A reader explains her predicament: she submitted her manuscript to a publishing house a year ago and has still not heard back. Now, she believes the editor will be at a certain bookstore because one of her major writers is giving a reading. She wants to know if she should go to the reading, approach the editor, and ask about the status of her manuscript.
My advice: find out where the editor gets her Brazilians and follow her into the waxing room and ask her there.
Betsy Lerner 
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt. I mean, for the reader/writer.
Ouch times two.
Just so long as I can tell her that Betsy Lerner said it was okay.
And someone provides the bail money.
You slay me.
Back in the day, when my previous agent was an editor, a hopeful author slid her manuscript under the stall door in the ladies. True story.
Just in case the editor hasn’t had a chance to read it yet, the author should take a bound version of the ms and make sure the editor takes it home that very night.
Honestly, what do editors DO all day if they aren’t reading mss from the slush pile.
THE Janet Reid? Janet Reid’s in the house?
Googled all the waxing rooms in New York, but I think she does her waxing in Connecticut.
I have to meet this gal. She’s waited a YEAR for a high sign from that editor so she’s either a saint or a Penelope and I’ve never met a mythical character in person.
This reminds me of the one great bit of wisdom I learned from a college professor I dated (he taught at a school I never went to, btw). He said that the one thing you can’t teach somebody is how to take a hint.
In publishing, One Year = A Hint. No?
Betsy, that’s fantastic advice for a woman, but what if the author had been male. I think it would be a tad awkward for a man to post such a question mid-Brazilian.
Janet, after binding, shouldn’t the author sprinkle glitter on every page so he/she will stand out?
hahahahaha.
I’m laughing.
Nothin’ more to say.
Learned helplessness. I hope the writer wakes up before it’s too late.
Yeah, if it’s been more than 6 months, you probably aren’t going to hear anything back. Most editors don’t even look at the slush pile, an intern or the editorial assistant go through them. Most large houses only seriously entertain agented submissions. Sad, but true.