manuscripts | separating the dreck from the good

The manuscript can be delivered in its whole, or as part of a proposal or query as above. If an author submits a straight manuscript, chances are that it will come through an agent although a lot of good work can come in over the transom and you just don’t know who you’ll discover in the slush pile… Think Joyce or Fitzgerald that came in through the slush pile, essentially. A good editor will be able to separate the "dreck" from the good.

Today, most manuscripts that come in have already been edited by their agent as the agent takes on more and more the role of editor helping shape and mold the manuscript and point the author in the right direction. Chances are, that so much of what you get these days will not need as much editing as it would have about ten years ago . Things have changed with the advent of agents.

Most of the best work will arrive through agents but don't dismiss other works that come in over the transom - as noted above, some of the best work may come in over the transom. The difference between a work that comes in on its own verus an agented book is not the quality of the manuscript, by any means - only that one author was savvy enough to get representation, but it may have little or nothing to do with talent. This is for you and you only to judge as you evaluate work, tho note that it is interns who evaluate much of the slush.

There are ways to determine if there is anything good in the slush pile:

1. have interns write a brief paragraph about what the manuscript is about.
2. whether or not they would publish it and why.

They should do this for virtually every manuscript, barring the real losers, and hand this to the editor with their note. This was a practice used at The Atlantic Monthly and it worked extremely well and we found a lot of work through the slush pile using this method.