I was saying that I think there was a combination of factors that didn't allow the book to get out of the slush anywhere but DAW. One was length, one was that it was something folks weren't looking for at the time, or possibly any time, and another is that it wasn't the hot thing that acquisitions editors were looking to acquire at that time, judging by what everyone seemed to be asking for and the new writers who were getting signed.
From a marketing standpoint (and I do that for my day job), it is easier for people to break through when they have the commodity that everyone is searching for at the time. (See the current upswing in "chick lit" right now. I know someone who easily sold a VERY BAD first novel because of the current craze, when in other years it would have been given a pass.) This is not to say everybody who sells during a trend's stuff isn't worthy or is in some way less worthy, despite my acquaintance's case. It's to say that it's more likely to get read in the first place by overworked folks digging through the slush. There has to be SOME sorting criteria after all. They couldn't possibly read everything. There wouldn't be time, money or resources.
Triage must have some criteria. I could easily have been eliminated everywhere automatically by length and no one read it if there was a hard and fast rule on that. But there HAS been a trend forever on looking for the next cash cow like Robert Jordan. So you'd think length wouldn't be the number one reason to eliminate anybody. But maybe it is. You undoubtedly know more about this than I do, and what I know is a number of years out of date, anyway.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-08-04 08:05 am (UTC)From a marketing standpoint (and I do that for my day job), it is easier for people to break through when they have the commodity that everyone is searching for at the time. (See the current upswing in "chick lit" right now. I know someone who easily sold a VERY BAD first novel because of the current craze, when in other years it would have been given a pass.) This is not to say everybody who sells during a trend's stuff isn't worthy or is in some way less worthy, despite my acquaintance's case. It's to say that it's more likely to get read in the first place by overworked folks digging through the slush. There has to be SOME sorting criteria after all. They couldn't possibly read everything. There wouldn't be time, money or resources.
Triage must have some criteria. I could easily have been eliminated everywhere automatically by length and no one read it if there was a hard and fast rule on that. But there HAS been a trend forever on looking for the next cash cow like Robert Jordan. So you'd think length wouldn't be the number one reason to eliminate anybody. But maybe it is. You undoubtedly know more about this than I do, and what I know is a number of years out of date, anyway.