I submitted something to Shawnee Press in January and have yet to hear back. (This is choral with piano accomp.). They say on their website 2-3 months, and they "respond to all submissions", (I did get an immediate reply that my submission was received)and not to hound them for progress reports. Have any of you worked with them? Should I go ahead and call and ask if it is free to send to another publisher? Any opinions?

I don't have specific experience with them, but I've submitted stuff to publishers and waited between 4 and 5 months for a response. I did call them about it and they said that they take their review process very seriously and review all work, but that they just receive a ton of submissions. I would assume its a similar case with Shawnee. If it has been 2-3 months (as it says on their website) I certainly think it is worth a call to them to request a status update, as well as inquire as to their policy about you submitting elsewhere.

Thanks for the input! I JUST got an email today that turned me down. Ugh, I am so bummed! I really think this has some merit, and it is a Christmas thing which choirs always need more of, but now I have to begin all over again. Sigh

Don't feel bumped. There are literally 1000s of composers who never get published.

And in "serious" music I could name quite a few big names who teach in universities and the rest. Doesn't mean all that much (and it could also mean everything).

Why did you want to get published, if I may ask? (semi-reduntant question, ok, I know)

Don't feel too bummed-out Musiccr8r.

Shawnee Press is just down the road from me. It's kind of a closed-shop to outsiders. They're basically self-contained.

There are a lot of great jazz musicians in the area. The famous "Dear Head Inn" is across the street from Shawnee Press: http://www.deerheadinn.com/about/about.htm

I remember many years ago I submitted some of my work there (by hand). My music was turned down also.

There are many publishers out there. Good luck in the future.

Best, John

Yeah, don't let this get you too down - I myself am among the 1000s of unpublished composers that Nikolas mentioned. I'm hoping to change that at some point, but my point is, you gotta just keep trying. One rejection letter isn't the end of the world. Frustrating, yes - but given the state of the industry, not to be unexpected.

The music publishing industry seems to be hurting at the moment, and many houses don't seem to be too keen on taking on new music unless it looks like they can absolutely turn a profit on it. This means, unfortunately, lots and lots of rejection letters being sent out. They're not in the business of printing everything that gets sent their way, they're in the business of making money - way of the world...

But keep at it, and if you are successful, please by all means share some info about your experiences - I'm sure many composers here (myself included) could benefit from your experiences.

On a side note, I do think that, while the music industry (not only publishing) is in terrible pain at the moment, and moves like those from Radiohead, Prince, NIN, etc*, only give way to the fear from the companies, still I doubt the industry will dissappear. I do believe that the world needs some "governing body", even if guided by money, to take out, choose and fix better, for all it's worth. I'm unsigned atm, myself (and I would like to get into publishing, sure), and I don't put down the publishing, or the unsinged part. It's got nothing to do with talent, or effort, or worth really. It's a combination of many things.

But if you ask me if I prefer the myspace democracy vs music industry, I say music industry!

But really, even if you (I in my case) publish there's not any money really coming from there, will there? I mean it still remains that I will be at the bottom of the stairs. I would imagine that it would first need to be that my name gets better known, and then get published, once the demand starts. Right now with a few comissions all around the world, and 1 concert for each work, nobody really needs to play "Nikolas". So nobody will buy. So nobody will press...

What I'm trying to say is that it's not a "valid job", if you want, it's not a living to get published. Unless I'm mistaken... :S But I wouldn't think that publishing your scores would lead to get food on the table. I really doubt that Birttwistle could make a living only from that... (he also gets comissions, opera comissions, concerts, royalties, CDs, it's ok... not bad :p ), but still.... hope I'm getting accross.

Thanks for the encouragement, I love this forum to share with people who can really relate to specific issues as musicians. Nik, I totally hear you on the things you pointed out, and like you all mentioned, there are many issues at play as to why something does or does not get published. I have NO fantasy about making any money to speak of, but like Nik said, if there's only 1 concert per work (that being, the concert where it was sung by the HS I play at...well, this one was also done by my husband's university), it seems like a LOT or work for just that 3 1/2 minutes. (writing, entering in finale, editing in finale....I'm so slow) And, I thought it was an interesting enough work, plus being Christmas material, (there's always a need for things to fill out a Christmas concert), so I figured that out of anything I've written it would have a decent shot for publication. I had a very good-quality recording to send along, too. Ya know, I'm more than happy to PLAY just for myself, but it is so much more fun to SHARE things I've composed, I guess I just wanted a shot at doing that. And the whole process is soooo slow! 5 months down the drain while it sat at Shawnee, anyone else has probably already formulated their lists for what they'll offer for the 2008 holiday...so I try and research enough to find a good prospect, it sits there another 6?? months....maybe makes it for the 2009 catalog.... yawnnnnnnn, But that's life I guess. I'm sitting on a set of circus pieces right now ( piano solo)that I dearly love, and flatter myself to think there are pianists out there who would really enjoy just messing around with them for fun, but I have no idea where to send them for consideration. Thanks again, everyone, it is great to get others' perspectives.

Don't wait around for one publisher anymore.

Send your work to as many publishers as you can. You don't owe any publisher exclusive reviewing. Use the "first come, first serve" attitude towards publishers.

I had one of my piano solos rejected several times until the right publisher received it. Then through him, "Dateline NBC" ended up using it as background music for two years.

Best, John

Something else to consider - the largest market for composition is education. If you can write music with a broad appeal that helps teachers develop young voices, you'll find it much easier to get published. This will help you build a portfolio and can often lead to publishers being interested in other types of works.

Another route is through performance. A publisher is far more likely to accept something that's met approval on stage. Get several choirs to perform the work, and try to get it performed at ACDA. If you can create some interest in the community, you'll have a much better chance.

The key is this - publishing is a business. They need to make money off your music. To do that, they need a lot of people to want to perform it, and they need it to be not too similar to other things in their catalog.