ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS GUEST BLOGGER, VIVIAN KIRKFIELD – TRYING BACK DOORS: A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT SUBMITTING TO SMALL PRESS PUBLISHERS

 

A big thank you to Vivian Kirkfield for sharing her thoughts on manuscript submissions with us today.

 

 

TRYING BACK DOORS: A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT SUBMITTING TO

SMALL PRESS PUBLISHERS

by Vivian Kirkfield

 

Did you ever lock yourself out of your house? Back in 1996, we arrived at our new home in Colorado Springs, having driven 2000 miles from Connecticut. We climbed out of the car, walked up to the front door of our new house, and quickly realized we had packed the keys in one of the many boxes that were being transported by the moving company. They would not arrive for several days.

Fortunately, I was able to get in the back door. Well, sort of. There was a dog door at the back of the house. I’m pretty small, so I scrambled through the flap and ran around to unlock the front door for the rest of the family.

There are a couple of ‘back doors’ in the publishing world as well, and writers can sometimes find success using them. I’d like to share a couple of thoughts that might be helpful to all of you.

SMALL PRESSES

A small press publisher can be a good place to start your climb to the top of the publishing pile. There are thousands of small press publishers in North America alone. Of course, you still need to do your homework: check their reputation, check their submission guidelines, research their book list to target your submission, and only send your work when it is the best it can be.

What are the advantages of working with a small press publisher?

1. You may get much more personal attention because a small-press editor works with fewer writers and can afford to take a personal interest in each book.
2. Small presses are less numbers-driven and more interested in quality.
3. Many small presses specialize in a niche market. Your queries can be focused much more precisely, and you can often find a publisher who is a perfect fit for your book.
4. A small press may be able to afford to keep a relatively large backlist. Your book will stay in print longer, maybe even for years, providing a lot more time for word-of-mouth to take effect.

What are the disadvantages of working with a small press publisher?

1. Small presses only publish a limited number of new titles each year, some only one or two.
2. Small presses cannot afford to market your book the way a larger publisher can. They list it in their catalog, but tours, signings, and any other marketing will probably be up to you, the author. However, these days, even major publishing houses do not spend very much in marketing dollars for unknown authors. If you want your book out there, you will have to hustle it yourself.
3. Small presses do not have the distribution capability of major houses. The large book wholesalers, like Baker and Taylor or Ingram, don’t carry many small press titles and the superstores usually only buy from these major distributors.
4. Most small presses operate on very tight budgets and unforeseen problems can sometimes push a small press into bankruptcy. If you decide to sign with a small publisher, make sure you have a contract provision that allows you to reclaim the rights to your manuscript.

How to Approach a Small Press Publisher

I had an interesting experience with a small press this past year. One of my manuscripts seemed to be a good fit for a small niche publisher. I did some research and found them on Facebook and left a comment about how I was going to submit something to them. There was an immediate response and an invitation to submit, which I did. About two months later, I received a lovely email from the acquisitions editor, encouraging me to revise the story and resubmit it. Unfortunately, by the time I revised and resubmitted it, the editorial staff had been reorganized, my contact was no longer there, and they were no longer interested in the manuscript. But I’ve sent it on to several other places. I won’t cross my fingers because I am too busy writing and revising more manuscripts.

Here are a couple of submission tips for small presses and niche publishers:

1. Know what they publish.  Don’t query a regional nature manuscript to a press that publishes stories about military families.
2. Read and follow their submission guidelines to the letter and prepare your submission package carefully.
3. Be patient. Be courteous. Be considerate.
4. If you don’t have an agent to represent you, make sure you know what you are signing away and what you are getting.

And here are some online resources to get you started:

Fantastic article from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Association for EVERY writer who is submitting to agents or to editors. It includes important links to check out both publishers and agents: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/small/

Agent Query — http://www.agentquery.com/publishing_ip.aspx

Literary Market Place — http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp (free registration required)

Bonus link from Alayne: From Writer’s Digest – THE PROS AND CONS OF PUBLISHING WITH A SMALL PUBLISHER by Brian Klems —  http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-pros-and-cons-of-publishing-with-a-small-publisher

 

I wish you all the best of luck with whatever submissions you bravely put out there this year.

I’d like to thank Alayne for the opportunity to participate in the ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS series.

 

About Vivian

Vivian Kirkfield loves being surrounded by picture books and children. A former kindergarten teacher, she has a master’s in early childhood education…and when she isn’t scribbling stories, she is hiking and fly-fishing with her hubby, reading, crafting, cooking with kids, and sharing self-esteem and literacy tips with parents. Although she is not a fan of heights and was always a rather timid child, Vivian is constantly taking leaps of faith. In 2010, she self-published her award-winning parenting resource, Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. Three years ago, she went skydiving with her son. In May of 2013, she flew half-way around the globe to speak at the 2013AFCC/SCBWI conference in Singapore, and she is amassing a respectable pile of picture book manuscript rejections. To learn more about her mission to help every child become a lover of books and reading, you can follow her on Twitter, connect with her on Facebook, like her Show Me How page on Facebook, visit her blog at Picture Books Help Kids Soar or contact her by email.

 

 

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WHAT IS CAUSE AND EFFECT?

This week my guest post CAUSE AND EFFECT is being featured in the Summer Sparks challenge hosted by Tracey Cox. There is some great information, so I hope you will give it a look.

Also, here is the link to the top viewed post on my blog this year. USING CHARACTER-DRIVEN PICTURE BOOKS AS MENTOR TEXTS TO IMPROVE YOUR OWN WRITING, by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

I want to share that I have been taking an excellent course on chapter book writing. Emma Walton Hamilton’s Just Write for  Middle Grade and Chapter Book Course is a 14 week experience that will help anyone turn their writing dream into a reality. Offering several worksheets per lesson and providing thorough information on each chapter book element, Emma methodically walks her students from the beginning of their book to the end. I highly recommend this course.

Finally, in case you missed it, I have started a picture book manuscript critique service.

Next week my ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS series will feature guest blogger Vivian Kirkfield. She will offer her thoughts on “getting in the backdoor” with your manuscript.

Happy writing!

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ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS GUEST BLOGGER JAN GODOWN ANNINO — ADMISSIONS ABOUT SUBMISSIONS: THINGS LEARNED FROM MY CRACKERJACK CRITIQUE PARTNERS

I apologize for hijacking Jan’s informative post with a few announcements. I feel it is important to let you know that I have decided to let ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS Q & A rest for the summer. However, there are still some ALL ABOUT SUBMISSIONS guest posts coming up. The two main reasons for the summer break with the Q & A are:

1) It’s a busy time for everyone, so I thought it might be nice to give the team a break.

2) I am busy with writing projects and my new picture book critique service.

Many of our Q & A members have had good news since we started the team. I am hoping to share some of it with you in the future.

I would like to thank today’s guest blogger, Jan Godown Annino, for sharing some of the things she has learned in her writing journey. Here’s Jan. . . .

 

Admissions about Submissions:

Things Learned from my Crackerjack Critique Partners

 by Jan Godown Annino

 

It could be that at the end of this day, you won’t submit that poem, story, article or book. I’m talking about that manuscript glowing over there in your To-Go queue.

Why not?

1. There is a time to submit.

2. And there is a time to delay a submission.

Having spent plenty of time around the table with my prize-winning poetry critique partner and two groups of published writers / editors, I’ve been privileged with an inside view of their submission experiences, results, and hopes.

Jan’s crackerjack critique group
L to R : Debra, Ann, Jan & M.R.
Photo by Anna Annino

As the leader of a writing workshop in a retirement community for several years, I discovered a surprising reason to hold back on submissions. Also, in attending crackerjack workshops at the Hollins University summer children’s literature program, I learned a lot about submission attitudes from fellow writers.

Today, I share what I learned about manuscript submissions and writing from the above mentioned experiences.

This blog post is about moving a voluntary, not required writing for everyday employment, submission along. Moving it the long, long, miles from the keyboard toward publication. NOTE:  Writing required for everyday employment such as, works-for-hire, paid/staff writing assignments, writing in other employment settings, or other similar pieces are not in the hopper for this discussion.

Two Little Reasons to Hold Back on Submitting

Little reason one: The poem, article, story or book manuscript ain’t poifect. It’s not the best.

Some things that might get overlooked or might need a little extra attention are: the idea, research, writing, revisions, fact-checking, copy editing, formatting & agreements / commitments previously made with an agent or editor.

Although flush with the thrill of creation earlier, the writer now realizes that all the words don’t work well. The next revisions might start with arrangements for hiring an expert copy-editor where they will work together to provide polish before submitting. They might look for things such as, lax formatting, missing significant facts and so on.

The best work moves forward. The less than best, no.

Now for a word about partial manuscripts. Sometimes, upon request from editors or agents, a writer sends out work that is partially written. But those requests for partials do not mean that those professionals on the receiving end hope to read work without sparkle. Those partials must be the best they can be, not hurry up, rough-and-tumble drafts.

As for the writer who has an arrangement with an agent or editor to peek at works-in-progress that are covered in construction dust, well, that writer owns a unique send button. Brava! Not every keyboard has ’em.

For most of us, it works in our favor to leave the typos, wonky formatting, and blobby ideas at home.

Little reason two for holding back on submitting, with three aspects to it: An unready, unprepared writer.

1. Not the writer’s true topic.

A writer may realize they dislike the topic that they are messing around with in Microsoft Word, longhand, or however it is they bring something to the page.

As a community college adult education writing instructor, I had big ears for the round-the-world adventures of active retirees. They are the ones who taught me about this “wrong topic” problem.

Out of about 20 fascinating writers with lively stories to tell, each semester, usually one-fourth shared that they were slogging away at a piece that they didn’t want to write. But they were dully plodding because a spouse, child, sibling, college group, former employer, etc. tasked them with it. Someone had complimented them on their writing, rhyme, annual family newsletter, vacation report, or anecdote about Uncle Mortimer and the wasp in his armpit by telling them, “You have to publish this!”

If you don’t want to write the piece you are working on, give yourself permission to write something you want to write. (Note – again, under discussion is voluntary writing, not required writing for everyday employment.)

 2)     Scrutiny

A smaller part of little reason two is that an author is unready, at this particular moment, to be out there for scrutiny. Consider the following scenario: An author’s pal runs interference and sets up a pitch session with their editor or agent. The unprepared author doesn’t have the pitch polished, is sick with the ick, is distracted by several serious family kerfuffles, etc. The editor is faced with either wasting time with an unprepared author or a string of cancelled appointments due to the author’s personal issues.

The remedy is to always try to be ready, but to understand if the time is truly not right. Ask the editor/agent if you can be in touch soon, like in two weeks?

3)     Unwilling to budge

A third aspect of little reason two is that the writer is emotionally tied to the story exactly the way it is submitted. The connection, often from a heartfelt childhood experience or other event, is so vivid to the author that any manuscript changes suggested by an editor or publisher feel wrong . . . or it seems as though it would be a betrayal of this emotional material to make changes for improvement.

So why send a piece to a traditional publisher, whose job is to find ways to make the piece better, and whose experience guides them to do this, when the writer’s thinking from the get-go is,  I’m not open to substantial changes. You must be open to changes to work with a top-drawer editor and publisher.

There may be other reasons a writer is unready; please share a comment.

COMMENT prize–

The prize(s): A surprise item (or items) from Jan’s writer’s vault (U.S. & Canada postal mail, only.)

To be considered for a prize, leave a comment, by June 30 midnighty and include your real name if that is not the automatic comment name.

I appreciate those who helped. In acknowledging assistance (Ann, Debra, M.R, especially, thank you) any foolishness of thought, fact or interpretation, is my own. I’d like to also express gratitude for Sub Six/Alayne and your supporting cast, and more thanks to Kristen Fulton for the enthusiasm she shares in the writing community.

Photo by M.R. Street

About Jan

Jan Godown Annino’s picture book biography of Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, SHE SANG PROMISE, is an ALA Amelia Bloomer Top Ten book. ​The New Jersey native moved to south Florida as a teen and now ​​lives with her family safe from pythons,​ ​crocodiles and most tourists,​ ​in North Florida​.​ ​Her ​poems for children are published in a 2014 Peace Corps anthology for Ethiopian schools, and her poetry for young readers also appears in Milkweed’s STORIES FROM WHERE WE LIVE, Literary Field Guide Series (Piedmont & South Atlantic edition).  ​Her Florida nonfiction books​ ​ ​are also well-regarded. Jan is​  ​an active reader in schools.

Visit Jan’s blog

Learn more about Jan on Twitter

You can also find Jan on GROG a group blog offering guidance and support to writers. 

CLICK HERE TO FIND A COMPLETE LIST OF “ALL ABOUT SUBMISSION” POSTS

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON ALAYNE’S PICTURE BOOK CRITIQUE SERVICE

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