The Anatomy of an Acquisition Editor’s Decision
The Anatomy of an Acquisition Editor’s Decision Authors often picture an acquisitions editor as someone who reads a manuscript, falls in love with it, and buys it. That happens. But it’s a small piece of a much bigger decision that editors are quietly running every time a proposal crosses their desk. Here’s roughly what an […]
Not Every Editorial Pass Means the Book Is the Problem
Not Every Editorial Pass Means the Book Is the Problem I want to push back on an assumption a lot of first-time authors carry into this business: that a rejection from a publisher means the manuscript failed. Sometimes it does. But in my experience representing nonfiction authors, plenty of strong books get passed on for […]
A Publisher Passed on Your Book. Now What?
A Publisher Passed on Your Book. Now What? The first pass always stings. I’ve delivered enough of them to authors to know there’s no version of “an editor decided not to acquire your book” that lands softly. But how you respond to that first no often determines whether the book eventually sells. The mistake I […]