THE CAREER NOVELIST
an easier way to get a handle on what is going on in book publish-
ing: walk into a bookstore and take a look around.
Which companies are doing a good job getting their books out?
Which companies are producing books with the format, look, and
price that you want for your book? Check the spines, then call the
company, and ask for the name of the editor who edited the book
whose quality is most in line with what you need—not what you
want in your dreams, but what you need in reality. That editor is
step one in your marketing plan.
The final factor I consider before sending a manuscript to a par-
ticular editor is taste. Is this the kind of story, and the quality of
prose, that turns my prospect on? Does the novel fit his or her own
career plan? Sometimes I must disregard what an editor tells me he
wants. Editors like to imagine themselves bold innovators, and
sometimes they are, but just as often they acquire the fiction that
makes them comfortable.
In many ways, that is a good thing. Passion is as important to the
editor/author equation as it is to the agent/author one. Many prob-
lems lie ahead. Authors need editors who will stick by them, and
who acquire novels that they love.
SINGLE SUBMISSIONS, MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS,
AUCTIONS
Nothing gets inexperienced authors more excited than the idea of
an auction. Heck, many hardened old pros get excited, too.
Imagine it: a group of publishers who are otherwise slow and
cautious scrambling to buy your book. Frenzied bidding! Offers in
the stratosphere! Advertising guarantees tossed on the table like
poker chips! And at day's end, success: a high six-figure advance.
Your agent says, "No sweat. I knew we'd get it."
The losers? These unlucky publishers sadly call each other and
do postmortems on the bidding.
Ah, bliss! Ah, fantasy! Can it happen for you? Well, maybe, but
believe me it is a rare novel that can achieve success at auction.
Indeed, few are really suited for it. Auctions are not a magic bullet.
They do not always hit the mark. They are actually a calculated risk
that can cruelly and easily backfire.