You have a great idea for a story so you sit down and write it on the nearest paper available. Maybe it’s a napkin in a restaurant, maybe it’s in the margin of the phone book. The important thing is you have written it down.
Now what?
If you’re like some of the squares out there you will transcribe the story onto a computer. Then you’ll spend a bunch of time proof-reading and editing the story. If you really want to get carried away, you will get someone to read it and check for errors.
But that’s only if you’re a square.
I mean, really. Your story is obviously a cut above the rest so why bother with all that? Any publisher would be honored to read the story right from the napkin. If they aren’t, to hell with them, right? The publisher should know that you are an amazing writer with a bright future and gladly read past the spelling and formatting errors.
While they’re at it they should type the story out for you, correcting any mistakes as they go. If there are continuity problems or sections that don’t work, they can fix them. That’s their business isn’t it?
Once it’s done, they can send the corrected story back along with a nice contract. It’s only your due after all. You’re the talent. The star. Without you they don’t have a product.
And as for those schmucks out there who make the effort to edit their work and send something readable, I feel nothing but pity. Any publisher worth his or her salt will see right away that those writers are simply compensating for a lack of talent. If the publisher is smart he or she will simply toss those submissions into the trash. After all your writing is obviously superior.
Personal Update
Nothing new to report on the book front but I did have something exciting happen. ‘Get Published’ was nominated for a Parsec! All I can say is “Holy Crap!” Never in my wildest imaginings did I suspect such a thing could/would happen (and no, I didn’t nominate myself :P). I’m not expecting anything miraculous to happen but it’s exciting to actually be nominated (and thank you to whomever did the nominating).
If you are interested in learning more about the Parsecs you can go to http://parsecawards.com.
