Saturday, January 29, 2011

Jeannette Larson, Editorial Director: Tips on Submitting To Any Editor

As part of Jeannette Larson, Editorial Director of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's breakout session: "What Makes Your Work Publishable?" she had a great section on submissions.

Jeannette polled her editors and they came up with a list (not comprehensive) on submissions – what makes them stand up and cheer and what makes them, well, grumpy:


Makes Them Cheer
a professional cover letter that piques their interest and lets them get to what you’ve written.
a great story well told,
characters they love,
an authentic story crafted well


Makes Them Grumpy
long overblown cover letters that compare the work to “The Hunger Games” or “Harry Potter” or whatever else is HUGE at that moment.
submissions that aren't a good match to what they publish - do your homework!
a gimmick with a submission (free t-shirt or snack with your manuscript)

Good advice... now make them cheer!

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