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Let The Mail Prevail!

A Guide to Etiquette, Status Calls, and More

by Wendy McClure

Exactly why do publishers prefer mail? More precisely, why do publishers still prefer postal mail over practically every other form of contact these days? While the rest of the world seems bent on speedy communication, these old routines--cover letters, queries, self-addressed stamped envelopes--begin to sound a little musty, kind of impersonal. Maybe it feels a bit to you like writing thank-you notes to that old auntie in Winnipeg you'd never even met. Perhaps you wonder: isn't there a better way to let editors know I exist?

For now--and probably for some time longer--no. But with so many new options for communication in the world (see sidebar), it seems time to more fully explain the simple wisdom of "letters only, please."

Read below for some basic principles.
Click ahead for a big don’t.
Should You Make Those "Status Calls"?

Some basics

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At some point or another in our lives, we’ve all been taught certain practices that are useful for getting a job, making a sale or fighting for a cause. We’ve learned, for example, that it’s good to make a personal impression. So editors hear a lot from friendly people who just want to make an introduction. But it’s a bit different in book publishing. The only introduction a publisher wants has to do with the strength and style of a manuscript or a portfolio. Personality is a wonderful quality, but generally we just assume that really terrific people write children’s books -- none are Third-World Evil Dictators, for example. Yes, some children’s book authors are Fabulous Hollywood Celebrities, but that’s the only instance in which personal appeal can sell a book.

Part of my role as an editor is to develop and encourage new writers, but all too often I won’t be able to get someone published even if I like the work a lot. Even if I like him or her a lot. And even if the Third-World Evil Dictator (OK: one, but he uses a pen- name) very strongly suggests that I reconsider his bunny story.

I’m kidding. But even when the aspiring writer is a perfectly friendly, reasonable, non-threatening type, an editor will be reluctant to develop a relationship until there’s a pretty good chance that it’ll be a beneficial one for both of them. It may remain tentative even after an encouraging response letter or a revision request. And it usually doesn’t happen after only one manuscript or good idea. Editors say, wait. Writers sigh. The Third World Evil Dictators growl.

Has the Information Age Reached Your Editor? Just a wild guess, but I bet you’re familiar with some other snazzy high-tech methods of communication. Let’s discuss them here. E-mail, for all its conveniences, is still not a standard way to submit queries and unsolicited manuscripts. However, some magazines now post calls for e-mail submissions on the Internet, usually when they discover they need material as soon as possible. But the schedules and needs of book publishers are different, and editors there will probably stick with "snail mail" for a while longer. Also don't assume that a publisher will accept your e-mail address as a substitute for an SASE. In general, follow a publisher's lead when it comes to the use of e-mail. Internet technology is making a bit of a difference in the way illustrators show their work. An artist can now display work on his/her personal website and use the more traditional sample cards as an invitation to surf by and look -- and editors and art directors do look. You should still continue your other methods, though; you won't get much work if you rely only on your website samples. As for other Brave New World conveyances: next-day express mail is costly and won’t earn your manuscript extra attention or a faster response. And sending unsolicited submissions and queries by fax is about as welcome as a rock through the window. Are editors just hopeless Luddites? Not at all: they use e-mail and fax and overnight mail to stay in touch with authors and illustrators during the more frantic book production phase. Which is all the more reason for submitters to avoid these methods: why risk having your story or query pop up in front of an editor in the midst of his deadline emergency? So while the postal service may feel like the aggravating "slow lane" at times, the fabled Superhighway has its unique dangers. Best to stay off until further notice.

Adjusting to the slow pace of the submission process can be difficult. Perhaps the best way to show that it still works is to consider how the alternative methods don’t...

A Big Don’t: Selling Your Manuscript Over The Phone

Mailing out manuscripts can be tedious --just think, you actually age during the entire submission process. So what would happen if you just called up an editor and pitched your story?

Let’s try, just for fun, a virtual simulation of a cold phone call to an editor--a perfectly nice editor, in fact. The bold type indicates the dialogue, the occasional parentheses guess what the speaker is thinking, and the footnotes indicate hyperlinks that you can click on for further insight. So, here we go...

... ring, ring:

EDITOR: Hello? (Maybe this is the print shop? The design guy? Mom?)

CALLER: Hi there! My name is John Doe and I have a manuscript¹... (Oh cool! It’s an editor!)

EDITOR: Yes? (What? A manuscript? Where? When?)

CALLER: ...and it’s about a funny cat... (Now for the big pitch²....)

EDITOR: Uh-huh...³

Pitch concludes. CALLER asks EDITOR if he can send the manuscript. But EDITOR isn’t sure if she’s interested. So CALLER goes for the close⁴!

CALLER: I certainly wouldn’t want to waste your time⁵ by having you read it if you weren’t interested!

EDITOR: Well...

 

Such suspense! How does this scenario end? Here are two likely ways:

1.) EDITOR lets CALLER send the manuscript. After all, her company accepts unsolicited work. But it remains to be seen whether she’ll be "interested." And chances are CALLER’S call won’t make any difference in the way EDITOR reads his work, if she even remembers the call when the manuscript arrives. If he was expecting an instant rapport, one hopes he won’t be too discouraged in the coming weeks.

2.) Or, EDITOR politely declines to look at the manuscript. CALLER repeats this cold-call routine with other publishers with similar results. Maybe at some point he encounters Scenario Ending #1, playing havoc upon his hopes. At any rate, he’s bound to be even more discouraged.

Let’s assume that CALLER has in fact a fine manuscript, and that he’s a writer with potential. If this is the case, then all the phone calls he’ll make will sell him short; he may also unnecessarily write off a lot of publishers who gave a seemingly "cold" response. And that’s a shame.

Speaking of shame-- please don’t be embarrassed if this little play resembles something you’ve tried. If it’s a reminder of the very early days of your experience, then congratulations: I’m glad you survived the pitfalls. And if the memory is more recent, don’t worry: this won’t go on any permanent record. Read the other fine articles on this website and others about cover letters and queries. And keep writing.

Should You Make Those Status Calls?

Perhaps you've heard you should call a publisher when they’ve held your submission a few weeks or months past the response time. This can happen if you’re submitting for the first time, the second, or the 20th time--no matter when it happens you’re bound to be expectant. After patiently waiting for several months, the prospect of calling really can seem like a bonus. So--should you mark your calendar and count the days until your free phone call?

Not if you’re expecting excitement. Likely the most intriguing news you’ll hear is that the editors have fallen behind on their reading schedules. Maybe you’ll hear that Editor J. has "a really nasty cold." Big deal! What about your manuscript?

Mystery Mail: Part One What about that receipt postcard you enclosed? Those little twenty-cent soldiers of Postal Good Fortune are supposed to dutifully report back to you from the front lines, but sometimes they like to go AWOL somewhere inside your envelope: perhaps they just don’t want to go home yet. I do get a sinking feeling when I find them too late. And when your postcard fails to turn up it’s hard not to imagine your manuscript lying in a gutter in Omaha, but it’s far more likely that it arrived safely at the publisher. If you need guaranteed proof, though, the post office’s return-receipt system is a much more reliable method.

Actually, many publishers don't disclose status over the phone. That is, they won’t even tell callers whether or not a manuscript is still under consideration. Especially when "under consideration" can mean the work is waiting to be discussed in a meeting, is in someone’s second-look pile, or--sigh--just hasn’t been looked at yet. The person who answers inquiry calls (sometimes an assistant, but sometimes an editor) simply doesn’t want to mislead or misinform anyone.

Of course, sometimes the records will show that the manuscript is just no longer under consideration--and the editorial staffer will probably be reluctant to give rejection news over the phone.

Well, what would you do? Here's another little scenario: this time you play the editor. A CALLER wants to know the status of a story called "Tommy the Tunafish." You're sure you didn't read it--another editor did. But you agree to check the submission records. You keep CALLER on the line, and as you search through the long lists of titles, CALLER makes conversation...

CALLER: Gosh, you're the only publisher who hasn't returned it yet! I've gotten six rejections so far and every one has nearly broken the heart of my little niece, because I wrote the story for her and promised her that I would get it published! Sometimes she just looks up at me with her big eyes and says, "Why don't why those mean old publishers like Tommy the Tunafish?" You know, I've wanted to ask them that myself! Anyway, tomorrow's her birthday! It would be the greatest present if I could tell her you're publishing the manuscript! So... are you?

  According to the submission records, the answer is "no." What would you say to CALLER?

A. "No."
B. "We don't know yet. Please call back after your niece's birthday. Call back, well, after her 30th birthday..."
C. "Look, we'll buy her a pony, OK?"

Mystery Mail: Part Two In tracking down an overdue manuscript, I still recommend writing an inquiry letter first. Yes, some of you may be gnashing your teeth now after trying this to little avail, since those letters all too often slip into limbo among unread slush. I’ve sometimes had to open those letters months after they arrived; I swear I can hear the teeth-gnashing. Then I look at the extremely, indeed overly, unassuming envelope of the inquiry letter and marvel at the writer’s polite restraint and discretion. Which I then imagine is snapping... You can perhaps spare me the drama, and yourself the frustration, if you make sure your envelope doesn’t look like a query or a short manuscript. It probably shouldn’t look like a ransom note, but you should write something like "RE: Inquiry about Oswald Goes To School, sent 10/97." Highlight that line, circle it, whatever (but please don’t draw little skulls). And as always, enclose an SASE.

All right, editorial staffers usually don't get calls quite like this--it just feels this tough sometimes. It's human nature to want a blunt fact softened by an explanation, but the editor who answers the phone is almost never prepared to give one. Not surprisingly, the policies of many editorial departments make sure that this kind of news is communicated only through the mail. So should you ever call at all? When the response is well over two months late, yes. And when the reasons to call are purely practical--for instance, when you’ve been rotating different manuscripts among several publishers. Perhaps you’re checking for an estimated response time from the publisher(s) running late so you can coordinate the next mail round. Strictly business.

What to do, what to expect

While the editorial staff may not disclose much, they should answer these two questions:

Did the manuscript arrive safely? and
When can I expect a response?

Before you phone, check the publisher’s listing or guidelines to see if they even take calls--if they don’t, you will have to write a letter. You should expect that a company with a "no phone calls" policy will maintain a good mail-response system. See sidebars on what more you can do.

When you can phone a publisher and you have to leave a message on voice mail, go ahead and state your reason for calling. It’s a good idea to spell out your name, leave a phone number, and--important--be sure to mention when you sent the manuscript.

Allow a little time for the staff person to search for your work. You should get a response though. Sometimes your SASE may promptly show up in your mailbox--no, it’s not terribly personal, but it’s a response nonetheless.

When you speak with an editor or assistant, you ought to be given a new time frame for the publisher’s response. If not, ask for one. Or else tell the person you’re speaking with that you’ll wait two more months before calling again.

If you have a special concern--if another publisher has shown interest in your story, or if you’d like to submit it elsewhere, just speak up. It’s a fairly routine notification that will be passed along to the editor, who you’ll hear back from only if there’s a conflict. While you may feel left hanging a bit, you can politely ask for the name of person who took the call and keep it on record should a sticky situation arise later. While it’s hard not knowing exactly where your work stands, you’ve let the publisher know where you stand, which is important--and enough for you to continue your business of writing and submitting.

The humble envelope still packs plenty of power, and it’s the very best way to make yourself known to a publisher. Sometimes you may wonder what editors are really thinking about--do they concern themselves all day with, say, the problems of publishing Third World Evil Dictators under Fabulous Hollywood Celebrity pseudonyms? Even if they did, they’d still devote many of their days to the incoming manuscripts, reading them, discovering a lot about the writers, nurturing people when the moment is right. It’s precious time indeed--so important that, often, they won’t be answering the phone.

Copyright 1998 by Wendy McClure. All rights reserved.


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Footnotes

1. Plenty of manuscripts are lying around in EDITOR’S office and it took her a moment to realize that CALLER (what’s his name again?) wasn’t referring to any of those. back

2. Will a pitch work? Well, EDITOR’S ears might perk up if CALLER goes on to say that his cat story is the first in a fourteen-part scratch-n-sniff series for children and cats to enjoy together. Then she’ll know it’s definitely not right for her company. If CALLER wants a definite measure of interest, a "no" is all he can hope for. back

3. Uh-huh indeed. You’ll have to forgive EDITOR for seeming a tad inattentive. She’s not: actually her mind is just blank. There’s not much to think about if she hasn’t seen the manuscript yet. And as for anything EDITOR might find unique and intriguing about the story or about CALLER --all that should have been saved for a cover letter. back

4. Unfortunately, CALLER is using a sales technique that doesn't even come close to being appropriate right now. Does he even know the publisher’s policy on unsolicited manuscripts? EDITOR doesn’t have the time to brief him on all the basics of manuscript submission. She might have a moment to direct him to Square One: sending a query letter. Or it could be that CALLER would rather take a shortcut, so he says... back

5. EDITOR has heard that mystifying "waste your time" phrase quite a bit. It’s her job to read lots of things that "may not interest her" and she doesn’t mind! Manuscripts in tidy envelopes don’t leap up and interrupt her in the middle of the day, and they don’t demand her immediate enthusiasm. In fact, she often likes to put some aside when she feels they might need better attention than her mood allows at the moment. And who knows what her mood is like right now? back