A few days ago, for my first manuscript, I received a rejection letter from a major publishing house, which said this:
“Dear Madam,
Thank you for sending us your manuscript entitled: ___________.
Unfortunately, we cannot retain it for publication, and we wanted to inform you of this without delay.
We thank you for your trust, and ask you to accept, dear Madam, the assurance of our distinguished greetings.
The reading committee »
Concise? Yes. But above all, astounding! This manuscript they’re talking about, the one they were so keen to inform me about “without delay,” was sent to them more than a year ago!
Whose fault is it? What’s to blame? Do all publishing houses have such long response times? Obviously and thankfully, no.
When it comes to the manuscript department, each publisher has its own way of doing things: from the sole decision-maker to the reading committee, from interns or literature students to editorial directors. They all await that unique manuscript, the one that will give voice to a particular perspective, the one that, above all, aligns with the editorial line, the one that is, first and foremost, well-written and well-structured, the one that the publisher can already picture on bookstore shelves.
Updating its catalog demonstrates a publishing house’s vitality. Winning the prize for best first novel is a media holy grail. All of them are therefore perpetually searching for new writers, those rare gems. And to find them, each uses its own methods.
And in this landscape of French literature, Édith & Nous offers a different and completely new experience, both for authors and for publishers.
Sorting the manuscripts: the bad ones, the good ones, the excellent ones
When, in April 2021, more than a year after the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns in France, Gallimard (Paris) asked to suspend the submission of manuscripts, reactions in the media , the publishing world, and on social networks were swift. How could an author accept a publisher asking them to stop sending their work? And how could they read and sort through dozens of manuscripts every day? Why didn’t publishing houses allocate more resources to manage all the submissions? Why didn’t some authors bother to finish their writing projects before sending them (publishers sometimes receive mere outlines, synopses, or even just ideas) and to check that the publisher they were submitting to actually publishes the kind of books they write?
In the largest publishing houses, they receive between ten and fifteen first novels a day. However, only three to five will be published that year. They will be included in a publication schedule that mixes in-house authors and new releases, against a backdrop of commercial considerations and the preservation of literary heritage, particularly when Gallimard publishes previously unpublished manuscripts by Marcel Proust.
To sort through the manuscripts, the first selection is drastic. It eliminates 90% of submissions in a few minutes: by reading the first paragraphs, sometimes simply with the letter of intent, the publisher knows if this text is well written and if it has a chance of interest to them.
For a publishing house, regardless of its size or structure, the work lies primarily in studying good manuscripts—those that aren’t bad, but not extraordinary either. These are the ones where the editor senses there’s something to explore, a few points to improve to make it publishable, a story with potential, a voice, something that sets it apart, but which still needs reworking. These are the manuscripts editors spend the most time on, sometimes several days, and which represent nearly 10% of submissions received. Then there’s the very small percentage of excellent manuscripts, representing 1 in 1,000 out of 3,000 or 5,000… These manuscripts are the ones that manage to surprise the editor, to captivate and move them. These are the manuscripts the editor will immediately pick up the phone for, so eager will they be to champion them. Future novels that, he knows, will find a prominent place in bookstores, within French literature, and perhaps even worldwide. In his book of advice for authors, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft , Stephen King said of successful manuscripts: “When the time is right, take the manuscript out of its drawer. If it feels like a relic from who-knows-where, bought from a secondhand dealer or at a yard sale, you’re ready.”
What if your text arrived at the manuscripts department already revised?
Publishers spend the most time on the best manuscripts, those with a strong voice and potential but which still need work. This work can be done before submission. In Extenso’s support program places a professional editor at your side while you rewrite: three rounds of your manuscript, generally spread over six months, each including a full reading, a reader’s note, and a one-hour interview. It is designed for authors who have completed their manuscript.
To the attention of the Manuscripts Department
“To the attention of the manuscript department,” is how the back cover of Antoine Laurain’s novel begins , the author of the thriller entitled “Au service des manuscrits” (Flammarion), in which Violaine Lepage, a famous Parisian editor, one day comes across an excellent manuscript whose author, Camille Desencres, remains untraceable.
This phrase by Antoine Laurain, “To the attention of the manuscript department,” is written by many authors as an introduction to their letter of intent, without really knowing who they are addressing, into whose hands their text will land.
Ten years ago, editor Alix Penent, now at Flammarion (Paris), said in an interview with L’Express magazine that she regretted half of all submissions arrived by chance, according to addresses in the Yellow Pages. By chance… Yes, because authors sometimes struggle to find a contact to whom they can send their manuscript. We’re told that publishers aren’t hiding, but they’re not exactly advertising either. They fear, quite rightly, being overwhelmed with requests, especially since the rise of social media. And on most publishing houses’ websites, the contact information and the procedure for submitting a manuscript are often relegated to small print in the footer of the homepage. Moreover, if a publisher prominently displays the contact information for its manuscript department, nine times out of ten it will be a vanity press or a semi-vanity press .
If you want to maximize your chances of your manuscript being published, read, and appreciated, and ultimately becoming a book, do your research, talk to people about it, and try sending your novel directly to the editor in charge of the series you’ve targeted. Or, if the publisher’s website mentions a reading committee, include this information in the header of your cover letter. It might seem like a small detail, but it will show the recipient that you’ve done your research, carefully followed the submission guidelines, and gathered information about the publisher you’re submitting to.
Depending on the size of the publishing house, the organization dedicated to finding new authors and the manuscript department as a whole differs in its methods and response times. It’s commonly said that the average response time ranges from three to six months, but it can be much shorter (especially for a very good manuscript that the publisher doesn’t waste any time to prevent it from being published by another house) or much longer… a year, and sometimes never at all.
The journey of a manuscript through a publishing house
If you choose a major publishing house, such as Grasset, Gallimard, Albin Michel, Actes Sud, or Flammarion, the first filter is the manuscript department. Generally, a reader performs an initial screening, eliminating texts that are not good or that don’t align with the publisher’s style. They then redistribute the selected manuscripts to other readers based on their specialization: literature, science fiction, thrillers, etc. These readers read, critique, and write reader reports that include the author’s contact information, the book title, the number of pages, the subject matter, a summary, and their own comments. At this stage, the critique must be sharp and direct to be effective. This is where the reader indicates whether the text is good or bad. Some publishers also use a rating system: 0 for excellent manuscripts, 1 or 2 for good texts, and 3 for those that won’t make it to the next stage.
A reading committee, usually made up of two to ten people, meets most often once a week. Each reader then presents the text(s) they liked best. Manuscripts are exchanged to gather other opinions, as at least three favorable reviews are needed to reach the next stage, which involves submitting the manuscript to the final decision-making editor, the series editor.
In general, it is very common for the selection process to be organized in several stages, with an increasing level of expertise and, for large publishers, an increasing number of decision-makers as well.
In some medium-sized or small publishing houses, the process is more direct, as the director himself opens the mail in the morning and sorts through the manuscripts. Sometimes, everything happens very quickly, and the contract with the new author can be signed within just a few days of receiving their book.
Regardless of the selection method, the readers in charge of the initial stages are always overwhelmed with submissions and must read or skim as many texts as possible in a very short amount of time. This is why the presentation of your work is crucial , and you must put your heart and soul into it. The way your text is presented, its entry points, and how you present it will all impact its journey through the manuscripts department. Spend time on this stage, don’t hesitate to have it proofread (not everyone is a spelling bee champion!), and truly strive for excellence, because only then will your text be able to capture the attention of the first reader and successfully pass the initial screening.
Submitting your text to the manuscripts department
Before sending your manuscript to a publishing house, carefully study its catalog, make sure it already publishes books in the same genre as yours, and then meticulously follow the submission guidelines: whether it should be sent by mail or email, what line spacing to use, whether margins are required, whether printing is single-sided, etc. Most often, publishers request Times New Roman font, size 12, and 1.5 line spacing, with margins, all to facilitate reading and note-taking.
Once your text is properly formatted, you must now begin writing your letter of intent . To write it, we advise you to structure it according to a plan established in advance (even if this plan is not the only option you have, it has the advantage of ensuring that you do not forget anything).
Include all your contact information, then explain why you’re sending your manuscript to this particular publishing house (why you like it, why they might appreciate your work). Next, talk a little about yourself, your life as an author, or more broadly, your relationship with writing, reading, and publishing (remain humble while highlighting your strengths, those that will pique the publisher’s interest). Finally, write a summary of your book, focusing on its key points: include a catchy sentence, then don’t hesitate to reveal the ending. A publisher isn’t just any reader. They need to know what they’re getting into, and to do that, they need to know the resolution and the final situation to fully appreciate your plot.
Submit your manuscript to Edith & Nous and open the doors to dozens of publishers.
” Madam,
We have received your manuscript, _____________, and we thank you for the interest you have shown in our publishing house.
Your idea is certainly original. However, despite the undeniable qualities of your project, our editorial committee did not select it because it does not fit within our editorial guidelines. (…) »
Here’s an example of the infamous rejection letter citing the incompatibility of a text with the editorial line of the targeted publishing house. Yet, you’re certain that this publisher publishes the kind of novel you’ve written. So, you don’t understand what they’re looking for, what, fundamentally, a publishing house’s editorial line actually is.
An editorial line isn’t just about the type of book a publisher releases (literature, poetry, science fiction, etc.). It’s also about tone, a stance, and writing style. Furthermore, this editorial line can vary slightly depending on commercial expectations and the existing catalog at the time you submit your manuscript.
A manuscript service must therefore first consider the quality of the text, then its coherence, its place within its catalogue and finally the possibility of including it in the schedule of publications planned for the following year.
By submitting your manuscript to Édith & Nous , you no longer need to worry about which editorial line to follow. You’ll be on the right track every time. Because it’s the publisher who will come looking for your text once it’s available on the platform.
To present their manuscript to Edith & Nous’ partner publishers, an author uploads their text, between the categories to which it belongs (fiction, non-fiction, novel, poetry, theatre… which allows publishers to carry out their search according to their interests and their editorial line), then types a few keywords (here again, the publisher can refine their search according to their editorial line and the aspirations of the moment), writes a synopsis of 400 characters maximum then a second short text of the same number of characters to present themselves as the author.
The formality of the letter of intent, the reflections around the editorial line or the layout of your text, thus give way to a user interface designed to submit your manuscript to as many publishers as possible, under the best conditions.