The right fit

[pbray]

A few years back, a friend and I were at Worldcon listening to the Bantam editors describe their upcoming titles. After listening to Anne Groell talk about what excited her in the new books, my friend turned to me and said "This is why I could never sell to Anne--my books aren't dark enough."

Editors have their own tastes and biases. Editor A may rhapsodize over your CyberPunkMeetsJaneAusten manuscript, while Editor B is bored to tears by the same material. Publisher C can't get enough Military SF, while Publisher D has cornered the market on Unicorn tales. Even a great book will be rejected if it's not the right fit for that editor or publisher. When it comes to deciding where to submit your manuscript, this is where an agent's knowledge is invaluable.

But what if you don't have an agent? Then it's up to you to do the research. Locus Magazine has put together a list of 2006 books published by editor. It's worth taking a look to get a flavor for the editor's tastes. Note that the page is still a work in progress, so you'll want to bookmark it and check back for updates.

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

OMG. That is a Totally Cool List! Thanks for linking to it!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! And it's so much easier than the advice I usually give to aspiring writers, which is to check the dedication pages to see if the editor's name is mentioned.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Interesting list. An entire swath of books that I didn't care for at all were edited by the same person.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I noticed the same thing. Which makes me think I'll never sell anything to that particular editor....

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I noticed that too. :)