I keep a collection of manuscript excerpts and cover letters that have come in over the years. They’re useful as demonstrations of what to do—or not to do—in the process of submitting a book for publication. I quote from them at writers’ conferences and SF/fantasy conventions in hopes that others will learn.
This week I received a submission from a writer who informed me that several other publishers had already turned the project down. Lack of vision and publishing guts had led to those decisions, the cover letter said, leaving the project ripe for the picking by another publisher intelligent enough to recognize its value.
The inference was that if I rejected the material, we’d be added to the list of visionless, timid publishers who’d had their chance and failed to act. This did not go over well with me; I don’t react well to the badmouthing of other editors even if they remain nameless. [more]
