Why doesn't anyone want to publish me? by Terry Burns

“My project is good enough to publish,  so why does no agent want to represent it  or no editor want to publish it?” the  frustrated author asked the panel.  Good question. Several things are involved, and the first is  competition. I’ve said before that agents  receive hundreds of submissions a  month, and a large number of them are  good enough  to be published. That means good is just not good enough, it takes exceptional.  If your manuscript is really good but it is sitting there beside one  or more that are simply better, that editor or agent is going  to  go with better. It’s just how things work.  It is not about judging you or judging your work, it is simply the  editor or agent picking the best offering. That brings taste into  the discussion. Things I really like might not be to someone else’s  taste. I have editors whom I really like and who like me, but I  have never sold them anything. Our tastes are too dissimilar.  There are other editors I sell to all the time because we have  very similar tastes. This is the second factor an author is up  against when submitting: is your work something that will appeal  to the particular taste of the editor or agent? Not a question of  whether your work  is good or bad, but whether it fits within  their tastes. The next factor is “does is fit the slot?” A particular editor is  probably trying to fill a catalog slot. He or she is looking for  something specific, and an author’s work may or may not fit the  criteria at that particular time. Again, does it mean the manuscript  is being judged up or down? No, it just isn’t what the editor is  looking for at that time, so out comes the dreaded “This is not a  fit for us” letter. You can multiply that by multiple editors for the  agent. It’s our job as agents to try to know what editors are  looking for so we asking the same question, “This is good, but  does it fit what some of the editors are looking for?”  The kind of manuscript it is can affect whether it fits the slot.  Projects that neatly fit in some genre, style, or category are easier  for an editor or agent to deal with. They are easier to sell, but  such books also tend to be a bit average and are seldom a  blockbuster or a best seller. The manuscript that stretches the  envelope is the one that becomes a best seller, but they are also  much harder to place, as a rule. Some editor has to take a  chance on it.  And the agent has to know that editor.