Does this mean anything? Is it just a standard acknowledgement of receipt?

[thebellsesmereldathebells]

I sent my manuscript out to some agents, and a couple of publishers who accept authors without agents, about three weeks ago. Have had a couple of rejections back, then this morning I got this from one of the publishers:

Thank you for sending us the full manuscript for the above title.

I will arrange for our Board of Editors to review your writing. They will be assessing the suitability of your text by thoroughly appraising your work in the light of its potential for publication.

Please be aware that this process can take up to six weeks. We endeavour to respond to you within this timeframe with feedback.

Your patience is appreciated.

Kind regards,

DH thinks it means I've passed some sort of initial hurdle and have a decent chance of being accepted - I think it's just a "we've received it" standard response, and no more or less chance than before. Who is right?

Sounds slightly odd? Is this a hybrid sort of publisher where you contribute towards the costs?

It sounds like acknowledgement of receipt to me with feedback pending within six weeks. Good luck!

I didn't even know what a hybrid publisher was but I've just googled and it looks like they are. They offer "traditional publishing contracts" to some authors, but others are asked to contribute to costs (which I won't do).

Yep standard acknowledgment of receipt I would say.

Yes, it sounds just like a publisher who will publish you (or anyone) if they pay them. Don't get involved with them.

Have you thought of sending it to somewhere like Jericho Writers for an editorial appraisal?

I'd be very wary. I had a reply like that from an outfit that looked like a genuine publisher - can't remember the name of it. They got in touch later to say that the work wasn't yet suitable for publication but please could I have it professionally edited and then re-submit. Surprise, surprise, they then recommended their professional editing outfit.

As it happens I did have the MS professionally edited, just not by them. I re-submitted as they suggested and heard not a word.

I had a reply like that too, once. Talk about keeping you on tenterhooks! Turned out they wanted me to pay them advance costs to get my book published through them, so I avoided. What you can do is check their company website, look for other titles they've published, and see how well they're doing on the Amazon Best Sellers Rank. If they're in the millions (the best sellers are the lowest numbers), then that publisher isn't doing a great job with selling their titles...

For your sake, I'm hoping it's a bona fide publisher.