Re: CHAT: Conlang and Writers

Mathew Willoughby wrote:

> What drives me batty is feeling like I'm on hold for months
> on end.  I sent "The Argo" to one publisher upon the
> urging of a friend who had a friend who knew someone who... you get the
> picture... anyway,
All too clearly.

> this particular publisher didn't want sample chapters, they wanted the
> entire book and an agreement that I not engage in the heretical
> practice of "simultaneous submission."  Normally publishers look at sample
> chapters as an initial screening process but this one was different.  So,
> like a good little soldier, I wrote short stories while I waited eight months
> to finally get my rejection  letter.  Boy was I happy!  I said,  "Woo hoo!
> Now I can finally send this MS off to someone else!"
Here is my sound advice, given me by a respected agent.  Ignore the prohibitions
against "simultaneous submission."  That's the only thing you've got as a writer.
The market is cruelly tilted in favor of the publisher, and they make these
rules.  Obviously, writers are simultaneouslysubmitting all over the place out of
desperate need... otherwise this press wouldn't have asked you not to.  Eight
months?  I'm waiting on Tor for over a year.  Some people can wait as much as two
years for a press to get back to them.  This is often the case with short
stories.  So we
are supposed to send one short story out every two years?  Read my lips and submit
simultaneously.  That way you have a bargaining chip if you're good.  If any press
makes that demand again, on condition that they'll read the manuscript, say that
you'll comply with it only if they agree to read it within one month.   They can
only say no, and you send it somewhere else.

Another tip:  don't let anybody talk you into paying them for editorial advice up
front.

> Oh, BTW, I really liked this phrase:
>
> "...a region that surfaces and submerges most often within the Black Sea,
> sometimes
>  the Caspian."
>
> I love this!  It's so mysterious and inviting.
>
Flattery will get you everywhere.  I really like your pages, Matthew.  They are
precise,they are beautifully presented with that contrasting blue and yellow, and
you seem to
be onto some interesting developments; give me a chance to look at it again more
closely, and maybe I can suggest some alternate terminology for what you're
describing.
But I'm only an amateur linguist, and I've benefited greatly from the wisdom on
the list.
Been here a year now!

Sally

> Lunatic Survey?  Sounds like something right up my alley.  I'd love
> to take it.  What's the IAFA?
  International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts.