INSIDER INSIGHT!
Cracking the Publisher's Code:
What Publishers Say . . . and What They Really Mean
Busy editors and agents often don't take time to tell you specifically why they've rejected your book. It's easier for them to plug in formulaic answers that are so absolute yet vague that they don't invite further inquiry. How can you argue when an editor says a project does not fit the publisher's list? You can't. Bless those editors who tell you specifically and clearly why your book wouldn't work for them. Here are some recent examples from actual rejection letters:
What They Say: "We were intrigued by your subject matter, but your book doesn't fit our needs right now."
What They Mean: "You may have a good idea, but we've never heard of you and we don't think we can sell enough books to make a profit." Maybe you should begin to think about doing some workshops or writing articles or other publications to get more name recognition and make yourself more promotable. You didn't prove that you can help the publisher sell a lot of books. This may also mean that you have sent your query or manuscript to the wrong people or publisher: for example, a self-improvement to an editor who focuses on science books or a science project to a publisher that only does fiction.
What They Say: "Thank you for submitting your proposal. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit our needs at this time. Or It isn't quite right for us."
What They Mean: "This is the tenth book on this subject we've seen this month. There are already too many books out there. We already have a book like this under contract."
What They Say: "This is a beautiful manuscript your ideas for typography are unusual and your color photos are thrilling. Unfortunately, we don't have room in our list for a book of this type."
What They Mean: "Printing art books is expensive! Do you know how much paper and printing costs are these days? We do like your book, but we couldn't price it high enough or sell enough copies to cover our expenses. And we actually don't publish illustrated books."
What They Say: "This is too specialized for us." Or "The audience is too narrowly targeted for our market."
What They Mean: "The market you are trying to reach is too small for us. We only want to do books that can sell tens of thousands of copies. A smaller, more specialized publisher can do a better job for you."
What They Say: "This is more appropriate as a trade paperback original. Or, Not a big enough audience to support a full-length hardcover project."
What They Mean: "Wrong format we only do hardcover books that can sell thousands of copies, or this subject is more suitable to paperback (and the price points that go with it)." You can also get the reverse, but not as often "This is more appropriate for a hardcover format." Because of their lower price points ($12.95 to $15.95) trade paperbacks must sell more copies to be profitable and that may be difficult for a publisher to do with an unknown or first-time writer.
What They Say: "This would not get the kind of bookseller or press interest to make it work." Or, "As the book was conceived, we wouldn't be able to break it out in a major way."
What They Mean: "The name of the game these days is promotion and publicity and the key to getting both is a combination of a high-profile author with a story to tell and a timely and marketable idea. You don't have the profile and/or your idea is not commercial enough for us to break out that is, sell the thousands of copies that will make it profitable for us."
What They Say: "This category isn't our strong suit these days." "We've turned down a number of books on this subject in recent months. I think our marketing folks are 'off' that topic at present."
What They Mean: "We've recently done books in this category or subject that aren't selling, and we're not going to take any more risks with this kind of project." They might also mean that (in their opinion, at least) you don't have a high enough profile as an author to command the publicity it will take to make the book break out.
What They Say: "There's a lot else out there on the subject." "This project is not different enough; it will have a tough time standing out." "In such a crowded market, I didn't think the book had enough appeal."
What They Mean: "Too much competition in this category or subject, so much so that it's hard to convince booksellers and their customers that what you've done is truly distinctive (in marketing, this is known as positioning)." They're basically saying that either the idea or the author profile, combined with an overcrowded market, makes it hard to sell enough copies of your book to make it worth their while.
What They Say: "One of the main competing books is our own."
What They Mean: Pretty much what they say. They'll stick with what they've got and see how it sells. They don't want to confuse their sales reps with books that are too similar and thus hard to position against one another. If the reps are confused, chances are neither book will get the attention it needs.
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