Introduction to Submitting your Manuscript to Presses

by Samuel M. Moss, Associate Editor at 11:11

Submitting your work to a press is a huge step, and a step that takes a great deal of courage. You should be very proud to have made it to this point. This can be a very exciting and intimidating process, and it is tempting to jump right in and get it over with. As you read, keep in mind that the end goal is to get your manuscript (the unpublished document you have on your computer) accepted by a publisher and turned into a real book. Everything you do from here on out should be done with that goal in mind.

While it might be tempting to send your manuscript to as many presses as possible, in order to secure the best chances, it is often best to take your time and do some research and preparation. In order to maximize the chance of your work being accepted, it is important to understand and follow a few tips before submitting. You only get one shot per press and adhering to these suggestions might even make the difference between a pass and an acceptance.

The single most important thing to Know

The single most important factor that determines whether a submission is going to be accepted is whether it is a right fit for the press. A press is a bit like a ‘brand’: we cultivate and seek out a style or aesthetic so that readers can come back to us again and again and know that, if they enjoyed work we put out in the past, they will likely enjoy our latest offerings. Some presses have very specific aesthetics. Sometimes these aesthetics are hard to put into words but are immediately apparent upon reading one of their books. 

One stark example: if you write a literary masterpiece, but submit that manuscript to one hundred presses that only publish sci-fi, the manuscript will never be accepted. On the other hand, if you submit a great piece of Steampunk-Troll-Erotica to a few presses that focus on Steampunk-Troll-Erotica the chances of that work being published are quite good. 

Anecdotally, about 60% of the manuscripts that we read at 11:11 are of high quality but are outside the style(s) that we publish. This is readily apparent within the first ten or so pages and it is always a bummer to send a rejection for work that is well written but just not for us. In a perfect world, authors would have a perfect grip on the kind of work a press publishes, and would only have to submit to one press. 

While it can be frustrating that most presses only publish very specific work, you can use this to your advantage. All you have to do is find the presses that publish work like yours. There are literally thousands of small presses, each of them a little different. If you need help finding small presses, Duotrope has a great search function for general presses, Submission Grinder is great for finding presses geared toward speculative and genre work, Poets and Writers also has a free small press search feature.

The only way to get a good idea of what sort of work a press publishes is to read the work that they have published in the past. As a general rule, never submit to a press whose work you have never read. Here at 11:11, we have made this as easy as possible: many of our books are available as a download where you can pay what you want (you can find these downloads here). This means that, right now, you could download many of our books for just one dollar. Because we offer this opportunity to prospective authors, we also feel that there is little reason to seriously consider work that is clearly unlike the work we tend to publish.

What to do once you have found some presses

Before you submit, it is important to make sure that the press is currently open to submissions, and open to the work that you hope to submit. Keep an eye on submission windows, as submissions sent outside of a submission window will not get a response. Most submission periods are open for a set time, and as long as you get your submission in before the period closes you will get the same consideration as everyone else. If you have some time before submissions close, consider waiting a bit, learning as much as you can about the press, and proofreading your cover letter and bio before submitting.

Always, always, always read the submission guidelines in full and follow those guidelines to a tee. For the most part, submission guidelines will be fairly similar across presses, but there will always be one or two little things that you will need to adjust for each submission. Some presses (like 11:11) ask for a full manuscript, other presses may want an excerpt that is a specified page length. Some presses want a synopsis in the cover letter, others will not. The salient fact is to see what each press wants and to do just that.

It is important to keep in mind that, at a minimum, someone at the press will read ten or up to fifty pages of each manuscript, including yours. If you expect an editor to read this much of your work, surely it makes sense to repay the favor and read the two paragraphs in which they set out how they would like you to submit. Presses want to work with people who demonstrate that they can communicate, listen, and respond to feedback. There are simple ways to tell if an author has followed guidelines and the press may make decisions based on this fact.

Manuscript Format

In general, if you are submitting a traditional fiction or poetry manuscript you should adhere to traditional manuscript formatting (which can be found here). Unless directed otherwise: keep it double spaced and use a common font (you can’t go wrong with 12pt Times New Roman). Almost all presses want manuscripts in .doc or .docx file format.

Some presses (like 11:11) accept ‘hybrid’ works (manuscripts that are not easily categorized as poetry or fiction and may bend or break a lot of assumptions about how and what a book should be and do) and leave a lot open to the author to play around with form and style. If this describes your work then go crazy, though here at 11:11 we require manuscripts that play with form or include images to be submitted in .pdf format in order to retain formatting and fonts across platforms. As mentioned above, if you submit a hybrid work to another press make sure to understand how they want it submitted.

It should go without saying that submitted work should be free of typos and errors. Of course, a few always slip through, and these few are not an issue, but waiting a few extra days to fix errors in your manuscript will pay off. It is always best to have at least one trusted person look over your manuscript before you submit it.

Cover letters

Keep cover letters short and to the point. In all likelihood, the editor will skim through this and they may not even look at it unless the manuscript is under serious consideration. The shorter the cover letter the more likely the editor will read it. The cover letter should only contain information relevant to the work. Demonstrating that you are familiar with the work the press publishes and showing how your work might fit in can be beneficial. 

Some writers try to use this as a sales pitch for their book, quite literally, laying out a marketing plan or attempting to explain how their book is the next ‘Moby Dick’. If this is your style then go for it, though most editors have a finely tuned BS meter, and any schtick or spiel risks turning them off of your work. The bottom line is that it is the work itself that will determine acceptance, and there isn’t a whole lot you can do in the cover letter to change that.

Author bio

These should be short, professional, and to the point. We want to know your name, where you are from, any identification about yourself that is relevant to the work, and important prior publications. You can be kooky here if you really want, but like the cover letter above this is more likely to backfire than help your cause.

You really only need to list a degree if it is an advanced degree that has something to do with the work being submitted. For instance, if your book is about Geologists and you have a Master’s in Geology, this is definitely relevant. An MFA or PhD in creative writing is relevant. If you have written a domestic drama and have a BA in Mathematics this is probably not worth listing. Same with jobs. If you are an astronaut and wrote a book about astronauts then throw that in, but don’t feel that you need to list your whole work history.

Listing publications can be important. Editors like to see that you have paid your dues, have been a part of the community and have writing seriously for a while. That said, while it might be tempting to list every publication you have ever landed, in practice, it works best to list the three or four of which you are most proud, or the three or four most recent. Feel free to list any writing awards, fellowships, internships or scholarships you may have accomplished. If you don’t have any publications or awards don’t stress. There is no need to draw undue attention to this.

Some good examples of author bios can be found here.

Simultaneous Submissions

A ‘simultaneous submission’ is where you submit your manuscript to more than one press at a time. While some magazines or journals do not allow simultaneous submissions for shorter work, most presses allow will allow simultaneous submissions. As always: check each press’s submission guidelines. Those that do not will state this in their submission guidelines.

While it is usually okay to send your manuscript to multiple presses, it is very important that, if your manuscript has been accepted at a press, you withdraw it from any other press at which it had been submitted. This is simply as easy as going to a submission manager and hitting ‘Withdraw’ or sending an e-mail that states ‘I am withdrawing my manuscript’ along with your name and the title of your manuscript. 

Multiple Submissions

A ‘multiple submission’ is where you submit more than one manuscript to the same press at the same time. This is usually not allowed. Some presses may allow a single submission per category (that is: one ‘fiction’ submission and one ‘poetry’ submission at the same time). As always, follow the submission guidelines. This is meant to reduce the volume of submissions, and to ensure that authors are sending their best work, rather than sending six ‘okay’ manuscripts and hoping that one will stick. If you submit more than one manuscript to a press where it is not allowed the editors will probably delete ALL of those manuscripts without reading them.

Finally, once you have submitted your work keep in mind that it might take months for the editors to get back to you. Again, this is simply due to the constraints of the process, where just a few people are required to sit down and give the respect and care to hundreds of manuscripts. Form rejections are not a snub, nor should they be taken personally, but rather just a sign that the work would probably be best published at another press.

While this process might seem strange or unfair, it might help to understand this from the side of the editors: most presses—even newer, small presses like 11:11—receive hundreds, even thousands, of submissions per submission period, from which they can only pull a very few manuscripts for publication. In a perfect world we would be able to publish every book that is right for our press, but money and time do not allow this. Because of these factors, it is of the utmost importance that your submission be professional, brief, and well-formatted. Due to the volume of submissions an editor might choose to reject a submission that does not adhere to guidelines. You want to stand out, but this should be by virtue of the quality of your work.

  Submitting can be a challenging process but having a good understanding of how it works and being persistent are key to having your work accepted and published. Keep in mind that every writer, even the best, receive dozens or even hundreds of rejections for each acceptance and it is not uncommon for a manuscript to be rejected more than a dozen times before it finds the right home. We wish you the best of luck!