Why Not?It can serve no useful function. I can do nothing for you. SFWA isn't a publisher, I'm not an editor, and I charge Big Bucks for manuscript evaluation: why pay me, when you can get the same service for free from a workshop?The help I can give to other writers, I give by maintaining this Web site. I put a lot of time and effort into it, trying to make it useful to writers both new and established. I don't have time or inclination to read others' mss at no charge. If this seems cruel or unfair, I'm very sorry.
Okay, Then Where?MSS Not Ready for PublicationIf you feel that your manuscript is not yet ready for publication, or you'd just like to have another writer's feedback on it, please examine this list of workshops and apply to one. There you will find writers who have agreed to read and critique each other's work.
MSS Ready for PublicationThe best place to send your manuscripts, if you think they are ready for publication, is to a publisher. You can find print publishers' addresses in their publications. Magazines often note that you should write for guidelines before submitting your work. When they do, you should.If you want to be published on the Web, there are many Web-based electronic magazines to choose from, most of which give guidelines at their sites that will tell you where and how to submit your manuscripts. Remember that electronic publishing is "real" publishing. While some print publications will still buy First North American Serial Rights to a story that has been published online, others will not, so be sure to go for the highest-paying market first. A good place to find where to send manuscripts is the market links on the SFWA® site. Or go to a bookstore or newsstand and find a magazine or book publisher that publishes work similar to yours. Much good advice on how to prepare manuscripts for submission, as well as on every other aspect of writing, may be found in the writing section on this site, particularly in the Writing FAQ. WARNING: manuscripts I receive despite this warning may be subject to ridicule. If you have an overwhelming urge to send your manuscript to me for evaluation anyway, perhaps in the belief that yours is so particularly good that I will excuse your bad manners, resist it. It isn't, and I won't. Most such mss will be discarded unread; but should I have time and inclination to read one, and it be inept enough to be amusing, I will quote it at will, online and off. I will use it as an example of bad writing in articles and discussions and panels. The very fact that the author insisted on sending the manuscript despite this warning will serve as an amusing anecdote. Please don't do it. You might find it helpful to read the articles on writing that various professional writers have provided for your use, follow their advice, perhaps join a workshop to get other writers' feedback on your mss, and finally, submit your work to publishers in the ordinary way. And do it with my sincere good wishes: I hope you succeed in this difficult but rewarding career.
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— Melisa Michaels | |
SFWA is a writers' advocacy organization. We are not a publishing house. We are not a literary agency. We do not critique manuscripts. We do not publish manuscripts. We do not represent manuscripts to publishing houses. DO NOT send manuscripts as attached files or in any other form to the Executive Director; she deletes such files immediately, unread. The Web is full of information useful to writers. Educate yourself. Writer Beware and the Writing sections are good places to start.
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