As publishers and agents utilize the internet more and more, freelance writers are getting a bad rap for sending out the same queries over and over again to the same people. The low cost of email submissions are turning legitimate writers into ‘spray and pray’ advertisers.
Cleves, Ohio, 12/1/2008 – Each month, publishers and agents are only accepting query letters and manuscripts by email. While this cuts costs on postage, uses less paper, and makes it easier for them to organize their pitches from writers, it also makes it much easier for freelance writers to send out more letters at once.
At one time, most agents and publishers only accepted submissions by mail. A freelance writer was careful to only their work to those most likely to accept their material. The printing, paper, and postage costs didn’t allow them to “mass submit” their manuscripts.
“I remember how I used to print out three or four versions of a cover letter, and take a half hour trying to decide which one to send.” Says Eric Engel, owner of MyManuscripts.com and former freelance writer. “I had to be careful, because I knew it was my one and only shot. Then I would have to wait several weeks for a rejection before sending the same letter to another editor.”
As more and more agents and publishers began accepting email submissions, many writers took the attitude that ‘quantity beats quality’. Where they once spent hours crafting the right pitch, they now spend a few minutes slapping together a letter that might go out to hundreds of publishers or agents. Some will even send the same letter to the same people more than once…which, in the old days, would eliminate the chance for any future relationship to develop.
MyManuscripts.com, a software company dedicated to helping writers, now has a system to help writers organize their submissions and keep track of who they’ve pitched to and who they haven’t.
“The idea for the software came to me as I was creating a spreadsheet to organize everything.” Says Engel. “The more time I spent submitting, the larger that spreadsheet got. Eventually, the spreadsheet was every bit as disorganized as a stack of papers. I knew I had to make a change.”
Engel used a software developer to create his submission tracker. The software logs each submission, who the submission was to, and allows the user to keep notes and contact information on publishers and agents.
“It also ties everything in to a scheduler so writers can keep track of their deadlines and important meetings.” Engel says. “I’ve been using it for the past six months, and it’s helped immensely. Now that I’m writing novels instead of articles, I don’t have to keep track of quite so much, but I still use it a lot for scheduling and to keep track of where I am with a manuscript.”
For more information, contact Eric Engel at 513-941-0269 or press mymanuscripts.com
About MyManuscripts.com - MyManuscripts.com is a software company devoted to making the lives of freelance writers easier and more profitable. We're not just into writer...we're into the business of writing.
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