shared with you here and start deciding which room you are going to wallpaper with rejections first, or
Do everything you can to make your manuscript clean and formatted to the publisher’s preference so that technical issues don’t distract the editor from the creative aspects of your work.

Now I’m not saying if you follow all the submission guidelines your work is guaranteed to be accepted, but I am saying you stand a heck of a better chance of at least getting noticed.

Special Thanks to Danielle Ackley McPhail for this wonderful insider info!

Thanks Danielle!

Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over seventeen years. Currently, she is a project editor and promotions manager for Dark Quest Books.

Her published works include four urban fantasy novels, Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, Today’s Promise, and The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale. She is also the author of a single-author collection of science fiction stories called A Legacy of Stars, the non-fiction writers guide, The Literary Handyman and is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Dragon’s Lure, and In An Iron Cage. Her work is included in numerous other anthologies and collections, including Rum and Runestones, Dark Furies, Breach the Hull, So It Begins, By Other Means, No Man’s Land, Space Pirates, Space Horrors, Barbarians at the Jumpgate, and Mermaid 13.

She is a member of the New Jersey Authors Network and Broad Universe, a writer’s organization focusing on promoting the works of women authors in the speculative genres.

Danielle lives somewhere in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail, mother-in-law Teresa, and three extremely spoiled cats. She can be found on LiveJournal (damcphail, badassfaeries, darkquestbooks, lit_handyman), Facebook (Danielle Ackley-McPhail), and Twitter (DAckley-McPhail). To learn more about her work, visit http://www.sidhenadaire.com, http://www.literaryhandyman.com, or www.badassfaeries.com.

Website and/or blog www.sidhenadaire.com, http://lit_handyman.livejournal.com, http://damcphail.livejournal.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/DMcPhail

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/danielle.ackleymcphail

Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Ackley-McPhail/e/B002GZVZPQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1331314265&sr=8-1

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/989939.Danielle_Ackley_McPhail

http://www.badassfaeries.com/

http://www.sidhenadaire.com/

Why Was My Mnauscript Rejected? (literaryagentsandpublishers.wordpress.com)
Guest Post: How to Avoid the Rejection Blues by Heather Topham Wood + Giveaway (thesolitarybookworm.com)
Rejection: Greatest Hits (pikeknight.wordpress.com)
How I got my agent and what it means (victoria-writes.com)
Don’t Shrink from Synopses! (writersinthestorm.wordpress.com)
Editor Interview with Mari Farthing (luciesmoker.wordpress.com)
Partnership Publishing: the author’s and publisher’s stand-point (literaryagentsandpublishers.wordpress.com)

Formatting a manuscript-one way to do it (kimharrison.wordpress.com)
Editor Interview with Mari Farthing (luciesmoker.wordpress.com)
The Constant Search in Publishing (terrywhalin.blogspot.com)
Don’t Shrink from Synopses! (writersinthestorm.wordpress.com)
Why Was My Mnauscript Rejected? (literaryagentsandpublishers.wordpress.com)
Guest Post: How to Avoid the Rejection Blues by Heather Topham Wood + Giveaway (thesolitarybookworm.com)

Manuscript Formatting – The Basics (hugs-and-chocolate.com)
Friday Editor’s Tip: Lose the formatting! (beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com)
Last Minute Formatting Tips Using Scrivener And Kindle Previewer (michaeljholley.com)
Lessons Learned in Writing My First Novel (sebastiancoleauthor.com)

Last Minute Formatting Tips Using Scrivener And Kindle Previewer (michaeljholley.com)
Friday Editor’s Tip: Lose the formatting! (beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com)
How To Make The Most Of Scrivener For Your Manuscript (michaeljholley.com)
The Most Common Grammar Gaffes Writers Make (and How To Avoid Them) (lifehacker.com)
Lessons Learned in Writing My First Novel (sebastiancoleauthor.com)
Houston, We Have a Manuscript: Get Thee to a Printery! (therantingpapizilla.wordpress.com)

Professional Editing? (the-view-outside.com)

4 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Uncategorized

Tagged author, editing, editor, formatting, getting published, how to format manuscript, Publishing, requirements, Slush pile, submission guidelines, submit manuscript, writing

Give that Publisher What They Want DERNIT: The Basics #2 – Identifiers

Posted on November 30, 2012 | 20 comments

We interrupt this post to announce that USA Today is featuring my anthology “For the Love of Christmas” in a blurb in their “Life” Section. Can I hear an “Oh Yeah!” Click here to see it!

Eh-hem — now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Here we go…

The Writer’s Toolbox: Give ’Em What They Want! Why Formatting Is Important By Danielle Ackley-McPhail

—————————————————————–

So far, we’ve discussed that nothing will help your manuscript if the editor in question is not even willing to read it.

Last week, we discussed remembering your contact information.

This week, we’re going to dig through the second basics to get your foot in the door… How to identify yourself, and your manuscript.

The Basics #2

Identifiers. To simplify I’m grouping several things under this heading, so bear with me.

Title – you would be amazed how many people neglect to put titles on their manuscripts (coincidentally enough, more than a few of them are the ones who forgot contact information as well).

Name – your pen name or your legal name, whichever one you write under. Editors like to know whose work they are reading and what should appear on a published work (should you be fortunate enough to make a sale.) The problem is that if the contact information is missing and there is no title or author name, the publisher has absolutely no way of cross-referencing to try and determine what story goes with which submission email (assuming they will even try).

Page Numbers – now you might be thinking “But manuscripts are electronic, how can the pages get out of order?” Well first, you can’t assume that whoever receives the manuscript won’t prefer to review a hardcopy. Second, even if they are reviewing something electronically it is easier for them to make notes or track back if there are page numbers to reference.

Running Heads – This is the space at the top of the page (starting with page 2) where you put the story/book title, the page number, and your legal last name. This is so no pages go missing and the editor knows what they are reading.

Author Bio – Optional, but a good thing to include, particularly if you have a few sales under your belt, but only if they are professional sales of note, not a piece of flash fiction you sold to a fanzine. What this tells the editor is that you are already established.

Besides the more practical reasons for not omitting any of the above information, consider that it is just plain sloppy and unprofessional. This isn’t a matter of wanting to impress the editor, it is showing them that you are not an amateur without a clue. Professionalism will do much to smooth over any other short fallings you have, in the editor’s eye.

Next week we’ll talk about FORMAT

Be there or be square, or, ummm… rejected?

Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over seventeen years. Currently, she is a project editor and promotions manager for Dark Quest Books.

She is a member of the New Jersey Authors Network and Broad Universe, a writer’s organization focusing on promoting the works of women authors in the speculative genres.

Website and/or blog www.sidhenadaire.com, http://lit_handyman.livejournal.com, http://damcphail.livejournal.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/DMcPhail

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/danielle.ackleymcphail

Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Ackley-McPhail/e/B002GZVZPQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1331314265&sr=8-1

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/989939.Danielle_Ackley_McPhail

http://www.badassfaeries.com/

http://www.sidhenadaire.com/