Once writers submit their work, what's the best way to track their submissions without annoying publishers?
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Book Review Excerpt
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This guide is an absolute must for fiction writers wanting to see their work in print. Even if you have a previous year's edition, you must get the current year to be ahead of the publishing game. With contact information, market needs and pay rates changing, the current year edition is the only way to get your foot in a publisher's door.
Complete Review
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Find out before you send your work what the response time is for the publisher you're submitting too. Certainly do not contact them before that time, but anytime after that you may write, call or Email to inquire about the status of your work.
It's helpful to work with publishers who accept simultaneous submissions - submissions where the same short story or manuscript can be considered by several editors at once. Do realize if you've submitted a manuscript to several places, it's proper etiquette to notify other editors immediately once the piece is accepted.
There's a good article titled "Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Perfecting Your Submission Process," by I.J. Schecter, in the 2002 edition of Novel which teaches a nice system for tracking your submissions once they're out there.
What are the hottest genres currently on the market?
Romance is as always very strong and mystery and science fiction/fantasy aren't far behind. Particularly for the last two, the Internet has created wonderful new opportunities for publication at places like scifi.com. Horror is less a hot market and Westerns are really pulling up the rear.
By being classified as a hot genre, does that necessarily mean there's an additional need for that type of work?
Good point - I'd say hot genres are those that are both perennially popular and emerging. It's in the emerging genres that you'll find an additional need. As with mystery and science fiction/fantasy, traditional outlets for that sort of fiction are still healthy, but the opening up of the Internet for short fiction has created more in the way of opportunities for writers of that type to get their work out there.
What are some good resources for writers to follow industry trends so they can educate themselves about different publishing opportunities?
It's back to the Internet - I'm a devotee, as you can see. Each of the national associations for genre writers has a Web site: Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and Horror Writers of America.
Also, read consumer magazines like PAGES and Book to keep up with who's publishing what and to spot trends. Also, you can find trade magazines like Publishers Weekly at the library-they are invaluable in terms of covering what's going on now and forecasting the future.
Good luck!
