- Editors have established relationships with authors they have previously worked with that they receive new manuscripts from.
- Some go to conferences and speak or do workshops where they meet aspiring authors, who pass on manuscripts to them.
- A few manuscripts can come from the unsolicited, or "slush" pile
- Sometimes books are brought in from other publishers outside of the country that we consider buying U.S. right to.
- Agents will often send manuscripts that they think will be a good fit for an editor or publishing house.
However, just because an editor loves a book, doesn't mean it is guaranteed to be published. When a book is to be brought to an acquisitions meeting, it is made available to everyone in our office for review, and in turn, we fill out readers reports. This is where we are able to state our opinions about books we are considering. Readers reports ask questions like:
- What audience would this book be ideal for?
- How would you compare this manuscript to competitive titles as well as our own?
- What are key positive elements of the manuscript? Are there any negative elements?
- Recommended format, price, art?
- General comments.
These are all things that are important and that a publisher looks at. Whenever anyone asks me for advice on how to get published or about writing a manuscript, I always tell them to look at those key points, especially audience and competitive titles. Someone may be a wonderful writer, but if their book doesn't bring anything new to the table to make it stand out from competitive titles, that is a strike against it.
All of these mini-book reports (which is how I personally tend to think of them) are given to the editors who are working on that particular manuscript. After reading over everyones thoughts, the editors present each manuscript in the acquisitions meeting. This is really where an editor has an opportunity to fight for their story and address any negative comments from the readers reports. It also gives other staff members a chance to ask questions directly. This is why it is important to have an editor really champion your book. They are the ones that, in a way, have to convince everyone else that it is beneficial to publish your story even though it is a risk, especially when publishing a new author.
The reason all of the different departments are included in these meetings is to have different perspectives. Maybe a story is really great, but difficult to market or publicize. Perhaps there is a weak story, but great writing and illustrative promise. Sometimes an author we have worked with before only submits an outline to an editor and they have to fill in the blanks for the rest of the staff to show it is worth acquiring a book before it is even finished. These issues can be addressed and considered before a contract is draw up to publish a book.
Depending on the book, there can be a lot of questions and disagreeing on a title, or overall agreement. Ultimately, our publisher has the final say in whether or not we publish a book, but all notes, feedback, questions, and comments are taken into consideration.
Do you have questions about manuscript submission or acquiring books? Let us know!