As the publishing industry changes with the advent of electronic books, so too does the electronic submissions process. Gone are the days of deciding between A4 and 8.5″ by 11″, buying paper by the case and ribbon / ink cartridges in bulk, and including S.A.S.E.s with each submission. The phrase “Do Not Print Double-Sided” is pretty much meaningless now, as is “double-space between sentences.” Many editors, agents, and publishers allow for single-spaces now as well as a variety of sans-serif fonts instead of just Times New Roman and Courier / Courier New.
There are other changes to the submissions process.
Including “Disposable Manuscript” on an electronic document is a little redundant since email attachments aren’t ever returned anyway (making the “disposable” part of the label an assumption and unnecessary). Sad to say, I do not ever recycle my electrons. I use them and throw them in File Thirteen (aka the Recycle Bin). Don’t hate me for this.
Specifying which geographic rights authors are willing to sell, while not completely obsolete, is falling by the wayside. Especially for small publishers. Once something gets out on the Internet, it’s hard to govern where in the world it will end up. Amazon and Barnes & Noble can use their country-specific sites to throttle where ebooks end up available for sale, but that restriction is easy to get around. These days, publishers just grab the Worldwide rights (to cut down the hassle) and talk language rights and translation rights (for ebooks only!). North American, United Kingdom, or European rights just don’t make sense in our global Internet where virtual goods can easily be transferred between countries.
Social media is becoming more and more important to many publishers, to the point where many independent presses are now asking authors what media tools they use to promote themselves and their books. Author access to (and use of) websites, blogs, and other social networking sites are all becoming a consideration in the submissions process. I’ve even seen a few publishers who request the authors marketing plans as part of the submission.
As part of the social media advent, publishers are also looking at how authors portray themselves on the internet. Authors who are rude and insulting to reviewers (or fans) may just social-media themselves out of a book contract. Authors who complain about their editors, agents, or previous publishers may also talk themselves out of the contract.
Since networking is much easier to do in the Internet Age (no longer does one have to attend conferences or conventions and shove business cards up someone else’s nose to get attention), authors now have the option of actually meeting potential agents and editors online, discovering their needs, and sending them with a properly tailored query instead of shooting off subs in the dark.
There are a lot of holdovers from the Old Way of Doing Things as authors learn to adjust to the new. It’s not just authors adjusting either. Publishers, editors, and agents are still transitioning to the electronic world while some of them still prefer good ol’ fashioned paper snail-mailed submissions. That’s okay. To each their own. But now, with submission guidelines available for free viewing on their websites, authors can no longer play the “ignorant of submission guidelines” card. The information is out there and many libraries and public internet cafes offer free internet access to discover the information. So it’s time to take advantage of the new world of electronic submissions and change along with the industry.
As I come across more interesting gems in my slush pile, I’ll be sure to let you know. Until then, happy writing and joyous reading.
