over the transom
idiom

- without prior agreement, consent, or arrangement; unsolicited or uninvited

- offered without prior arrangement, especially for publication: unsolicited

Merriam-Webster / The Free Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The word "transom" originally referred to a horizontal crosspiece, such as the beam above a door or window. In architecture, it came to mean the small window above a door or larger window.

The phrase "over the transom”, evidenced from 1952, is a metaphor that refers to an unsolicited submission, especially of a literary work to a publisher or agent.

The metaphor stems from the practice of writers literally tossing their unsolicited manuscripts through the small transom windows above the doors of publishing offices. These windows were at ground level, providing an entry point for hopeful writers to get their works seen by publishers, even if uninvited.

So metaphorically, something that comes "over the transom" is an unsolicited submission that arrives without being requested or solicited beforehand. It implies a work, a submission, a request that is delivered through an unconventional "back door" channel, rather than directly or through proper procedures.

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BREAKING THE RULES

How Harry Potter Found Its Way to the Bookshelves

J.K. Rowling was a single mother living on welfare when she wrote her first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone”. It was submitted to multiple publishers, all of whom rejected it. However, Rowling’s manuscript eventually landed on the desk of Nigel Newton, the chairman of Bloomsbury Publishing, through an unconventional channel. Newton's eight-year-old daughter Alice read the first chapter and loved it, which convinced him to take a chance on the book.

The "Harry Potter" series went on to become one of the most successful book series in history, selling over 500 million copies worldwide and making J.K. Rowling one of the most successful authors of all time.

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SYNONYMS

appeared out of thin air, arrived unannounced, blind submission, bolt from the blue, came in cold, came in unsought (unbidden, uninvited, unsolicited), came in without an appointment (without asking, invitation, notice, prior arrangement, prior notice, warning), cold submission, from left field, just showed up, landed on one's desk, materialized out of nowhere, out of left field (of nowhere, of the blue), showed up unexpectedly (unsolicited, unsought, uninvited), OVER THE TRANSOM, surprise visit, unexpected arrival, unheralded, unscheduled, walked in without forewarning (notice, preamble, premeditation​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, prior agreement/arrangement/consent)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a sentence, say something like:

“Sometimes, the only way to succeed is to keep on pitching one's submission OVER THE TRANSOM.”

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HAVE A LAUGH and connect today’s OWAD with yesterday’s in a witty way… say something like:

“Following a verbal DRUBBING from his wife, the husband's apology arrived OVER THE TRANSOM in the form of a singing telegram.”

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THANKS to Sam for using this interesting phrase in a podcast.

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