Avoiding The Slushpile

Writers all talk about it. We have all heard the mythical and legendary tales told by those veterans writers in publishing of being discovered from this location. We call it...

THE SLUSH PILE!!!!!

This is that infamous pile of submissions that supposedly piles up in some back room of a publisher, gathering dust. Writers sit at home in hopes that someone will A) discover that great back room of manuscripts; B) start reading that pile; and C) stumbling across your manuscript and run down the hall proclaiming they are holding the next Great American Novel.

Um, no.

Let me first explain that the idea of the slush pile sort of is similar to this. But let me also tell you that, for the most part, every author out there is putting his or her manuscript in the slush pile.

I started thinking about this when I was reading through the list of titles from the recent RWA contest. One of the titles was Tips To Avoid The Slush Pile. Now, let me note that I did not attend this session so the content may well be different. I am just working off of the title here for what we are talking about today.

When you submit any project to any editor or agent, after doing your research and determining your story is a perfect fit, you have just put your story in the slush pile. In other words, the slush pile is nothing more than the unrequested manuscripts editor and agents receive daily. These are projects that show up in our email INBOX or in the regular mail (yes, people still do it this way).

Even, at some level, meeting face to face with an editor or agent at a conference for the first time in a pitch session is the same as putting your project in the slush pile. After RWA, I met with authors for 3 hours (2 for the Speed Pitches and 1 during the Industry Marketplace) 54 authors. That is a slush pile.

As agents and editors, we have no idea what you are sending, the quality or anything about your or the project until we open up the email and start reading.

So, how do you avoid the slush pile? You have to get a request from that editor or agent. You need to make contact with this person and get that request. That, I am sorry to say, is the only way to avoid getting in the Slush Pile.

This is going to be tough for a majority of you out there. As we know, many writers are very shy and introverted. They never want to talk to anyone outside of their characters on the screen and the 4 legged creature that sits on the floor below their desks or on their laps as they write. How do I know this is true? I watched you. I heard all of you proclaiming your hard work at memorizing those elevator pitches. You were prepared to show that world your story, and yet, in that lobby, right outside of the Peet's coffee shop, you watched those editors and agents walk right by.

Now don't tell me you didn't know who they were. Agents and editors were clearly marked.

But you didn't do anything.

So, if you truly want to avoid the slush pile, you have to be proactive. You cannot hope that we will just show up and beg for your project. It is 100% up to you to get noticed.

And one final note... If you do get the chance, don't ignore it. Remember those 54+ authors I met with? My bet is I only hear from less than 20. Shocking, huh?