You would like to think that as soon as you are done with your proposal and send it off to an agent that he or she is sitting there by the inbox ready to read it as soon as it comes in. If only. Before email became the submission method, agents and acquisitions editors threw unsolicited proposals into a stack in the corner of the office called the slush pile. Then, once a month or so, they brewed a pot of coffee and in a few hours went through hundreds of proposals and manuscripts. Although the slush pile moved to the email inbox, the response is the same: Usually, every manuscript gets rejected. But sometimes a proposal jumps out and grabs the agent’s or editor’s interest and goes on to get published.
So, how can that lucky proposal be for your book? Well, luck has nothing to do with it. There is a way to get out of the slush pile, and our guest today will tell us how.
Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish (Affiliate Link), went from slush pile, to book, to major motion picture. Twenty-six years and more than forty books later, she’s still creating stories that touch hearts and lives.
Deborah Raney, welcome to the Christian Publishing Show!
Links:
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The post How to Get Out of the Slush Pile – With Deborah Raney appeared first on Christian Publishing Show.
What if You Get a Book Deal on Your Own and Then Want an Agent?
The concept of the slush pile makes me think a bit about estiny.
Am I in God’s slush pile,
after all the dues I’ve paid?
Was it substance, was it style,
or did I just not make the grade?
I see the happy soaring souls,
arms raised in joyful praise,
a grace that Satan never stole
throughout their faithful days.
Is cancer now a judgement,
not some dice-roll attack,
and might it be God’s true intent
to see what I can hack,
for some are to the manor born,
and some are birthed to Crown of Thorns?
Yeah, I know it’s really ‘to the manner born’, but Shakespeare’s original context reference Hamlet’ inability to drink large amount of alcohol, so I used the homophone.
Andrew, I’m just so grateful there are no slush piles in heaven. If we follow one “rule”—believe on the Lord Jesus Christ—the “manuscript” of our life will be joyfully accepted and “published” to great acclaim. ♥️
Deborah, thank you…I love the way you put this!
Thank you for the pertinent tips. Now to implement them.
Wish I knew this years ago. It would have saved me countless revisions.
Dear Writers,
Very impressed! Thanks for the info.
Sincerely,
Molly Weber
Finally getting around to listening to Deb Raney’s interview with Thomas. I sat in Deb Raney’s class at my first writing conference ten years ago. I love her stories and have followed her over the years.
She did a critique for me a couple of years ago. It was obvious she took great care in reading to give me advice I needed.
The other thing I appreciate is she is kind and sincere to those she meets and her readers. She offers great advice in her classes and here on the podcast.
Thank you both for sharing here.