Anyone who deals with an editor (whether paid or a volunteer or an editor for a publishing house) or directly with a publisher need to know what irritates them. Keeping a publisher and/or an editor happy makes for a smoother relationship. So, what things do publishers and editors hate?
Submitters who do not follow guidelines irk anyone dealing with writers. More than one person has submitted to 4RV and sent material we do not publish with cover letters stating the story, writing, whatever was SOOOOO good that we would accept the manuscript any way. What arrogance. Editors and publishers hate when authors do not conduct themselves as professionals. If a manuscript, no matter how excellent, does not fit the form, style, or genre of a publishing house, it will be rejected. Even if the most well-written, wonderful material in the world, not every publisher will be interested.
A sub-point of not following guidelines is an author shows he does not or will not follow directions. No one wants to work with anyone who won’t follow directions.Editors and publishers HATE a writer whose submission is rejected who sends a hateful attack in reply. For example, one of my imprint editors sent a very polite refusal letter to an author with suggestions for improvement. He wrote an email attacking the editor, calling her inept and blind, saying that her “vanity press” would never matter, and a few other choice words. In his email, he revealed that he had stolen the idea for his manuscript from a popular children’s book from some years ago. As I told him, the publishing community is small, and if he wanted to be accepted by any publisher he needed to 1. Write better; 2. Work with others better; 3. Learn how to use rejection to become better; and 4. Never be rude. I also informed him that we weren’t a vanity press, that we paid for everything and the authors for nothing, and that as the people paying the bills, we could refuse anything submitted that we didn’t like.
Unprofessionalism can also be found when a writer asks a writing expert to give an opinion and sends a rough draft, and, yes, writers even submit rough drafts to publishers. Anytime someone sends a manuscript to a professional, the material should be well-written and well-edited.
Other turn-offs for publishers and editors include the following:Publishers and/or editors hate manuscripts that are not completely edited. Bad punctuation, spelling, and grammar: traits of a writer with no experience or one who hasn’t taken the time to learn or research correct needs of writing sentences, much less a manuscript. Editors hate when an author doesn’t even run spell-check or try to correct grammar and punctuation. Yes, the major part of a submission is the story, but punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes distract readers from understanding what the author wants to convey.
Other editing problems include lack of coherency, cohesion, clarity, completeness, and conciseness.Unbelievable dialogue is disliked: Dialogue should flow and not sound stilted, needs to be realistic. Also incorrect punctuation around dialogue.
Publishers and editors hate scenes not set. No, an author doesn’t need to give detailed descriptions, but enough information is needed so readers have an idea where or when the scene takes place – at least a general idea.
Cardboard characters “turn-off” editors/publishers. Characters should be 3 dimensional, and someone for the reader to care about. Don’t let characters be predictable and don’t give a character’s back story all at once. Providing a back story is not the same as creating and developing a character that comes to life. One is telling, and the other is showing. Make characters believable with motivation for actions.
They don’t like novels too long or too short. Over 200,000 and under 50,000 words are unacceptable for common publishing standards.
A poor plot: Every story needs a plot that begins with a hook and keeps the reader interested. The plot should not have inconsistencies in the story, characters, or timeline.