Settling For The Right Choice

As an author who has faced her fair share of rejection it’s painful for me to say this, but any editor who passes on a manuscript is right to do so. That includes the editors who have passed on my work in the past and the editors who have passed on yours.

And it includes the 28 editors who passed on John Grisham, the 12 who passed on J.K. Rowling and the 31 who passed on James Patterson.

An editor who passes on a book does so because they don’t feel strongly enough about it. They don’t connect with the story. They don’t see its potential in the market. Or maybe they just don’t think it’s right for their particular imprint.

And they’re not wrong.

They can’t be wrong because taste and artistic sensibilities aren’t wrong. They’re just different. Some people will look at a canvas and see spilled paint.

But others see a Jackson Pollack masterpiece.

Editors who see your manuscript a mess of spilt paint can’t possibly advocate for your art within their publishing house. They can not give you notes on how to make that spilt paint more dramatic or masterful. Your work isn’t for them. They’re not Pollack people. They prefer the aesthetics of Georgia O’Keefe and that’s fine.

You need an editor who does connect with your work. Someone who can give you notes that actually enhance your vision and make your work better for likeminded readers. Because that editor understands the appeal of your manuscript they will be able to advocate to their marketing team on how to position it and guide them in regards to which demographic they need to try to reach.

Sometimes…okay frequently, the editor who is right for your book won’t work for one of the Big Five publishing houses in New York which is probably where you hope to be. That was definitely the case for Grisham whose first book, after being rejected by all the so called major players, ended up at Wynwood Press a small publishing house only a handful of people had heard of.

I’m sure that Grisham had wanted to start at Random House or HarperCollins. I’m sure he was disappointed by his first advance. I’m sure those rejections hurt because rejections always hurt.

But here’s the thing, his acquiring editor at Wynwood? It was a guy named Bill Thompson.

Thompson happens to also be the editor who gave Stephen King his first book contract.

Grisham had to “settle” for the right choice.

And in case you haven’t noticed, settling in that way didn’t exactly hurt him.