Querying 2.0: Moving beyond the SASE
By S. Chris Shirley
My book manuscript, Jake’s Dilemma (90,000 words), has been selected for review by the editorial board at HarperCollins (UK). By the end of this month, HC will send me detailed notes on my manuscript and may even attach a publishing contract (although I’m not getting my hopes up). I don’t have an agent and I didn’t send HC an unsolicited manuscript—I just uploaded Jake’s Dilemma to authonomy.com, a community of writers, editors, readers, and agents created by HarperCollins and also billed as their “virtual slushpile.”
Each month, the authonomy community selects five manuscripts out of the thousands on the site to submit to the HarperCollins’ editorial board. So, technically, HC didn’t select my manuscript for review—my fellow writers did. Perhaps that’s why HC has never selected a single monthly submission for publication in the 14-month history of the site. Still, I recommend it wholeheartedly for the site’s residual benefits.
The Benefits
First, the editors of HarperCollins do seem to use the site as a virtual slushpile and have signed three authors from authonomy even though their books never made the top five. Read their stories.
Second, agents peruse the site for talent. Five agents have requested my manuscript thanks at least in part to its authonomy ranking. Since my entire manuscript is on the site, these agents read an excerpt before requesting it, making the process very efficient. I’ve also used social networking sites like twitter to get the word out on my authonomy success, which is how Editor Unleashed and I connected. You can follow me at twitter.com/JakesDilemma. I’ll follow you back.
Third, nearly 300 authonomy subscribers provided critical feedback on my manuscript, which helped me get it into shape for submission. I’ve critiqued tons of manuscripts myself, which not only helps my writing, but also gives me much more empathy for the hard work required of agents and editors.
Of course, there are a few downsides.
Authonomy is incredibly addictive—I didn’t write a single new word of fiction during the first two months I was on the site. Not one! After spending three years in solitude slaving away on my manuscript, there was nothing like the rush of seeing Jake’s Dilemma rise from its initial ranking of 2,000+ to No. 1 on the site.
Each member of the authonomy community also has a Talent-Spotting ranking—the better you are at spotting books that rise on the site, the higher your Talent-Spotting ranking and the more your vote counts when you “back” a book. Authonomy is primarily for fiction writers (there are only a handful of nonfiction books on the site) and is currently a free service of HarperCollins.
Like any community, Authonomy has its own brand of politics. To rise on the site you must be an active participant. After all, writers aren’t known for actively promoting other’s work so you’ll be doing a lot of reviews to get other members to look at and hopefully “back” your book so it will rise in the rankings.
The Downside
The biggest downside of Authonomy can be the inevitable bad reviews every book receives from time to time by fellow Authonomy members. So, be sure your book is in great shape before you upload it because it’s a tough community (and you can’t delete or modify any comments–they are there as long as your book is on the site). Of course, it’s one thing to dismiss a fellow writer’s review but if HarperCollins comes back at the end of this month with a public flogging of Jake’s Dilemma, it could send me back to my old job on Wall Street.
Check out Jake’s Dilemma and visit S. Chris Shirley’s website Standard Grooming.
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Great article Chris! I’ve been an Autho member since the middle of December and agree with the addictive quality of the site. I spend at least as much time writing in the forums as I do working on my novel! But I’ve received some invaluable feedback on both of the novels I have posted there (one has received mostly very encouraging and “on the right track” kind of stuff while the other has had some major issues pointed out). And I’d like to think I’ve made quite a few friends on the site who I now keep in touch with off the site. And to top it all off, I’ve read some truly amazing books on the site and have learned at least as much giving critiques as I have receiving them.
I think if you view the site as a writer’s group with the bonus of possible attention from a publisher or agent, then it’s a great site. It’s not a quick route to beating the slush pile and there’s no guarantee of anything other than some honest feedback.
Congrats! I can’t wait to hear their feedback. I hope you post it! Good luck!
Chris,
I’m so excited for you. I’m also glad to hear from someone who is active on the site. It sounds like you’ve had a memorable experience.
I also appreciate the follow on Twitter. Looking forward to your tweets.
If there is anything I can ever do to help you then give me a shout.
Cheers!
George
Great Blog Chris.
Let’s hope that HC makes something out of JD!
Well done!
I hope it all goes well for you – that is a great breakthrough to have. The feedback issue is enormously unnerving, especially because it is so subjective. There is a fine balance between taking it in as constructive criticism as well as being able to navigate personalities and opinions.
When your efforts are on the line that is not an easy balance to find.
Good article.
I have had my MS on Authonomy for several months. It’s a great site, as you mentioned, but as time went by I noticed a downside that you hadn’t mentioned. There seems to be a lot of “politicking” happening between members on the site. That is: members read just enough of your book to make a positive comment and put it on their “bookshelf” in hopes that you’ll do the same with their book. In other words, “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Rarely is an entire book read by one member, and an entire critique given. Which is understandable because of the time it takes. The people who make it to the top and get a review by the editorial board don’t necessarily have the best books. They are very busy reading other people’s books and making themselves visible on the site in many ways in order to get enough attention to get people to look at their book, etc. I suppose this is a good thing, because if you actually do ever get a book published that’s exactly what you’ll have to to in the real word to make sales. Bottom line; if you want to make it to the top of Authonomy, write a great book AND be prepared to “sell it” to the other members.