Thanks for weighing in here with the voice of experience.

You’re so right in saying we need to not meet the expectations of the publisher, but exceed them. I also love your point about putting yourself in the place of the person rejecting you. It really does give one a whole different perspective.

As for your 10-part series, I’ve definitely been following it and will be recommending it to my readers during my next link post.

Thank you!
.-= Read suzannah´s last article ..What Are the Seeds of Your Story? =-.

Rejection does suck. Really. But making it a learning experience instead of wallowing is always more productive. Thanks!

For agents, they risk their reputation every time they take on a new project or client. If publishers don’t agree (see the next paragraph), then they look bad. And they have only so many of those free passes in their quiver before they have to go back to selling insurance.

With publishers, somebody is putting their job on the line when they recommend that a manuscript be accepted. If a junior editor or reader does so and their boss doesn’t agree, they could lose their job. If a senior person does so and the book flops, their career takes a hit.

It’s always safer to say no. And so they do.

To make them say yes, we need to deliver something pretty extraordinary. Something that makes it worth the risk for them. If what we submit is only as good as the stuff they’re already publishing, that won’t get you accepted. It has to be better. Fresher, more original, more provocative, more powerful.

The bar is high. We need to go deep, and then deeper, into our craft to break into this business. And part of that is understanding the psychological dynamics of the submission/acceptance process. (I’m in the middle of a 10-part series called “Get Your Bad Self Published” on my site, if you’re interested.)
.-= Read Larry´s last article ..Cleavage: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore =-.