Submission guidelines

   In general we welcome submissions from undiscovered and unproven writers.  But the interested should read carefully the following.

   As a small-business concern we have the expected constraints in how much work we can consider at any one time.  However our focus remains on the worthy author who has written, with passion, sensitivity, attention to detail and a specific audience in mind, some text worthy of publication that will most likely not be considered by the mainstream publishing industry for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the work nor with its suitability for marketing to the general public.  We cannot promise that everyone who submits to SCS will be accepted, assisted and promoted.  We can promise that, providing you have done your part in preparing your work and remaining willing to co-operate with well-intentioned people, we will respect you and your work as we strive to get you some of the recognition you deserve.

   We ask that texts for submission follow a few practical guidelines, meant to ease the process of receiving, reading, and protecting your work.  As the author please pay close attention and give these your best efforts:

   1.  On the first page of the text file, provide copyright information, including trade or author name and the year of composition with the symbol (©).  Include complete contact information: physical address, professional (author) phone number and accurate e-mail address.

   2.  Provide two spaces (with the spacebar) between sentences, not one or three (or more).  Don’t forget that exclamation marks and question marks don’t always signify the end of a sentence; so treat them accordingly.
   Format paragraphs using the margin markers; don’t type in tabs for each indent (and for heaven’s sake don’t use multiple tabs for this!).  Do not add any extra lines or space between paragraphs but format the whole text at one line or at 16 points.
   Use curly ‘smart’ quotes, provide a single space after each m-dash and ellipsis, and please choose a sensible, clear, formal-looking serif font.  Consult professionally-printed material you’ve already got at hand for comparison.
   All these considerations will have to be settled to prepare the text for printing anyway; you save us both time if you can have the bulk of it done from the start.

   3.  Edit the text as well as you are able, with specific attention to proper spelling, grammar, and mechanics.  Most word-processing spell- and grammar-checkers will be adequate (though the ones of MS Word tend to be heavy-handed and their suggestions should be accepted only with caution).  It’s really discouraging (and even a little insulting) when we receive what an author claims is ‘the next Twilight’ or something and find the file riddled with the kinds of errors an eighth-grader would have caught.  Authorship is as much about one’s application of the language as it is about ‘telling a good story’.  Of course innocent, infrequent oversights are understandable– that’s what we’re here for.  If you’re capable as a writer, your text should reflect that.

   4.  Check your facts.  Don’t make egregious and avoidable mistakes, such as to misrepresent our NJ Shore with 50-foot cliffs in which one can hide a pirate vessel (as one well-known and well-marketed young-adult novelist has done).

   5.  Format the text file for 8-1/2 x 11 paper, set the paper margins at about 7/8-inch all the way around and convert the file to PDF format (do this via the Print menu) before sending it as an attachment.  This is to protect both your rights and privileges and ours.

   6.  Before sending us the text file, query us with a short (1-3 pages) synopsis of the work, including some details.  You might compose this like a book review that highlights the best points of the work, suggests how it might appeal to its intended audience, maybe compares it to other works, and states some rationale for why you began the story, narrated the story, developed and finished the story the way you did.  Send this in an e-mail.  We won’t be picky like some people and reject you because your synopsis runs a little long or leaves out one or two points.  We just want to know what you think about your work and what we should look for as we read it.  We’ll also be able to determine which of us wants to take on the project.  We don’t expect you to write advertising copy and blurbs– that’s what we do!  However all your suggestions, no matter how detailed, are welcome.

   7.  Don’t be too impatient about receiving a prompt response since, as a rule, we never know when we will become busy.  (It could happen overnight!)  If you’re submitting to us you’re already aware you won’t be published in huge numbers by a large house within a few weeks.  Your book is much more timeless and of a unique quality, aimed at readers both of this age and in the future, and something akin to a labor of love.

   In all this process, keep in mind a few crucial things:

   1.  All our contact is via e-mail as we do not maintain a physical office with business phone lines and fax machines.  So we can’t take physical printouts, receive faxes or arrange face-to-face meetings (except by very extraordinary arrangements, which you shouldn’t count on).

   2.  We’re a writers’ group by nature; so by submitting to us you’re effectively joining the circle and will be subject to many people’s opinions both objective and subjective.  But all these opinions are well-meant; our policy is that we should critique the writing but will not criticize the writer.  There is a certain element of love in all this– love for writing, for genre, for craft, for story, for each other as well.  Should we take you on, you are in strong but gentle hands.  But that doesn’t mean you won’t hear it from us when we have something to say!

   3.  Also, because we operate on a part-time basis and on a shoestring budget, please don’t importune us with requests for long phone conversations, personal favors, or free advice or editing.  Keep the e-mails short and to the point, and be patient about receiving responses.

   In any event we’re pleased that you’ve read this far and wish you the best of luck in all your writing endeavors.