Mimsy does not currently solicit author material, and I don't expect us to start. It's not in my current vision for the imprint. However, for those authors who are looking to submit work to publishers, author Mike Wells has some good words of wisdom. He has a great post covering pitfalls authors fall into and in his blog. One of the points he makes in that entry that's echoed elsewhere in his blog is the importance of cutting out what's not needed.
A good friend of mine has pointed out that "a good map is defined by what it leaves out." It's counter-intuitive, of course. Because you go to a map seeking information, rather than seeking its absence. At the same time, you go to architectural blueprint when you are building a house, and to a topographical map when you're going for a hike. If you still think adding more information to a map adds more value to it, follow that thought to the extreme. One of the worst maps I can think of would have everything on it. It would need to be 1:1 scale, and at that point, I am no better off by having the map. (I'm forced to say "one of" the worst instead of an emphatic "the worst" is because it would be worse to have every detail of everything, and also be wrong!)
Of course, this post isn't about maps. I'd like to say it's about your writing. One of my favorite pieces about writing is targeted at authors of technical and research papers by Marc Raibert, from which the key takeaway for me was: "Good writing is bad writing that has been rewritten." A similar sentiment is attributed many places, but one is from G.B. Shaw who is quoted as saying “I'm sorry this letter is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.” The point is both revise, and cut.
But the post is not even about your writing. It's about our publishing. We define ourselves by what we do, but we distinguish ourselves by what we do not. What mimsy does not, is "dumb it down." There is a rich world of literature. All of it expands the mind, takes you new places, and enriches your life. Most of it is harder to consume than a tweet, or even this blog post. We can't make all good literature easy. But we can make it easier and more accessible by writing good supporting, reference material. And we can unequivocally say that we think consuming good literature is a deep, satisfying journey that is unique to itself and deserves to be supported.