The 4 Gatekeepers

editorial filtering standards

reader methodology:

As a 4gatekeepers.com  Reader  (4gR),  prepare to: [1.]

 • play the role of the editors;

 • see the criteria which makes a story considered to be publishable;

 • critique unedited manuscripts before the novels hit the bookstores;

 • give an influential thumbs up  or thumbs down;

 • sift through the bland and substandard of the novice in search of the truly gifted.

Publishers, filmmakers and literary agents rarely if ever call for submissions, yet reception desks overflow with unsolicited manuscripts and screenplays.  The offering of advice on How to write for commercial success  is obviously big business.  The volume of writing-on-spec  raises the question whether this ancillary service is bigger than the industry itself?

The arrival of the internet unleashed a world of experts.  Now it is hard to imagine how bookstores ever addressed the dreams to write from a single shelf. 

Try Googling [2.]:  how to write,  writing software tools,  seminars,  workshops,  contests, groups,  evaluation services,  secrets of writing,  etc.  The sheer volume of choice falsely legitimizes the dream as realistic.  The ways in which naive aspiring writers can be separated from their money speaks volumes.

Writing is an acquired skill.  Standards exist.  It takes more than desire.  Nevertheless, unreasonable expectations of success flourish after reading a single how-to  book.

This storming of the gates lays siege to the expectations of literature with which the reading public have grown accustomed. Writing-on-spec  lacks marketability in its submitted form and falls short of any readiness to be read.

Barely a handful out of a hundred submissions ever survives the first review.  Experienced industry readers appreciate the expression the only promise the writing offers ... is the promise of a hellish read.