Novice authors who have just finished their first work often have a question: "What next?" What should be done in order for the manuscript to see the light of day and find its reader? Of course, contact the publisher. But in order for your enterprise to be crowned with success, it is necessary to take the very first step correctly - to write a letter to the editor.
Instructions
Step 1
Of course, you can contact the editorial office not only in writing, but also by phone or come in person. However, this is far from the best solution. The employee who will talk to you may have no time and he will immediately forget about you. The editorial office may be located in another city and it will be problematic to travel to meetings. And if you do get there, it may well turn out that at this particular moment there is simply no one to deal with you. So it's better to just write a good letter to the editor.
Step 2
You can write a letter either electronically or in a traditional way. The first option is much preferable because email is much faster, and it will be much easier for you to track the sent email. You can find the necessary addresses on the Internet. If you plan to contact the editorial office of a magazine, first of all find the site of this publication using a search engine. If you do not have access to the Internet at the moment, the contacts of the editorial office can be found in the magazine itself. They are usually printed on the second page or at the very end of the edition.
Step 3
Try to find not a general email address of the editorial office, but a contact directly to the editor-in-chief or the department of receiving manuscripts. Then start composing your letter. In the very first lines, provide brief information about yourself: name, your experience as an author, the availability of publications, the genre in which you work. Try not to write in long, complex sentences and avoid lyrical digressions with irrelevant details.
Step 4
Give a short description of the work you are proposing for consideration. If it is a large form (story, novel), attach a synopsis (summary of the plot). Attach the manuscript to the letter as an attached file. In the signature, indicate your contact information by which it would be easy to contact you: E-mail, phone numbers, real postal address. Please enter your full name and surname.
Step 5
After sending the letter on the same day or the next, call the editorial office and find out if your letter has been received and who has it under review. And also specify the terms of the response accepted in this edition. They can range from two weeks to several months. If the review period is long, call the editorial office about once a month and clarify how things are with your work.
