Rejection proof your manuscript by assuring that your manuscript is appropriate for a particular publisher. Visit the publisher's website. Study the titles they have published recently. Buy and read several titles. Know what the company publishes and send only items that are appropriate to that market. Know which lines and imprints the publisher publishes and mention the lines and imprints pertinent to your manuscript in your cover letter. This alerts the editor to the fact that you've done your homework.



The number 2 reason editors reject manuscripts is that the story starts in the wrong place and doesn't draw the editor into the story quickly enough to avoid the hasty rejection.

Make sure that your story starts with a good hook. Dump the reader in at the deep end where things are taking a drastic turn. Manuscripts that begin with long passages of backstory where nothing is happening are rarely accepted. Most editors have more manuscripts to read than time to read them. They do not have time to read a chapter of backstory before getting to the meat of the story. When possible weave backstory into the manuscript where it is needed rather than clumping it all at the beginning of the manuscript..

The number 3 reason editors reject manuscripts is that the author has told the story rather than showing it in rich detail. This can make even the most exciting and well crafted plot seem dull and boring.

Make sure you understand the difference between showing and telling and make sure that you show the story unfolding. Create the scene with as much sensory detail as you can and dump your character into the middle of the milieu. Beware of summarizing. Instead show the story as it unfolds. Weave in bits of character thought and backstory as you need them to provide motivation for character action.

The number 4 reason editors reject manuscript is that viewpoint problems abound.

When I mention viewpoint problems as one of the main reasons editors reject manuscripts I do not mean that we reject manuscripts because the viewpoint shifts. What I mean is that we reject manuscripts because the viewpoint drifts. Viewpoint shift and viewpoint drift are two very different things. Viewpoint shift is purposeful; planned, and in most cases signaled to the reader. Viewpoint drift on the other hand starts out with shallow viewpoint which never deepens?and it drifts about much like a drunk driver weaving around making unsignaled lane changes. Make sure that you have a good understanding of viewpoint and that you show your story from within the viewpoints of your viewpoint characters.

The number 5 reason editors reject manuscripts is that character motivation is not clear and characters seem to act and react without any clear reason.

Make sure that the reasons why your characters do things is based within them rather than the outside forces dictated by the line or by the publisher. If you know that the line requires a love scene on or about page 122 start laying the groundwork for it at the beginning so that by the time it occurs the reader understands the character's motivations and the scene doesn't feel as if it has been choreographed.

Motivation and viewpoint go hand in hand. Consider character motivation when you consider which viewpoint to use for crucial scenes.

Authors who cure the five manuscript Maladies named above will raise their manuscripts above a great deal of the competition and will be well poised to turn rejection letters into publishing contracts.