No. Pubmission isn’t meant to be a gatekeeper. You are.
We’ve said from the outset that editors and agents should remain the gatekeepers in publishing. You’re only as good as the writing talent you recruit. So why would you relinquish control of the submissions that reach you?
Volume is a big problem when it comes to the slush pile. Though we might not weed out writers for you, we do offer a time-saving (and paper-saving) tool that can help you navigate and quickly manage the submission process. So you can focus more of your time on meeting deadlines and creating quality products.
The Old Way
When I was an acquisitions editor at a medium-sized company who accepted unsolicited manuscripts through the mail, my job demanded that I:
- Open each envelope or box that arrived in my inbox each day, not knowing what lurked inside.
- Find the author’s contact info and the submission title and log it all into our database. We did this in case an author wanted to know the status of her submission and so we could track how long it was taking us to get through the slush pile.
- Make sense of what was in the envelope and decide whether it was a marketable product appropriate for our list. In most cases, the answer was no, but there were some winners.
- Print out a rejection letter if the submission was a no. If there was no SASE, then label an envelope, apply postage, and send it off.
- Make a note in the database.
- Discard the submission in the recycle bin.
- Move on to the next submission.
Now if you’re an acquisitions editor, and you’re satisfied with the amount of time and paper this process consumes, then Pubmission isn’t right for you.
The Pubmission Way
If you start the transition to paperless submissions—directing writers to submit to you through Pubmission—then below is what reviewing your slush pile will be like:
- Open your weekly e-mail alert with all of the submissions sent to you in one easily sortable table.
- Review the brief abstracts of each submission in the table to give you an idea of what you’ll be looking at if you choose to open the full submission view.
- Instantly reject submissions not right for you with a click of a button. Or write a personalized letter to writers whose work shows promise.
- Marvel at your empty recycle bin. And at the time you’ve saved while still responding promptly, and personally (if you choose), to submissions.
Pubmission also helps writers do their homework before they submit to you, and even shows them the publishers who match up with them best. And for submissions with Editor Ratings, you can quickly see expert opinions from our staff of freelance professional editors.
Take Control
For the editors reading this, how many times has your publisher told you to magically produce a certain type of book and have it in the warehouse yesterday? It happened to me all the time. With Pubmission, all you have to do is go back to your desk, search the General Database, and perhaps find some candidates that fit the bill. You could also post your current needs on our home page. (Or request an interview on our blog.)
Soon to come, we’ll let you set your dates for reading periods and even halt the submissions sent directly to you. You’ll still have access to the General Database, but if your staff is overwhelmed, you can give them a break with a click of a button.
Our goal is to save you time and to give you more control over the submission process, not to make publishing decisions for you. We can help you manage and filter what you receive while saving tons of paper. If you have a limited staff, pressing deadlines, and a pile of envelopes (or a crowded e-mail inbox) waiting for you, then I invite you to check out our demo video. Then let us know if we can help.
And remember that Pubmission is FREE for one year for all publishers who sign up before August 31, 2010!
