Very surprised to read your new cast-in-stone rules requiring full manuscripts for non-fiction submissions. The majority of non-fiction work is sold on outlines/partial manuscripts, especially those whose content will have a high number of photographs. Sad to hear Snowbooks have made this decision. You were always the "approachable publisher".

Sebastian - Literary agent.

Oh, Sebastian. Don't sound so serious! Regardless of what we put as our requirements, people still send whatever they feel like - and we still read it. For instance, we ask people to never, ever, ever send a query letter - we will always say yes, we want to read it. So how many do I get a week? Ten, maybe fifteen.

The rules we lay down are our ideal. It is how we like to work. If people can appreciate that we're trying to do a vast amount of work in the most efficient way, and try to help us in that, that is marvellous. If they won't, or can't, fine - but they should know they're making our lives that tiny bit more difficult. Not the greatest start if you're trying to impress a publisher! Having said that, every last one of our forthcoming non-fiction books was signed up based on an outline. See, we are utterly flexible, silly - but that doesn't stop us from explaining to people our preferred way of working.

Finally, I don't really see your point about photographs. If a book needs photos, that doesn't stop the words being written, does it?

It's a serious business for writers who are trying to get published, especially these days when so many of the publishing houses don't accept submissions from authors. And most writers do try their utmost to adhere to the cast-in-stone rules laid down by publishers guidelines. It's a basic piece of advice given to writers. (Yes, some writers will invariably send whatever they want, but many will adhere firmly to your guidelines). I've had one author already who was creating an outline/chapter plan/sample chapter for submission to Snowbooks who thinks they can no longer submit without having the full manuscript which just isn't practical without some form of initial discussion with a publisher regarding their non-fiction style requirements. That's what my point was about the photographs. Books heavy on pics/illustrations usually require discussion between the author and editor regarding content so the writer knows what boundaries to write within (whether in word count, style, format etc). And that's why most publishers ask only for an outline for non-fiction books.

If I sounded serious its because my heart sank when I read your new guidelines for full manuscripts only, so goodness knows how some writers feel (I know how one feels about this already. She's asked me to send her non-fiction outline submission elsewhere, so I've already whizzed it off in the post this morning to another publisher, which I think is a shame because it seemed like something you'd have truly considered). And I understand that every last one of your forthcoming non-fiction books was signed up based on an outline, but that was before you changed to these new rules which don't sound utterly flexible at all. I'll say again, the majority of writers will adhere to your publishing guidelines.

Sebastian

To whoever Sebastian is..Em please pass on.. Long Barn Books accepts submissions for non-f by proposal etc. not full manuscript. We also accept direct from authors., We have just announced the winner of our Best Loo Book competition - entries of such a high standard we are publishing the winner and 3 others - and all were submissions by proposal. We also read first four chapters of fiction and call in more if we think it promising.

Site revamp looking good Em! Well done ...