Even though this is a free service (my way of giving back to the author community who keep me in work), please don’t abuse it. Take the process seriously, just as you would a real submission to a real agent (it’s good practice). Understand that there are no guarantees that I’ll use the piece. If the site is particularly busy, or I’m particularly busy trying to earn a living, then I might not be able to review all submissions. Instead, I’ll choose submissions where I think I can demonstrate a point that hasn’t been made before, or that are very good, or that are sent in by authors who post me large bundles of banknotes.
- Read all the submission guidelines.
- This isn’t a work-shopping facility. If your work is not really ready to send to an agent, don’t waste your time or mine.
- Refer to point 1).
- Fill in all the fields on the submission form.
- Name: either your real name, author name, or some completely fictitious name. The process will mean more to you if it’s not completely fictitious, and if your submission is really good, a posting here is completely free publicity for your book, after all, but it’s up to you.
- Email address: must be a genuine email address.
- Title: Title of the work.
- Genre: Select from the drop-down box. If the exact genre isn’t there, choose the nearest, or “Other”.
- English version: Are you writing in US English, or British English, or another version?
- Blurb: 250 characters in which to describe the essence of your story. What’s the novel about?
- About the author: Another 250 characters in which to tell me anything about yourself or the book you feel is relevant. That might be your publishing history, or the fact that you’re a complete novice, or a particular aspect of your opening you’d like me to look at. This won’t be posted, but I might refer to things you say in it in my comments.
- Text: Paste the first 1000 words (to the nearest complete sentence) of your manuscript.
- Refer to point 1)
- Take a deep breath.
- Press send.
