These posts run rampant on social media much like stupid cat tricks. An agent or an editor, posts their Manuscript Wish List (#MSWL). Suddenly the writing world is in a frenzy as they scramble to get their latest project to that editor or agent. Authors scream "This is my chance!"
But, it is important to really understand what is happening on the other side of the post. What are those editors and agents thinking.
First of all, are they acquiring this genre? Obviously yes, since they would not post something like this. For example, I would not post from the agency a post that says I am looking for cookbooks since all I acquire is romance and women's fiction. The questions, though, is "How" aggressively are they looking for that manuscript?
Some are posting this because they have a hole in their line up. When they see a need in the market and they simply don't have enough authors to fill those holes. For me, I will post these because I am seeing a need and my authors are either in the middle of other projects, or this is simply not something they write. I did this during the week everyone was at the Romance Writers of America and gave authors the chance to move to the head of the line on specific publishers I was looking for.
Other times, when you see the #MSWL it is because the editor or agent is just thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if...?" This may be because they just think that type of story would be fun and no one has written it. In other cases, and again, I have done this, I put out that post because I just went through a round of submissions trying to do this and the stories were simply pathetic.
The reality is that the #MSWL does give you some insight into that editor or agent but this IS NOT the only thing you should be looking at. Think of this as simply a flare in the sky that says, "Go and visit the editor or agent. Look around. Investigate. Think."
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