SFX magazine asked literary agent John Jarrold (who also is a an editor and publisher) what is the secret of sifting the talent from the "slush pile" of submitted manuscripts. His answer, in part:
"All you can do is trust a mixture of personal reaction and gut instinct... I've taken on successful authors other editors had turned down--and they all did the same with books I'd turned down."
"We turn down 90% of our submissions in the first ten pages because the writing just isn't special enough...being "good" isn't enough."
"The wonderful, frustrating thing about publishing is that you can't second-guess the public--until it's out there and you discover whether or not it gets the ultimate accolade: word of mouth."
So let's see what we can take away from these comments.
1. Rejection (or acceptance) is subjective. If you get turned down by one person, move on to the next. You need only one person who believes in you and your work to start the ball rolling.
2. You'd better have a great first ten pages. When I was starting out in Hollywood I was a script reader and we had to read the entire scripts that were submitted. Once in a while I'd find one that took too long to get going, with a slow or boring opening but then a cracking story. These days everybody is under pressure to judge things quickly and you can't count on them reading the entire script or manuscript. If your first ten pages aren't terrific, you're in trouble. Try a test: give a friend only the first ten pages, then ask them not only whether they want to read more, but also WHY. What are they curious about, that you've planted in those first ten pages? If there isn't much, you'd better rework that opening.
3. Ultimately, it's the reading public that will judge your work. If the traditional means of getting your work to them don't work, consider self-publishing and self-marketing. But don't self-publish unless you are ready to self-market as well. Otherwise you'll have hired the hall but nobody will show up for the party.
(If you want help and support in writing your book or screenplay, consider signing up for my online mentoring program. You can get details and a free report on "Seven Things Stopping You from Writing and how to Overcome Them here: http://goo.gl/bWjb)