"Frequently Asked Questions  . . .

What is the basic concept of this service? We’re trying to provide a new way for writers, usually unknown writers, to connect with established publishers and to do so with credibility, economy, and moral support. Writers are frustrated that they can’t get on the radar screen of acquisitions editors at established publishing houses. Many of those companies are overwhelmed with book manuscripts; they hardly have time to open them or refuse to open them.
How do I use your service? Go to the How to Submit button at the top of this page and take it from there. You will supply key facts about your book proposal, summarize the content, and send in the first three chapters. It costs something: $95 . But you will get some feedback from knowledgeable people and you may get exposure to interested book editors. Read this page of questions, look at the "current reports for publishers," and familiarize yourself with the concept before you send anything off for evaluation.
What's the track record in manuscripts becoming books through The Writer's Edge?
Can I submit my entry via email or must I mail paper? Sorry, we can't take email submissions. Our reviewers don't want to read for hours off the screen and if we had to print out your submission, we would encounter time consuming delays and word processing compatibility problems. Please send paper printouts, double-spaced.
Can my manuscript be fairly considered with just a short few paragraphs of description?

 Writers should realize that publishers initially sift all book proposals on a few, very few, criteria: the "category" or niche of the book, the credentials of the author, the competing titles in the marketplace, and the uniqueness and timeliness of the book. The monthly Writer's Edge reports provide this initial information in a few hundred words (see our Report Policies for more information). The quality of your writing will not come through; for that the publisher will have to get a copy of your manuscript. But no publisher, to our knowledge, publishes very many books simply on the basis of "quality writing." And The Writer's Edge has a reviewer's comment option to permit its own reviewers to point out superior writing.

Realistically, can a freelance writer place a fiction manuscript with today's cautious publishers? Fiction is our largest submission category and the toughest for the writers to get action from the publishers. About 25% of the religious (CBA) publishers' book output is fiction compared to 55% or so from the general market (ABA) publishers.
   Freelance writing, especially fiction, has always been speculative and tentative from the writer's point of view. Very few publishers commit to many books of fiction from writers with whom they have had no previous contact. The Writer's Edge provides one more, but not the only, avenue of exposure for a writer to encounter the acquisitions editors of 45 active companies (we send monthly reports to over 90 companies, but almost half of them have said they would not review fiction). We know these publishers use our reports, track down some of the manuscripts, and recommend it to their constituencies. Full disclosure: We know that many, perhaps most, fiction listings receive no response from the publisher list. If your fiction entry passes our screening, it might be useful to point that out in subsequent contacts with editors.
  Describing fiction in a promotional way and briefly is very tough to do well. Helpful counsel on describing your novel is a new book from Writer's Digest: G Give 'Em What They Want by Blythe Camenson and Marshall Cook, subtitled The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents>. This would provide good advice on your Writer's Edge submission as well as any direct relationships with editors.
Should my introduction be counted as one of the three chapters?
  If it is brief and helps "set up" the book, you can include it in addition to the three chapters. If long (more than 8-10 typed pages), you can regard it as one of the three. The goal is to help the reviewer understand the concept of your book; usually a good introduction does that. Our reviewers understand three chapters to total about 20-30 pages for normal prose (not children's books). Long chapters that total far more than 30 pages will require the reviewer to stop after about the normal 30 pages.
   
Why do you charge? I've been told to avoid agents who charge to read manuscripts. The Writer's Edge is not an agent. It has no future equity in your manuscript, like an agent would who might place your book and anticipate a portion of your royalties. The Writer's Edge is a service to screen, evaluate, counsel, and report potential books to a list of specific publishers. Needless to say, that takes time on somebody's part and requires some compensation for their time.
Who reviews manuscripts and can they be contacted? We've maintained a position of privacy and confidentiality for The Writer's Edge reviewers out of consideration of the likelihood that phone calls or follow-up contacts from sensitive or aggressive writers might not be welcome. The reviewers are each experienced in the publishing houses who make up The Writer's Edge cooperating list. Two of them are published writers. All of them have worked in evaluating manuscripts for publication under the employment of recognized publishers. Of course, this is not a fulltime job for anyone!
Who writes the summary descriptions of my proposal for the reports? You write the first draft in the Book Information Form, a necessary application you can find on this site. Then the reviewer of your proposal will edit and modify that draft, possibly using some or all of your wording. We limit the promotional language to ensure that the report is regarded by the publishers as a credible, factual document. We regard the summaries as our communication to the publishers, not the writer's. Therefore, the summaries are not comparable to query letters. For more on report policies, see the policy statement
 If my manuscript is rejected, can I get my fee back? No. This misunderstands The Writer's Edge as a form of "advertising." You are not buying an "ad" in The Writer's Edge for your fee. You are paying for an evaluation service. The materials explaining the service are clear that fewer than half the submissions are accepted. For an unscreened exposure (no evaluation), you might consider the ECPA's "Christian Manuscript" service; despite its fee, there is no risk your manuscript will not be offered on their web site to their member publishers. To study its features and costs, go to their web site at www.ecpa.org>
How can I contact the publishers you send the reports to? Use a reference book like Sally Stuart's annual Christian Writer's Market Guide (available in stores or from her web site, www.stuartmarket.com). A new edition will come out each February.
Why is poetry not considered? None of the publishers on our list is open to poetry from freelancers. They may publish an occasional volume of poetry, but many of them do not ever consider it from writers not already in their stable. This reflects the marketplace demand. Sorry, but they just can't sell it. The reference title from Writer's Digest Books, typically called 2006 Poet's Market, has many suggestions on where to send your poetry. See the page on reference resources for some poetry information.
Why is there no phone number to call The Writer's Edge? The Writer's Edge Manuscript Service has no office open to the public. We encourage email and letters and seek to respond promptly to such communication. Email choices are:  info@WritersEdgeService.com. Most of the questions that might come by phone can be answered in the materials provided in the Book Information Form or this page of frequently asked questions.
How can my writers' group, writers' conference, or club distribute information about The Writer's Edge Manuscript Service? We encourage promotion and distribution of Writer's Edge information. Download and print out the Adobe Acrobat version of the Book Information Form for your group. The basic information on both pages of that document will provide your group with enough facts to start anyone on their way to making use of the program. For reproduction, we recommend the Adobe Acrobat file on this site; it will provide a nicely formatted, typeset edition of the Book Information Form suitable for photocopying. When anyone uses the service, invite that person to report on their experience. The Writer's Edge has hundreds, even thousands by now, of satisfied customers. No: not everyone lands a publisher for a manuscript. But customer feedback and exposure to significant publishing personnel will encourage any writer in the difficult challenge of finding a larger audience.
What about the display of book proposals on the web site? How does that help? How does it work? Since 1999, this site has made publicly available, with the writer's permission, the summaries of book proposals that passed the screening of The Writer's Edge Service. This is included in your fee. The listing remains on the site for five years.  Anyone in the world can now find out about your book proposal.
  We also list, in abbreviated form, the book proposals accepted in the last five years. This list numbers over 3000!
  The web exposure is open to any visitor to the site. Because our main communication with publishers is a paper printout every month, we realistically suggest that most publishers are not sifting web listings for books, on our site or anyone else's. We know this from their own words and from other sites that have tried to post manuscripts for exposure to the publishers. Because other web sites for writers list manuscripts on a site, we decided to do it, adding a little value to our package. And we'll leave the manuscript listing up for five years!  We know of two or three publishers not otherwise on our mailing list who have found books on our web site and published them.
   The web display seems mainly to be of interest to subsidy publishers, writers, but not editors. Writers like to see their listing, reassure themselves that it's there, and check for errors. Subsidy publishers also comb over those listings for contacts to sell their services. We know of no way to limit who sees your name, address, email, and phone, so if that bothers you, check No on the application question about web exposure. In that case, you won't be able to see your listing on the screen of your own computer since we don't otherwise send writers the report we work up for the publishers.
Can I submit my self-published book for consideration by royalty-based publishers? Yes. We will regard it as a new book submission, not a previously published out-of-print book. Since traditional publishers have not marketed your book, it needs to be evaluated as a marketplace product. In this case, send the whole book as your submission. Our reviewers will read the equivalent of three chapters and peruse the rest of the book as a total unit. It will not be returned. Also be aware that your own typesetting, packaging, and cover will not be taken over by another publisher. They will be entirely interested in the content and marketability of the book under their umbrella.
My children's book is only a few pages and doesn't really have chapters. What do I submit? Just send the entire book. Our reviewers will be able to tell what the entire book is like and can evaluate it as a total package. Note our opinions on children's books in the Opinions section of this site. Art is not necessary but your suggestions of ideal art for your project may be appropriate.
What about subsidy publishers, self-publishing, "vanity" publishing? Our list of publishers is limited to traditional royalty publishers. They will pay for the publication of your work if they contract for it. We have tried to keep subsidy publishers off the list (some of the ones on our list of over 80 seem to do occasional subsidized books but those that do only author-subsidized books are not on our list.) But any printer, subsidy publisher, or agent is free to scan the web site and seek your business as a customer. The response is up to you. The world of subsidized publishing is quite varied; see Sally Stuart's chapter on the subject in the Christian Writer's Market Guide. Some of them are rendering a real service; others are exploitative and nearly fraudulent. Most writers are advised to seek a royalty publisher if at all possible and if their project has broad appeal (see our Opinions page on this site). Remember: Printing up the book is the easy part! Selling copies in the thousands is much harder. Traditional royalty publishers will only take a book they think they can sell. That's why they're so picky!  See also the next question.
What about "print on demand" or do-it-yourself printing like iUniverse or Xulon?

This is somewhat akin to the previous subsidy publishing issue. All of us in publishing are impressed with the output of these short-run services. The books look like real books, not just photocopies. And they can print a few or many copies for you. The limitations are identical to those in the field of subsidy publishing. (One site that has some warnings and advice is the " href="http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/printondemand.html">Writer Beware" wing of the Science Fiction Writers' Association.) Again, for standard aggressive sales and distribution, the print-on-demand system doesn't get you there. They don't market your books to the broad reading public like traditional publishers would. Again, see our Opinions page on this site for more.

I'm completely new to publishing. How can I publish my manuscript?
 This generic question we get in email, usually from people who have not yet visited this web site. If you don't know anything at this point, go to your library (or buy) and read the early chapters of Writer's Market, the big directory that comes out every year from Writer's Digest Magazine. The early chapters give you the basics of getting a manuscript into print. See also Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market Guide. Both of these books will make clear the key points of submitting a book proposal, royalties, sales, the editorial process, and other nuts and bolts issues. It's not rocket science but it's not a snap either, regardless of your talent or how creative your manuscript. Another book you might get is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published (Alpha Books). It's fairly thorough and accurate. And spend some time with our web site. We've put a lot of effort into answering your questions and informing you of the basics in publishing your material.
Does The Writer's Edge take credit cards? Yes, we use PayPal, a third-party secure credit card service. But since you have to mail something to us anyway, you might as well send a check with the package. We do not accept email submissions. If you choose to use a credit card, go to creditcart.htm, make the payment, and include your receipt with your submission materials.
How often will my book be exposed to
the publishers?		 Once, in a mailed report. Of course, the monthly report is just that--a report, not an advertisement. Each month's report includes the book proposals accepted and available that month. The web site will continue to hold your material available for years. The mailed report, sent on the last day of each month, is a one-time exposure. We are aware of some publishers who file the paper report and consult it in the future. 
How can I be sure someone won't "steal" my idea if I submit it to your service? Your question about plagiarism is a common one. Most of the writer books, like The Writer's Market, address this so it must be a widespread anxiety. The usual answer you'll hear is that very few ideas are totally unique. What may seem like a unique idea is actually more common than the victim of theft thinks. (There are plot books with supposedly all the available plots for novels!) In other words, what someone thinks is theft of their idea is actually not. For writers, there is common law copyright available without charge or registration; this means you have authority over your work if you can show that you did it at a certain time and place. See the writer reference books for more.
How is The Writer's Edge Service distinct from other services? We're occasionally asked about similar services like the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Assn.) service or other web-based displays of publishable writing, such as AuthorLink or Bowker's service. The ECPA program should be explored by writers for the Christian marketplace since the sponsoring organization is the publisher organization of many religious publishers. Writer's Edge is distinct in that . . .
(1) It is an evaluation and screening program, not a writer bulletin board; a significant number of entries do not meet the screening approval. Writers submitting to most other web-based services do not face the risk of rejection and may feel their money is better spent for that reason.
(2) Writer's Edge is not a web-based display of writers' offerings but primarily involves a monthly paper report sent to its cooperating publishers. Our web site expands on the mailed report but is not the primary communication with acquisitions editors.
(3) Writer's Edge provides some personal feedback and comment, especially for submissions rejected by our screening process. Every submission is read and thoughtfully considered for publishing potential. Our reviewers are directed to "think like publishers" in their feedback and evaluation, which may entail candid, or sometimes even unwelcome, advice to the writer. But we feel that is the best service we can render to any writer.  Our advice to writers: Examine all your options and use all of them if you can afford it.
(4) The list of publishers to whom we report overlaps somewhat with ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.Com, though Writer's Edge, by contrast, includes no subsidy publishers and discourages writers from using them.
How should I format my submitted manuscript? Font? Leading? Etc.? Writers (and writing books) often brood about fonts, paper stock, type pitch, and other related formatting issues in a manuscript. The only real requirement for our service is that we want the manuscript typed (word processor or typewriter) and prefer it double-spaced. Fonts, etc. are optional. The only consideration is readability. This would mean normal typography, not something odd like all italics or all caps.
It's safe to say our reviewers preferences would be the same as those of acquisitions editors in regular publishing houses. Other than readability, format is very minor on the list of their concerns. Publishability looms largest.

If my manuscript is rejected, can I "fix" the problems the reviewer notes and resubmit?

 Your reviewer will make some brief comments about problems he or she detects in your manuscript. The basis for declining your book submission may be something simple (like mechanical defects of grammar, misused words, or other editing issues) or more complex (dull prose, fuzzy logic, unclear message). Another draft might fix some of these shortcomings. Regardless, if you send it again, it will be treated as a new submission and require a new fee and Book Information Form. The reviewers cannot be expected to remember an earlier manuscript, since each reviewer is looking at dozens or even hundreds of manuscripts a year. Our assumption is that each submission is equivalent to an item submitted as "ready to go" with a publisher. If your work is a first draft, you should polish it more before investing in the evaluation.

Can overseas writers submit to The Writer's Edge and how can the mail be handled?

 We have a few overseas entries every month (see our reports on the web site) including some from the UK, Europe, and Australia. It's fair to say North American publishers consider overseas writers as bearing an additional drawback, especially since the writer is usually unknown. The likelihood of a readership that would know the writer is low and so promotion is an extra challenge for those companies. Even so, the content of a book proposal exceeds other considerations. But it would have to be real standout material. Overseas writers sometimes have mail problems, especially finding postage for replies from the reviewers. We typically encourage them to use our credit card service for payment and let us pay for the stamp on the return envelope. Mail delivery problems and lost submissions are most common with foreign submissions.
What's the track record in manuscripts accepted for publication through The Writer's Edge? There are several book contracts every year secured through The Writer's Edge service. We heard of 18 one year. We heard of 12 in another year.  A number of writers and publishers have informed us of their success since the launch of The Writer's Edge in 1993 see our My Experience page on this web site.

   The program itself is a screening service to sift and then expose manuscripts to publishers; it is not an agency for writers nor is it a form of advertising or advocacy for the manuscripts. We are a conduit of information, a kind of pipeline, to the publishers about what is available among the publishable options. Candidly: How good is your book? That will finally be the issue--not how good is Writer's Edge on your behalf.

   A typical month lists 30-60 book proposals. The publishers take the monthly reports and pursue on their own the manuscripts that interest them, but they do not report back to The Writer's Edge or pay anything to The Writer's Edge for useful material. Some writers receive several inquiries from publishers; some receive none. Of course, there is no guarantee.

Sometimes people ask for a ratio of books placed  to total entries submitted. But what would that mean? Any one successful book proposal (one that gets published) has no logical relationship to all the other ones submitted. One in ten or one in a thousand are each meaningless statistics, since the proposals aren't really competing with each other but with the criteria each publisher imposes. 

The publishers don't "grade on the curve" and we don't push a book manuscript the way an agent should. We are exposing publishable material to publishers and hoping they will find something that fits their interests among the listings. For the manuscript that gets accepted, the match is perfect--one manuscript to one editor's criteria. For the writer who has written something that, even if theoretically publishable, but no publisher has an interest in it, his chance of acceptance is one in infinity! So you are back to looking at things from the publishers' viewpoint (see our page of opinions on that).