Submitting your manuscript

The most common process of submitting your manuscript to publishers and agents is via email – snail mail is rarely accepted these days!

There will always be a submissions process outlines and if, for whatever reason there isn’t, email the agent or publisher and ask how they would prefer to receive your submission and what it must include!

Every individual publisher and literary agent are going to have their own processes and requirements for submitting to them. You must check with each publisher and agent before you act. Their websites will explicitly state what they want and what they don’t want.

The big publishing houses in Australia receive literally thousands of manuscripts each week, and you might wonder how on earth they can read them all. The short answer: they can’t. So the easiest way to make the pile smaller is to remove the submissions that don’t fit the guidelines. Didn’t bother to write a synopsis? In the bin. Submitted 10,000 instead of 5,000 words? In the bin.

It sounds harsh, but it’s also fair. If they are going to respect your work by giving you the time of day to read it, then you need to respect their time by submitting your work in the format they’ve asked for.

Submissions guidelines exist because agents and publishers want to see that you are familiar with the books they publish, the values of the business, whether you get their ‘vibe’.

This is quite possibly your biggest job interview ever, so put the work in. Submitting according to the specified requirements is within your control – take advantage of that and spend the time investing in making your submission the best it can be.