For the past hour I've been reflecting on the two panels I sat in on yesterday. The first, More Than Luck: How Publishers Select Literary Manuscripts. The panelists were poet Ann Filemyr, Publisher/editor for Mammoth Press Denise Low, and Red Mountain Press's Publisher/editor Susan Gardner. Ann and Denise were published by Susan Gardner and all three women are great friends.
As a small press, Susan's company only publishes four to five books a year. She's not looking at making a profit, but instead wishes to build relationships with her authors and works hands-on until the vision becomes the book. Red Mountain receives over one thousand queries a year, and Susan reads every single one of them.
If you are submitting your manuscript to a small press, keep in mind that when choosing their titles for the year, they are very selective. All three women said to read the books they publish before submitting yours. Know what types of books they publish. What themes. What aesthetics. You don't want to waste your time anymore than you want to waste theirs. Read their website. Don't just skim over the submission guidelines. Really get to know their work.
Later that afternoon I sat on the floor outside of Auditorium B, waiting for What We Hate: Editorial Dos and Don'ts. The panelists were Emerson Blake, Cheston Knapp, Patrick Thomas, Carolyn Kueblier, and Jordan Bass. Within minutes I was surrounded by a colorful sea of loiters also waiting to attend this panel. We were all at least thirty minutes early.
The doors finally opened and I squeezed myself into a second row seat. Tight seating is an understatement. The room continued to to fill to the point of people holding up walls and people holding down the floor. Yes, they were sitting on the floor. Wow! It's almost sad to know that we really wanted to know why editors rejected our work. Their work, I guess, since I have yet to start the querying process.
But on the positive side, we writers wanted to know what mistakes we should avoid.
Milkweed's Editor Patrick Thomas says he feels guilty (He was raised Catholic) that he can't reply to everyone. Many writers complain over the 'no response means no' attitude that agents, editors, and publishers have turned to over the past several years.
As a writer who's done her homework, I understand this, but I still don't like it. To me, it's all about respect. I'd rather have a form rejection than to hear nothing at all. But, that's the way it is and we just have to accept that truth.
What Patrick hates even more, is writers who don't read Milkweed's books or follow their guidelines. Opening a query letter, he wants to see writers explain why their manuscript fits his press and where it belongs in the current market. Above all, he loves reading writers.
Cheston Knapp is the editor for Tin House. Ok, I just have to get this out there. For those of you who watch NCIS: LA, does Cheston look like Deeks or what??? 
I wanted to rush up to him, snap a picture, and tell everyone I met Deeks at AWP in Minneapolis! Who knew he was a writer, and an editor, too.Cheston also feels the guilt of not being able to answer every email. "There's too much to do and too little time." Language is a sea of words and as writers we are plunging into that sea. A sea that already exists. So how can we grasp everyday words and make them our own vision.
True story for one of the editors. She sent a personal rejection to someone, who then blasted her words all over social media. Needless to say, it got back to her. Don't do this. If someone takes the time to write you a personal note, even if it doesn't feel right to you, file it away. Don't put it 'out there' for the world to see.
The world of publishing is smaller than that small town you may have grown up in where everyone knows everything within minutes.
My final thoughts: Do your homework before submitting. Don't send your first, second, or third draft. Read your work out loud and have someone else read it, too. An extra pair of eyes are a requirement, not a suggestion.
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