On the Slush Pile

A few days ago I didn’t even know what that is, and now I’m on it. Well, not me personally, but my book manuscript.

Here’s to fill you in: The slush pile is where all the manuscripts go that are sent unsolicited to agents or publishers.

So yesterday I sent my manuscript out to find an agent and since it was sent first class it should be sitting there and waiting to be read right now. Why the heck did I sent it first class? It needs six to eight weeks for an agent or the assistant or a hired reader to find the time to eventually attend to a manuscript, so one day more or less doesn’t really matter, does it?

In an interview one agent explained that they get 80 submissions per month, that’s 20 per week, errhem… four per working day then… My fantasy is starting to play havoc with my conscious mind: I envision my plain white envelope which gets delivered right at that moment when the agent is close to the front door. All my competitors have of course used manila envelopes and by some weird coincidence mine slips and falls and hence gets double attention… and of course it’s not going onto the pile as by chance the agent has some free time around her hands and on reading will be intrigued by the talent unfolding in front of her!

Dream on girl! Of course I will be sitting on the pile. Firstly, they will all be in holidays and secondly, in September/October there are all the book fairs where publishers and agents are meeting and mingling. So when they are coming back from their well deserved hols, they will not be incredibly relaxed and in the mood to read through a few things, but will be incredibly busy to get prepared for their big time of the year. Gnaah…, with my kind of luck I will be sitting on – or better ‘in’ this pile for even a bit longer.

... and talent… not sure about that anymore either. Another agent suggested in another interview – yep, spent a lot of time on publishing sites recently - … he suggested better not to mention that ‘mum likes the script so much’. Well, as much as I love her, but she is not a good witness of my skill anyway – her English is just not good enough to fully understand the wealth of thought I’m putting into my art. She just will have to wait for me to be published in German, then.