04 July 2012

New Unsolicited Manuscript Guidelines

We've been struggling with the work associated with the hundreds of unsolicited manuscripts we receive at Omnibus for a very long time now and finally the time has come to stop. We just don't have enough time to enter, read, return and re-enter the looming pile anymore. But rather than stop reading we have decided to change the rules.  So please pay close attention!

If you look on the web here you will see that we have totally re-jigged our guidelines.

1. NO manuscripts will be returned, regardless of whether or not they include return postage. So don't include a stamped self-addressed envelope anymore.

2. You will ONLY hear from us if you are successful. If you don't hear within three months assume you were unsuccessful and try elsewhere.

3. We will not let you know your manuscript arrived. Assume the postie is good at his or her job and will deliver it safely or return it to you if you've put your address on it.

4. Don't call us to ask if your work has been read yet. We haven't got time to answer any queries and we can't anyway because we no longer enter unsolicited work onto a database.

5. Don't send anything original (as in you don't keep a copy) because we will be putting all unsuccessful work into a secure paper recycling bin. And don't worry, this is a very safe system. No one will be able to read/steal your work. It gets shredded in a giant commercial shredder. We pay for this system.

6. There is absolutely no advantage in sending your submission with a cover letter from an Assessment Agency. We highly recommend that applicants avoid this expensive process completely, as the letters make no difference whatsoever in our final decision on whether work will be published or not.

BUT WE WILL READ EVERYTHING!  We always did, we always will. That's how we discovered Marcus Zusak, Michael Gerard Bauer, Lyn Lee and a host of other award-winning super-successful writers. We know you're in that pile somewhere ... and we will find you if you are.

If your work is already here with its stamped self-addressed envelope then we will faithfully return it to you but in a very short while we will not. All the rest of the guidelines are up on the web - go see for yourself.

Every night I get on my knees and pray for a monster best-seller to appear in the unsolicited pile. If the nuns were right then I probably shouldn't hold my breath. But as my dear mother likes to say - live in hope, even if you die in despair.

A note from your Conductor

11 comments:

  1. Very clear and simple - thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for offering this opportunity to aspiring writers like me! I hope you are enjoying my submission "Chicken Scratch". Perhaps Yettie will have the chance to inspire others to create their own unique footprints in the world!

    Sincerely,
    Lisa

    ps- I do hope you accept submissions from Canada. Could you confirm that this is acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We look at everything that we are sent Lisa. It is unusual, but not impossible, for us to publish work from an international author. this is because we like to submit our work to Australian competitions and many do not accept work from non-Australians.

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  3. Thank you so much for your consideration. I will keep my fingers crossed and brush up on my Aussie accent :)

    Anxiously awaiting and hopeful to become an unusual case,
    Lisa (and Yettie:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dyan,

    Thank you for coming up with this clear system, it's wonderful.

    Double thank you for reading our 'unsoliciteds'.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarah Hatton24 February, 2014

    Ha ha! let me guess who wrote this - pull no punches guideline!

    ReplyDelete
  6. If agented do you prefer me to ask my agent to submit or do I send directly?

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  7. Hi, can I submit a 3000 word children's story that would be for junior fiction? It has creatures in it that I have made up so it is unusual and interesting. Thanks for providing the opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12 May, 2015

    Hello, I've a manuscript, been working at it for nearly 9yrs! okay, 10yrs, maybe more. Word count nervously verging at 24, 062. My twin banshee said it's a novel for children, can't ask my muse. She's not talking to me. So, um, I'm twiddling my thumbs.

    My manuscript wants to leave me and see the world, and here's me wishing Omnibus - guys, are you ready? Manuscript baby is coming your way.

    ReplyDelete
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