Never hand-deliver a manuscript unless there is some compelling reason to do so, which had better be pretty compelling, but rather, mail it or have it messengered or sent by your agent or these days, most or many manuscripts are sent electronically via email to editors at large houses, particularly the larger houses who print out a few pages and if intrigued, print more or the whole thing. Some may read a few pages on screen if the title doesn’t grab them or the subject matter, but that’s it. These are the ways you communicate with an editor today. Simple, neat, clean. It is an unwritten, unspoken rule of publishing.
And this rule works in reverse. What Farrar has done here in this long letter is prove his point by writing a long-winded letter to an author who has done everything wrong;
1. she has made it personal
2. she has made personal telephone calls
3. she has shown up at the office and made appointments much to the dismay of his secretary who is now becoming upset (you never want to upset the Editor’s EA because he or she is the turn-key to the Editor; the gate-keeper.
One rule of publishing (there are many, but to stick to one), just as in Publicity that you very quickly learn if you are savvy is that to get to the Editor, you must become friends with the secretary or admin or editorial assistant.
The friendlier you are, the more likely you are to get in the door, get read, get seen, esp. in the case of publicity as I told you the story of me and Chip Mc Grath at the New York Times Book Review at the time and his admin and how I was able to get in. This isn't bribery, this is doing your job and getting to know people so that they get to like you and are willing to and gosh, maybe even want to help you in your endeavor to see your books reviewed. This works and you can do it at a very grass-roots level. For those of you interested in non-profit, then you understand how much can come of a grass-roots effort, i would think, or anyone who has been at a start-up.
Keep your rejection, acceptance letters simple, to the point, and never offer editorial or other advice. It's in your and the writer's best interest that you do not.
Exercise on this topic in next week's class - note this is a graded exercise.
