Literary Magnet

With the radio news and the daily papers headlining the economy every day, it’s a little hard to put the subject out of your mind. That’s led me to think about the economics of the writing life.

It’s one thing to be hired to write an article or a brochure and to be paid immediately when it’s done. It’s another to write a novel or a memoir and then to spend time looking for a buyer. Unlikely as it seems, this reminds me of my experience leading product development teams in my past life.

Our goal was always to get as quickly as possible from the investment in development (materials, time, equipment) to the income (dollars from people buying the product). I learned this motivation in Econ 101 as the “time value of money,” which said, in short, that money now (when I can do something with it, perhaps making more money) is better than the promise of money at some future date.

Which brings me back to writers, and the logic for Creative Byline. Once a writer has finished her manuscript, she wants to have a sale as quickly as possible. Whether it’s the writer sitting on the project, the hurdle of locating an agent, or waiting for an editor to respond, that “time value of money” starts to add up as a cost.

Getting a fast response matters. Nine out of ten writers using Creative Byline know within three weeks whether an editor is interested–ten times faster than responses to unsolicited submissions through the traditional process.

We’re happy to be getting confirmation (like the one above from Peter G. from Oregon) that the Creative Byline process is doing exactly what we’d intended: helping writers find publishers and present to them their best work. These comments from Creative Byline members tell the story: 

Keith M, from Illinois, said, “I am very pleased with the Creative Byline experience.  I’d like to thank whoever my first reader was. That reader was impressed by my chapters and gave great encouragement as ‘clearly having a gift of language.’”

Carolyn S, from Alberta, Canada, said, “Just a note to tell you how delighted I am with the constructive, helpful, and friendly advice from your first reviewer.”

Carol V, from Michigan, said, “This is to say how fantastic and HELPFUL your service is! …Not only did the critique come back blazingly fast—I finally have helpful professional specific advice regarding tweaks and changes I should make. You have no idea how truly helpful your service is with constructive criticism! Yet—even while I was given suggested changes and a solid critique, I was also given very encouraging comments.”

Den G, from Connecticut, said, “In the two reviews I received, I learned tremendously valuable techniques from my reviewer/editor…. S/he always balances the constructive criticism with the positive aspects of my work. I just thought you should know what a good job s/he is doing, and how much I appreciate it.”

And when manuscripts are approved by the first readers as being ready to be directed to editors (and 20 percent are, assuring the kind of quality that makes Creative Byline worthwhile for those editors), we can see that writers are getting feedback from editors much more quickly than in the traditional process.

Eighty-seven percent of manuscripts are looked at within three weeks of being submitted to an editor. And those editors work with well-respected publishers, we’re happy to say; some of them don’t normally accept unsolicited manuscripts.

As far as we know, a writer has yet to sell a manuscript through our process, but we’re keeping tabs on a few that are receiving serious consideration. We’re looking forward to that next Creative Byline milestone and will be the first—okay, maybe the third—to celebrate–after the writer and editor! Until then, we’ll continue to focus on making it easy for writers and editors to connect.

Based on our poll results, the biggest gripe writers have about the old, paper submission process is “interminable response times” (60%), followed by “rejections that don’t give useful feedback” (23%). What do editors most dislike about the old process? “Having to slog through 100 manuscripts. . .before finding one that shows promise” (35%),  “Feeling perpetually behind” (28%), and “Being cast as the evil editor” (21%). Thanks to everyone who participated!

By the way, we’ve shortened those response times a bit. Currently, for those writers whose manuscripts are accepted by our first readers, it’s averaging less than three weeks from the first time they submitted their manuscripts to Creative Byline until they hear back from an editor.  If you have a manuscript ready, clearly would be a great time to submit it!

Tor Forge, the largest publisher of science fiction and fantasy in the world, is the latest publisher to sign up for Creative Byline. Earlier this week, we trained more than 35 editors at St. Martin’s and Tor Forge and some are already able to accept submissions through Creative Byline. Others will be doing so soon.

Our sales team, book industry insiders Jeanne Finestone and Maureen Golden, will be working to bring other publishers on board quickly. Meanwhile, word is spreading among writers that there’s a new, faster way to get submissions seen by editors at the major houses; the number of published and unpublished writers registering is growing every day. In the words of Kronk, “Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together now.”