So, you’ve put the finishing touches on your novel. You’ve just finished the last chapter, proofread everything, and shared your novel with your friends, who love it. You’re feeling confident. You’ve spent months, even years, working on this novel, and it’s finally time to send it to the publishers!
But beware, the reading committees are keeping a close eye on things! The door leading to publication is jealously guarded, and knocking isn’t enough. In this article, we invite you to meet the reading committee and give you some tips on how to convince them to let you through.
What exactly is a reading committee?
Reading committees are composed of amateur or professional readers whose goal is to select the novels that arrive at a publishing house’s offices. Indeed, some publishing houses, like Gallimard, receive thousands of manuscripts per month and hire people just to sort through them.
All publishing houses have a reading committee, which sometimes consists of only one person. This is an essential step that must be completed if you hope to see your project land on the publisher’s desk with a positive rating.
Most reading committees work with reading sheets that allow them to summarize works and present them concisely to editors. They examine the content and form of a novel and provide a personal assessment that may be taken into account by the publisher.
It’s important to know that many submitted works don’t even make it through this stage and are immediately thrown in the trash. These are projects full of mistakes, imprecise, or that don’t follow the publisher’s guidelines. That’s why it’s essential not to take this step lightly. The future of your novel is at stake.
How to convince the reading committee?
1. The form
First, it’s important to follow the rules of the art for the format of your manuscript. There’s no room for creativity here. Most publishers require texts without images, with a common and legible font, double spacing, and a font size of 12. The manuscript must include the author’s name and contact information. Don’t forget to include both your phone number and email address so the publisher can choose their method of communication.
2. Spelling!
It may seem obvious, but the best way to convince a reading committee is to offer them a text that is easy to read, without errors, and with impeccable syntax. Indeed, spelling mistakes make reading difficult, and for people who do this all day long, typos can quickly become prohibitive. Even a genius novel with lots of errors from the first chapter may never get through! Ask friends who are good spellers to proofread your novel and run it through an effective proofreading program.
3. Choose your publisher carefully
There are thousands of publishing houses, all offering different works. Take the time to find a publisher that suits you, that you like, and that publishes books similar to yours. We recommend looking at the publisher’s previous publications and making sure your novel is a good fit.
Ideally, you’ve already read some books and can talk about them. In your cover letter, feel free to use these references to show your interest in this particular publisher. You can also use this to explain why you think your novel is a good fit for this house.
4. Check the editorial line
Publishing houses have editorial guidelines that vary greatly from one house to another. Some houses have no editorial guidelines and publish almost any type of wo;k, this is particularly the case with large publishers like Gallimard or Flammarion. Other publishing houses have very specific editorial guidelines, and if your novel doesn’t fit into them, it won’t even be read. Save time and hassle by carefully reading the websites of the publishing houses you send your manuscript to.
5. Pay attention to the publisher’s instructions
Avoid automated submissions and be careful, as some publishing houses have specific conditions for submitting manuscripts. You’ll usually find these instructions in the “Submit your manuscript” section of the website. For example, there’s no point in sending a manuscript by mail to a publishing house that only accepts manuscripts sent by email. Others will also require a specific file name and a synopsis.
6. Write a clear and concise email
Many publishing houses offer forms that you simply fill out. But others require you to send an email introducing your project. Be concise and precise in your wording. This is especially true for smaller publishing houses where the editor serves as a review committee. They will appreciate a personalized email explaining why you chose their publishing house.
Generally, the email begins with a brief introduction to the author, then the project, and finally,y why it’s a good fit for this publishing house. You shouldn’t give too much information; instead, you should write a summary or synopsis to tell more about the work. You can also include a biography and a link to your personal page.
7. Take care with the summary
Some publishing houses ask for a summary or synopsis of your novel. Others don’t. It’s not always recommended. Some review committees won’t even read the novel if the summary doesn’t speak to them, and it’s better to give them the novel directly. It depends a bit on the strength of your work. If the story is absolutely brilliant and the style less so, a summary can help. Otherwise, you might as well avoid it.
Needless to say, the form and content of this summary must be absolutely perfect. Not a single typo, and careful attention must be paid to syntax. A poorly written summary simply doesn’t make you want to read the book.
8. Don’t doubt yourself
One last piece of advice for the road ahead. It’s quite scary to send a manuscript, especially when you know that the vast majority end up in the trash. However, if you’ve followed all this advice to the letter and you have a work worthy of being published, there’s no need to doubt or be falsely modest. Go ahead and present your work as something unique and good. The positive energy you put into writing the summary or email will be felt when you read it and will favorably influence the reading committee.