# My, how things have changed



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

This blog may be a bit longer than I'd like, but there is too much to say.

For many years (the 70's thru say ten years ago), if you wanted to submit a piece to a publisher for them to consider you sent a good ink hand manuscript score by mail with a recording of real musicians playing the composition. You then waited two-nine months for a reply letter accepting or rejecting it. Upon a rejection, you then sent the score & recording to another publisher and then waited another 2-9 months before doing it all over again ad infinitum.

Then around 2006 I discovered that with a decent sound library and easy electronic submission of the PDF of a score I might be able to submit a brand new piece that's never been played to a publisher and expect a much quicker turn-around time as well. And indeed that's the case, especially if you submit a piece that features a specific instrument and the publisher specializes (i.e plays) in that specific instrument because they can judge playability level easily without a real musician having recorded it.

Case in point, I just wrote (Jan. 1-10, 2016) a set of light-hearted variations for a certain wind instrument and piano. I found a publisher who also plays that same instrument and whose email address was on his website (unfortunately some publishers do not provide an email address). I sent the score and mp3 mockup and one hour....YES!, one hour later he replied. Sadly, he was not interested (too light for him; he only does big, serious new pieces (my words thru my interpretation however he did say the piece was "_very clever_" which I fully agree with) but at least the turn-around time was so quick that there's no delay waiting for a decision. A few minutes after his reply I sent the piece electronically to a company that is not a specialist for the said wind instrument so I may have to wait a few weeks or months, but still today's method is so much better.


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