WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Your book will be published for a number of reasons: it is a cracking good read, the writing is excellent, the timing for the subject matter is just right and the market is ready for your book. 

You can see the challenges that you need to overcome, so it is important that you don’t make it any more difficult for yourself when you are submitting your work.  It is in your control to submit your work in a manner that yells to be picked up and read.  So what do you need to do?

The few simple but basic rules for submitting your work:

First Submission

1. 1.We need a good covering letter that is typed, properly constructed and checked for errors in spelling and grammar.  If you cannot even take the trouble over your short letter, it will not say much for the rest of your writing.

   

   The letter should be concise and you should be able to tell us your story/plot in a paragraph.  For non-fiction, tell us why you have chosen this subject.  You have to grab our full attention at this stage.
   

2. 2. Send a Synopsis of your work.  This may be a page or more.  What we do not want is a list of chapter headings (except in some cases for non-fiction where a few lines to explain each heading will be useful) or a list of characters.  And please do not leave us guessing as to the outcome – we need to be convinced that you have written a good story, which includes the ending.
   

3. 3.Send a short Curriculum Vitae. We need to know about your relevant qualifications and whether you’ve had books published before. We do not, however, require all the details necessary for a job application.  We also want to know something about you: why you write; how long you have been writing for; whether you write in one genre/category or more. However, do not send us multiple submissions. Choose the genre/category you hope to be first published in and send us material for the chosen area.
   

4. 4.Send the first three chapters of your manuscript. These should be typed and checked carefully for typos and grammatical mistakes.
   

1. a)Please double space your document with decent margins on either side, but avoid having the writing as a narrow central column.
   

2. b)Pages must be numbered.
   

100. c)Start each chapter on a new page.
     

500. d)Do not print on both sides of the paper (sorry, we appreciate that this is not a green thing to do).
     

5. e)Do not landscape your writing.
   

6. f)Do not bind your work in a folder.  A good paper clip/elastic band for all the papers are perfectly acceptable.
   

7. g)Use a sensible font size.  We do not need large print at this stage.
   

8. h)All submissions should be sent by post addressed to ‘The Submissions Dept.’ We are sorry but we are unable to accept electronic submissions.
   

1. i)Please submit only one work at a time. If you have written more than one, mention it in your covering letter but send us your strongest work.
   

10. j)If you are sending us a self-published work, please mention where your book is available to purchase, how many copies have been sold and what rights/territories are still available.
    

11. k)Please do not send in any original artwork or photographs.
    

5. 5.Please send us your email address. All rejections and requests for full manuscripts will be made by email. If you are not contactable by email, please include a small stamped addressed envelope for our reply.
   

6. 6.Please note: all submissions will be recycled. Please do not send in a stamped addressed envelope for the return of your manuscript.
   

Full Manuscript Submission

We may ask for your completed manuscript once we have considered your initial proposal.

Most of the points outlined above also relate to the full manuscript with the following additional requirements:

1.  We are sorry but we do not accept these electronically so will require you to send the hardcopy to our address for the attention of the agent you are in contact with or else just to Sheil Land Associates. 

2.  Please indicate whether you wish us to return the manuscript to you in which case please enclose sufficient postage on a self addressed envelope for us to return to you. Obviously, never send us your only copy as manuscripts do, occasionally, get lost in the post.

3.  Never try to bind the pages (critical that these are numbered) – just a large rubber band round it before putting it in an appropriate sturdy envelope will be sufficient.

4.  If you are submitting your full manuscript on instruction, it will be very helpful if you enclose a copy of your first covering letter, the synopsis (you might even wish to revise the original) and your CV so that we know it is a manuscript on call (which takes precedence over other unsolicited manuscripts) and can quickly refresh ourselves with your earlier proposal.