How to Submit Manuscripts to Random House Publishing

You’ve spent months hunkered over your favorite table in the coffee shop scribbling away on legal pads to finish writing the novel that’s been tickling your brain for years. You’ve typed it all up, revised everything, made your manuscript sparkle and you truly believe your book will beat the odds. Your book will be one of the few that is published and sent out into the world. Random House is a huge conglomerate that publishes many kinds of books each year. In order for them to publish your book, you have to get it to them; here’s how.

Understand the realities. It’s not the easiest thing to understand, but publishing is an extremely competitive field, especially in this digital world. Luckily, the desire to tell stories and publish books is not one that goes away easily. Furthermore, editors and agents are busy people and they don’t have infinite time to devote to outsiders. Try to accept that you’ll likely experience a lot of rejection through which you must persevere.

Get an agent for your literary works. Preferably, one who has worked with Random House before. Generally, editors at Random House and other publishers don’t want to read manuscripts they haven’t requested. Editors generally trust agents, so they will listen if an agent tells them to read your great book.

Query a Random House editor. In this query letter you introduce yourself and let the editor know what your book is all about. If the editor wants you to submit your manuscript, they will ask. (Be sure to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope to make it easy for them to reply.) You should try to contact a specific editor at Random House. Look in Random House books you like and see if the author thanks their editor. Do an Internet search on authors you feel are similar to you and see who their Random House editor is. Send the query along and wait patiently by the mailbox.

Snail mail is still the way to go unless you are told otherwise. Random House has a lot of offices and a lot of editors. If you’re in the United States, send your query or manuscript to the editor in care of Random House, Inc., 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. If you’re in Canada, ship it off to Random House of Canada Limited, (Editorial and Publicity), 1 Toronto Street, Unit 300, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C 2V6. Other addresses for Random House offices can be found at the link provided in the Resources section below.

Submit a manuscript to Random House in such a way that you know an editor has handled it. Go to a writing conference; there are plenty in every corner of the country. Random House editors are frequent guests at such conferences and they are sometimes available for writers. Pitch your idea to them, and pass them a copy of your manuscript and you can be sure that Random House has taken a look at your magnum opus.