In your interaction with publishers and agents in, say, the past five years, are they asking for printed snail mail submissions, or are electronic submissions becoming standard now? I really don't know. Thanks in advance. (PS I'm referring to books only, not articles and freelance products)
From what I have found in my 'shopping' for a publisher, is that they only accept electronic submissions, though they have their own preferred format for how you should submit your book.
@Cave Troll Only? Boy things sure have changed while I was away. Feeling old, lol 'Not much love for the dinosaur'
I agree - it's mostly digital, now. Agents, too, although there are a few who want print (I think to discourage the "shotgun" approach to agent submissions).
From looking around, If there is a publisher that accepts manuscripts i would say it's 50/50. I have seen some that only accept mail, maybe they figure they will get less submissions through the mail than if they allow electronic submissions, I am not sure. But I have seen very many that will accept either or and some only accept electronic. From what I have seen most will accept both. Query letters with no manuscripts also fall under this as well.
Wow - I don't think I've ever seen a publisher that wanted paper submissions. Maybe it's genre-specific, or region-specific? What kind of publishers were you looking at?
I have only research Canadian publishers so far so perhaps since there is a smaller market that explains it? I really don't know what it is. You can find an example here, http://www.annickpress.com/submission-guides their Teen fiction requires paper mail.
@Tea@3 I've perused hundreds of publishers and found that most have some sort of electric submission system. Some it's just e-mail while some have websites dedicated to submissions (like submitable or licensed ones) A handful still want snail mail. So, honestly, just read their submission guidelines and you'll know right away. Everyone of them is different.
You send them the three chapters down the wire. Reading this they then request a crate of your manuscripts, via the sea mail. With magazines - tends to be the old curmudge type chaps who like a folio in the postbox - 'New Poetry' or 'The Sun is Shining Magazine' over, up there in Canada, Newfontland. Tho' to be fair to such titles as such, they define their own constituencies as such is - a longbeard to longbeard kind of thing, dear @longbearder x