Well, I tried my best to go beyond a "0 Views 0 Responses" report with my Creative Byline submission (read all about it here). I resubmitted The Samurai Poet to the ONE editor interested in historical fiction and added a cover letter in which I basically said "I'd rather be rejected than ignored" and I still did not get a single view, let alone a response. I mean, I was practically inviting the editor to spend 10 seconds opening the manuscript, then press the "decline manuscript" button. The sad part is, I would have been happier with this result. Instead, I've been left with the sole option of archiving my unseen manuscript.
Anyway, Creative Byline is promising a bunch of new features tomorrow (August 11), including a portfolio feature, a new publisher, and an option to receive more manuscript feedback. Apparently they are close to taking the site out of beta, so perhaps the value proposition will be much improved by the time you read this post. Perhaps there will even be another blog entry in it for me.
Doesn't the Creative Byline Writer Guarantee state that your manuscript will be seen by an editor you've chosen?
ReplyDeleteThe guarantee is "review within three weeks," but the only recourse is submission to another editor. After three attempts (submission to the Manuscript Library counts as one) all you can do is archive your query package. From what I can tell, Creative Byline keeps their word, but the publisher is under no obligation to do anything. This might explain why the promised new capabilities of the site (the launch date has been moved from August 11 to August 20) are shifting to areas where CB has more control of the user experience, such as market research information and discounts on "office supplies, books, and a top-quality magazine for writers."
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