This month I’m delighted to welcome James H. Pence (he’ll answer to Jim), fellow author, visionary chalk artist, and gifted with a honey voice that will melt your socks, who has agreed to share his talk from the QuadCities Christian Writers Conference 2010. Take it away, Jim!
Nuke the
Slush Pile, Part 1
By James H. Pence
If you’ve been writing for any length of time, you know what the “slush pile” is. It’s that gargantuan pile of query letters and unsolicited submissions that clutter editors’ desks. In other words, if you’re a new writer who is trying to break in, the slush pile is your competition. Of course, in today’s world of e-mail and electronic submissions, the slush pile tends to be more “virtual” than physical, but nevertheless, it’s there and it’s real.
I remember back when I was an unpublished writer, I read a short newspaper item that described the odds against getting a book published. I didn’t save the article, so I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I do remember that they were very discouraging. Something like only one in 10,000 manuscripts submitted to conventional publishers ever makes it to print.
I posted this statistic to an online forum for writers, and someone responded, “If those are the odds, why should I even try?”
Why, indeed?
Picture yourself standing before an editor’s desk, clutching your query, proposal, or manuscript in your trembling hands. On this editor’s desk is a pile of ten thousand manuscripts. I don’t know how big a pile that would make, but I imagine that 10,000 manuscripts would probably bury the desk, if not the editor.
You humbly place your envelope on to the pile, hoping that it doesn’t trigger a fatal avalanche. Nearby you hear the muffled voice of the editor calling out to you. (You can’t see her because she is indeed buried under the pile of manuscripts.)
“Thank you for your submission,” she says. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
As you leave the office, the editor’s administrative assistant takes a sip of his latte and says, “You know, only three of those manuscripts will be chosen.”
Your heart sinks as you wander out of the publisher’s office and into a rain-soaked street. The dark clouds mirror your depression.
“Why did I even bother?” you wonder aloud. As your day ends, you seek out a local Starbucks and quietly wonder if you should change
careers and become a barista.
Okay, okay. I know I’m exaggerating. But almost all of us have felt that way at one time or another. What if I were to tell you that you don’t need to worry about the odds? What if I were to tell you that there is a not only a way to improve the odds, but to “nuke” the slush pile and get it out of the way entirely?
Am I guaranteeing you will be published? No.
I am saying that it is possible for you to significantly increase your chances, bypass your competition, and get noticed by editors.
That’s what we’ll be focusing on over the next three weeks. Hopefully, by the time you’re finished reading through these blog posts, you’ll have a plan of action that will move that slush pile out of the way forever.
We’ll get into the specifics of how to nuke the slush pile next week, but here’s a little tidbit to whet your appetite:
You remember that pile of 10,000 manuscripts that has buried our poor editor?
At least 90% of them are unpublishable.
Now your odds are only 1 in 1000.
See you next week.
Bio: James H. Pence is a full-time freelance writer and the author of six books. His latest book (a collaboration with Stephen Arterburn), is titled The Encounter and is set for publication by Thomas Nelson, Publishers in November. You can learn more about James at his
web sites: http://www.jamespence.com/ and www.fulltimefreelancing.com
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