This week: From the Other Side Edited by: Max Griffin 🏳️🌈  
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We’re going to do something a little different with this month’s newsletter.
There are lots of articles on Writing.com about the craft of creating great fiction. Every author has something useful to say about this. We all learn when we transform the the worlds we imagine into words on a page so the readers will also imagine those worlds. I’ve certainly benefited from this focus on readers. In my newsletters I often share the wisdom I’ve learned from other authors about this process.
In response to last month’s newsletter, K Hawthorne  (Kat) wrote to me and pointed out that this approach, while useful, misses a critical audience: the acquisition editors who will eventually read the work and decide whether or not to publish it. What it takes to capture readers is not quite the same as what it takes to pique the interest of an editor or first reader at a publishing house or of a literary agent who might represent you. Kat’s broad experience qualifies her to give this additional insight. Besides being a talented author, she has worked in the industry and has generously offered to share her perspective with us. So, this month’s newsletter is an interview from the other side of publishing – the acquisitions side.
Max. Tell us a bit about your history in the publishing business.
Kat: How long do we have? Okay, newsletters are short and no one really wants to read a long bio about my grandmother and my inspiration and my weird lingering desire to learn jousting and how I came to work in the business, so suffice it to say, I started off as a writer just like you, then had a midlife crisis and decided to go back to school to make my passion of wordcraft into something a little more lucrative. I know, I know, money in publishing, funny, right? I went back to school to become an editor then stuck around, earning enough credits to graduate twice. Much adventuring; very experimental. Throughout that journey I worked in-house in most departments including editorial, design, and production, and then spent some time as the production manager and designer of a very highly respected Canadian house. Finally, because I couldn't choose just one department, I opened my own house, which I ran completely on my own until finally hiring a small staff and eventually stepping down. I now work as a full-time staff editor with a nice little freelance design and production side hustle.
Max. It sounds like you’ve done it all! Sending off an unsolicited manuscript to a publisher can be a scary thing – at least for me. What tips do you have?
Kat. My first tip: Conferences. Go to them. Meet people. Quit being so antisocial. This is a hilarious irony – authors (fiction authors at least) tend to be introverted. Yet if they don’t get out there and meet people and sell themselves and their work, they are just one of the many drowning in the sea of authors’ tears. To stand out, go to an event or ten. Introduce yourself. Meet other writers and publishing enthusiasts. Make connections. I know. Sounds like torture. It is. Do it anyway if you can.
Max. Well, I’m Mr. Introvert for sure. I’ve been to exactly one writers' conference, and I was too scared to talk to anyone. Suppose, however, that social anxiety wins out and an author’s first contact with a publisher is their query letter or submission. What happens then?
Kat. When I did my editorial internship, I was the “first reader” for all those unsolicited submissions that came in – surfing the slush pile; the query letter avalanche. When you send in an unsolicited query, often your work is read by an intern or editorial assistant whose main task might be to find the few hidden gems and send them on, or to track the submission and create that form rejection letter we all know and love.
If your submission is your first contact, you need to ensure your query letter is better than excellent because that first reader has a huge pile of subs to get through and not a lot of time to do it. When I was doing this job, we got anywhere between 10 and 30 submissions per day. This was a small- to mid-sized house, so imagine how this would be for the biggies. I was first reader for four different imprints, which meant I needed to know the list of each imprint intimately.
One house I worked at published only women’s issues books and books relating to Jewish culture and history. Anything that was submitted that did not involve one (or both!) of those elements was automatically sent a form rejection. Not because the manuscript was lame, but because the theme did not fit the list. Plain and simple. It is the first reader's job to know that.
Max. I guess that explains the form rejection I got from Harlequin Romance for my action/adventure Sci-Fi novel. What else can you tell us about the infamous slush pile?
Kat. The query letter is important. Does the query letter need to be grammatically perfect? No, but it does need to be legible. If I don’t understand your pitch, I am not going to spend time trying to decipher it. Do you need to have a million other publishing credits to your name? No, but a publishing history does show that you are serious about your craft and tells us that others in the business found your work intriguing enough to spend their resources on it. (I have some tips on how to build your publishing backlist. A topic for another time perhaps.)
Max. I know from experience that writing an effective query letter is tough. Does having an agent query for you help?
Kat: Well that depends. Having an agent proves that someone else in the business thinks your manuscript is good. It does not, however, tell the house anything about you as a person, your writing, or what you’re like to work with. Those are important things too. Additionally, sometimes agents can come across a little pushy sales person-ish (because that's what they are essentially), which turns off a lot of (also introverted) editors. Some houses will only work with agents - doing so really helps slow the traffic of incoming submissions. Some will go primarily for unagented authors. Each house and editor has its/their preference.
Agents have both plusses and minuses for authors. A plus is that they do the work of researching the backlist of houses to help ensure your manuscript gets in front of the right set of eyes. They may cultivate a relationship with a particular editor and therefore will be able to jump the submission line and jump the slush pile. Plus, the biggest bonus in my opinion is that once your book is accepted for publication, your agent will negotiate your contract for you. A downside is that they have to be paid as well, and guess where that money comes from? Consider your options and decide what your goals are and what will work best for your situation.
Max. I’ve heard that a less-than-stellar first paragraph can send your manuscript directly to the do-not-read pile.
Kat. This varies quite a lot depending on genre, but when I’m reading the first paragraph in your manuscript, I want to be hooked, and I want the inciting incident to take place within the first chapter. I personally like grimdark fantasy, sci-fi, and spooky kids books, and these genres tend to call for quick hooks. Some other genres, such as epic fantasy, literary fiction, or women's fiction for example, that depend on world building and setting the scene, will have different guidelines. Cozy mysteries have a template of their own.
When reading the first paragraph or two of a manuscript, a number of questions run through my mind. The list, the intrigue, the topic, the delivery, the flavour of the month, the grammar and clarity because again, I need to understand what you're trying to say. I need to know why I should care about these characters or this situation almost right away. Am I interested enough to read the second paragraph? Am I interested enough to request more of the manuscript and to spend my weekend reading it? Will my publisher get mad if I recommend she uses her weekend hours reading it? Is there potential for this story to continue after the first volume or is it a one-off, and are we currently looking for a series or a one-off?
Max. Suppose you get by the first paragraph and love the sample? What happens then?
Kat. This gets a bit complicated and it varies from house to house. In my personal experience, if we enjoyed the sample, we will request either a partial (say half the manuscript) or the full (meaning the rest of the manuscript). Sometimes authors will spend so long perfecting their query package they neglect the rest of the manuscript – not good! If the additional material remains excellent, it is passed on to the next person (an editor, a senior editor, the publisher and/or marketing department. Surprised that marketing is involved in acquisitions? Don't be. It is their job to know how this story fits into the market and if, by the time it is ready to publish, it will still fit. Writing is a craft, but publishing is a business after all).
Acquisitions meetings are fun. This is where everyone comes together to discuss the work and if it fits the list and fills a gap in the industry. If the publisher has not yet read the submission, the acquiring editor or marketing people might pitch it to her. There are lots of "ifs" here and every house does it a bit differently, but the point is, there are a number of sets of eyes on the manuscript and usually at least one meeting before an offer letter is drafted and/or the agent or author is contacted/invited for an interview. Sometimes the house will be interested in the book but there's something about it that is not quite working for them. They may reject the manuscript for now but ask the author to revise and resubmit. That means you were very, very close. Heed their advice if you like the house!
Max. So a mediocre author might win out over a Pulitzer-worthy submission if the so-so book suits the list and the Pulitze-worthy one doesn't. Makes sense, I guess. It also explains why good novels sometimes go through dozens of submissions before lucking out and chancing on a publisher that happens to be looking for that particular book that day.
Kat. Right! There is no secret formula that I can give you to guarantee your manuscript will move on to the next phase of consideration, and the house could decide the manuscript is not the right fit at any point in this process right up until both parties have literally signed the dotted line. Having an agent may help get your work seen, particularly if that agent has an established relationship with a particular editor, but it is definitely not a guarantee. Good grammar, an excellent hook, and a few publishing credits to your name may tip the tables slightly in your favour. The ability to read minds and predict the future should help – if you can do that you’re off to a great start. Knowing someone in the house and being able to recall a conversation you had with them at a conference, signing, or other industry event will possibly get at least your big toe in the door providing the conversation was good. Trinkets and gifts (aka bribery) should not be a thing, but they are for some reason. Don’t do this. It’s weird.
Max. Sounds like even well-written books will get rejection letters. Those can be soul-crushing.
Kat. Yes. I've received my fair share too! But if you get a rejection letter, don’t be discouraged. It’s not personal, and it might not even relate to the quality of your writing. It may be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Keep going. It’s very possible the next house may be looking for a story like yours because at the end of the day we’re all just making educated guesses about what will and will not be successful, and like any other form of art, writing is subjective. Be open minded, do your research, and if you can, observe publishing trends. What is currently hot, and what has cooled. What hasn’t had a chance yet. Make note of the trends and try to see the logical outworkings – where the trends are now and where they might go next. Book topics, just like many things, tend to have a lifecycle. What’s old may become new again or it may die in the fiery pits. Try to be just ahead of the wave; by the time a new wave breaks, it’s too late to dive in and catch it.
Max. What final advice do you have for us?
Kat. Be patient. Reading submissions takes time. In the meantime, start on something new or reread a project that has been on the backburner for a while. Read, read, read! Don’t quit your day job just yet. Take a few jousting lessons then tell me how it is because I really want to know – will I like it? Most importantly, don’t be discouraged. With everything you write, your skill will improve. Get a writing buddy, or better yet, join a writers' group. Learn to have a good eye to discern genuine high-quality work from flowery superficial stuff. Remember that less is often more. You got this…or maybe you don’t. It’s a journey.
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For Authors: June 28, 2023 Issue [#12037]
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