One in five manuscripts end up in the slush pile within two minutes, and it can remain there for a good six months. If you want to give your manuscript every chance of being read, here are some dos and don’ts.

Do a little research on publishers—the kind of books they publish, whether they accept unsolicited manuscripts and when. It’s okay to call them and ask about their submission procedures.

Besides your manuscript, you should enclose a list of contents and a one-page synopsis. Also include a brief resume highlighting your past and present writing projects. Be sure to include your contact details in your cover letter.

Do make sure your manuscript is as 'clean' as possible. (Your cover letter too.) Editors have a particularly strong opinion of manuscripts with sloppy grammar and spelling.

Keep a copy of your manuscript! This is particularly pertinent when you are submitting unsolicited work—publishers are not obliged to return your submission and will not be responsible for lost manuscripts.

Finally, it is acceptable to submit one manuscript to more than one publisher at a time. You may choose to disclose this info in your cover letter but if you do, it may spur some publishers to respond to your proposal earlier.

If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your manuscript from the publisher between 7-10 days after you dropped it in the post, call/e-mail and ask. It may be helpful to send your package via registered mail—it’s easier to track if it’s lost!

Nowadays, submission by e-mail is increasingly acceptable, but do take care that the files you send are not infected with virus. If the files are big in size, it may be helpful to break them up into several smaller files.

The time it takes to review a manuscript varies greatly from one publisher to another, depends on the time of year, publishing schedule, no. of editors in the publishing house etc. Some establishments set aside certain time of the year to read manuscripts, e.g. in the last quarter of their financial year and it may be worth your time to make enquiries. Manuscript review ranges from 6 weeks to four months but this is not a strict rule.

If and when your manuscript is accepted, the next step is to negotiate your contract.