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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Had a manuscript rejected lately?

Been rejected by Academy Chicago?

Poets & Writers, the largest non-profit organization to serve creative writers in the United States, reports that a bookkeeper employed by the 33-year-old independent publisher has been sending back submissions off her own bat, without bothering to go through the proper process. She has no editing or manuscript assessment skills, and her motives are an unsolved mystery.

Jordan Miller, co-founder of Academy Chicago, said authors whose work is promising enough to warrant rewriting normally get a handwritten letter, while writers whose work isn't suitable get a printed form with handwritten messages filling certain blanks. The bookkeeper simply sent in the printed form, with no annotations. As he remarked, it was a coldblooded sort of communication. Aspiring authors who had received an unpersonalized rejection are urged to re-submit their work.
http://pw.org/content/bookkeeper_bungle_indie_publisher_recalls_errant_rejection_letters

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Jordan Miller, co-founder of Academy Chicago, said authors whose work is promising enough to warrant rewriting normally get a handwritten letter..."

With 8 books published, I'm calling "BS" with this bit of advice.

World of the Written Word said...

Not sure what you mean, Bob. I have always found US editors polite and attentive, even when penning rejection letters.