Getting Your Music Published

I'm betting that nearly all of us have composed, arranged or simplified music at some time. And surely the idea of "I really like this one, wouldn't it be great to see it in print?" has come up for some readers. It has definitely occurred to me.

I began submitting piano arrangements to publishing houses in 1983. It took until 1998 to finally receive an acceptance letter. (From Mel Bay! Thank you Mel Bay Publications!) In those 15 years, I made just about every stupid mistake possible when submitting materials to publishing houses. So I'm operating under the fantasy that I'm somewhat qualified to tell others what NOT to do. I've chosen four of my favorites for this article.

Isolation

For years I simply wrote out my little arrangements in a hermit-like fashion. I rarely played them for anyone. I never attended any composition seminars, never took classes, never got any constructive criticism on my work. I just wrote 'em up and sent 'em in.

This is my first big "DON'T do this" warning. Do not work in isolation. We often don't get an accurate impression when we're listening to our own works. That's why God made editors.

My impression of those first works now is that they aren't bad. They have some promise. BUT, (and this is an important point) - there is nothing NEW and FRESH in them.

Composition classes and seminars force you to take your materials and put them in front of a whole class of composers, who will often just rip your work to shreds and tell you quite plainly what doesn't work. It is a painful and aggravating and highly educational experience. You will also grow as a composer by listening to all the different styles and harmonies used by your classmates. I finally wised up and began attending composition seminars in 1993, and they have helped my composing immensely.

No research

This one will get your submission sent back with a rejection letter quickly. I often just got the address of a publishing company off of a piece of music and sent my works to that address. My brother says my IQ has a floating decimal point.

Take the time to research publishing houses. Know what materials they carry, know how your new works will benefit their current catalog. Set your score up to match their materials as closely as you can. Call or write the publishing house, ask about their submissions policies. Get the name of the submissions officer or editor in charge of new submissions for your specific type of work. Address the package to the correct individual. Include ALL requested materials. Most publishing houses insist upon having a cover letter, project description, table of contents, and a resume, as well as your scores and a recording. And, consider sending out a dozen submissions at a time. Don't waste your time waiting for a response from one publisher.

Hand-written scores

This is likely to be a touchy point for some folks. But despite the fact that some composition contests still insist on hand-written scores, take a tip and DON'T send them to publishing houses, no matter how gorgeous your manuscript hand is. I've been plainly told by three editors now that one of the positive aspects about my last submissions package was the fact that the scores were created using Finale®. My advice is: Spend the money on Finale®. (It seems that most publishing houses are using Finale® to set up their scores.) It's an expensive program, but sometimes Coda Music Technology offers special discounts for composers, teachers, church musicians, etc. If you just can't spend that much money or you don't want to spend hours learning a very complicated piece of software, there are people who will take your handwritten scores and transcribe them into Finale scores for you. For a price. But get it done. You'll love the way your scores look and so will the publisher.

[Editor's note: Coda Music Technology now offers other software in addition to Finale® which offers a limited set of features from Finale® at a more affordable price, while still producing Finale®-compatible files. See their web site for details: www.codamusic.com.]

There is one other point to be made while we're on the topic of how your package looks. Presentation is very important. Don't send in a hand-written cover letter on plain white paper (or worse, frilly stationery) and stapled-together scores in a manila envelope. (Yes, I did this too. I didn't use frilly stationery though.) Think of your submissions package as a resume and study professional resume preparation. Create a professional, elegant package. Have the paper for the resume and cover letter match the folders for your scores and the business card you will include. Take the time to make a package that will be a pleasure to hold and to read.

Poor recordings

And we're on my final point for now. When you research publishing houses, you will often be told that "a recording would be nice but isn't necessary". Don't believe that "isn't necessary" part. You need to send in the best recording you can possibly create. And playing into a boom-box using cheap cassettes just won't cut it. Who knows, it's possible that a really awful recording might be worse than no recording at all. It is possible, now, with the availability of recordable CD technology, to create clean, wonderful recordings. Why send them a cassette when they could open your package and pull out a CD of your music?

Good luck everyone! Submit those masterpieces!

Elisabeth L. Lomax, DMA

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