someone will grab it. This happens as well with agents, but that is a different story. With the publishers, however, most of those rejections new authors get is not due to poor quality writing. The issue stems from writing that does not match the voice and the style of the publisher.
SIDE NOTE: I will not use specific names of publishers in this post.
One thing you have heard me say, time and time again here on this post, is that your writing fits with maybe 3 different publishers out there. OK, I might be able to get up to 5, but that is it. Just because a publisher takes contemporary romance does not mean that your story fits with EVERY place that takes contemporary romance.
Now, when I said this is different than agents, knowing which publisher you should submit to does not begin in the research as to where to send your story, which is what you would do with an agent. This starts BEFORE you even think about writing your story.
This begins when you just have a glimmer of an idea for a story.
WHAT??????????
That's right. The common mistake writers have is that they just sit down and start writing a story, not thinking about where their story really needs to sit on that bookshelf in your local book store. They do not think about which publisher it really needs to be with.
I ask this question a lot during pitch sessions. Where do you see your writing going? Which publisher do you think your writing being best placed with. Answers vary from: "I think it fits with everyone. This is a pretty common plot." to "I really want to be with this publisher, they so rock!" The problem with each of these stems from a writer not knowing his or her market. In the first case, the writer is only focused on the plot (which does have some play in all of this but not as much as a writer may think). In the second case, the writer is just focused on the glamor of a publisher and still, not whether the writing fits or not.
SIDE NOTE: The author who said the second one was pitching a genre the publisher did not represent.
Doing that research of the publishers goes to a much deeper level than plot. Yes, this does have some issue but it revolves more around the writing. As you start doing the research here, take the time to always look at WHO is publishing the story.
When I go to the publisher book signing at the Romance Writers of America conference, I always get similar genre books and keep them sorted when I get home. This way, I can look for those differences
Let's take a look at a few of those ideas:
DEPTH OF PLOT This is not a matter of adding more "stuff" to your story, but more of an issue of the speed of the story. When a writer adds a lot more depth to the story, it will read slower. This is where you really see a huge difference between series and single title stories. This is also where you see a difference between the mass market story and the literary fiction story.
How much back story does the publisher tend to use? If it is a historical novel, how much of the real life history do they bring into the plots, or is it all surface level history.
LAYERS OF SECONDARY ELEMENTS This is very similar to the plot analysis, but it also takes in the number of secondary characters, the depth of the world building, the amount of conflict.
Many publishers are already thinking of books for a series and will often develop plots that have those secondary characters being so much in the front, they almost become sub-protagonists. Not quite to the surface, but enough to set the scene for a later book. Now, I fully understand many of you are already thinking of other stories with other characters, but for the publishers, they are already layering those elements in. Other places, even though they want a series, keep those secondary characters to those who "interact but don't get involved."
The layers of secondary conflict is also an issue. Some publishers like to propel the characters through a story where they have to continually unlock harder and harder conflicts to get to that final resolution. Others want to just keep it simple, focus on building to that one conflict and BAM! solve it.
TYPES OF CONFLICT This is a plotting issue. I could go on and on but I want to keep this pretty broad right now. Some publishers like more external conflict getting in the way of the characters. Others want it only about the characters getting to know each other.
Each type of conflict will mean a different type of plotting and character development. This is directly connected to the issues in the prior two things we have looked at. More in-depth conflict requires more depth of character and plot development.
LEVELS OF SENSUALITY - Yes this is an issue, but it does not just differentiate between Amish and Erotica. This involves when and how the sensuality is added.
I just wrote about this idea earlier in the week. Some publishers want that sensuality to be almost like a character in the story, or the conflict holding the people back. Others simply want the sensuality to be a stage the characters go through.
The language too is a factor. How graphic do the characters talk during their moments together? Even the descriptions of body parts plays a role.
BALANCE OF NARRATION AND DIALOGUE This is connected to the speed in which the read happens. We have all heard, that narration slows a story down, and it does. One thing I always heard from one particular publisher during those spotlight sessions at RWA Conferences, was this issue. We want those fast fun reads. Did they say no narration? Nope! But was this a hint to the authors? Yes.
This balance also happens to be one of the big differences between women's fiction and mass market, or literary fiction and mass market. More narration is a tool used, not for an information dump, but for slowing the reader down to enjoy.
SIDE NOTE: If you write for a publisher who is not a big fan of narration, and you use it heavily for an information dump, understand that your readers are not fans of that. That might be an issue why your #'s are down.
VOCABULARY, LANGUAGE AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE This one is really simple. Do you use big words? Do you use general vocabulary? Are you sentences frequently straight forward Declamatory, Informative, Interrogative or Exclamatory? or do you tend to go for compound, complex sentences with an integration of passive voice to balance the active voice?
I know this sounds strange, but it is a HUGE factor.
STRUCTURE OF THE STORY Let me again say, this is not a plotting issue, but how the story is composed. This is also not an issue of 1st or 3rd person. This gets into things such as:
- Do the chapters tend to be broken up into two points of view on the same topic - one from the hero and one from the heroine?
- Do the stories tend to begin with an info dump or world building first and then move into the character development.
- Do the stories tend to try to start with the central conflict and layer in the characters solving the problem, or do they take it in reverse.
In many ways, this is like how people develop an argument. Is it deductive or inductive reasoning.
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So how does your writing fit in with all of this? If you have a particular style and approach you prefer to write with, it is up to you to find the publisher that is your best match. Think of this as a publisher version of MATCH.COM.
I will also add that you can learn to write this way. If you are like that author I mentioned at the beginning and want to write for a given publisher, then that author NEEDS to change her voice.
AND FOR YOU SELF PUBLISHED PEOPLE OUT THERE...
Yes, I know this is why you go this route, and that is the best way for you. If you have a style that simply is 100% unique and 100% different then yes, take that route. But please, you cannot blame the publishers for not being open to that voice of yours. This is an issue of YOU not doing your market research and sending a product to them that was not what they were looking for.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BRING IN SPEAKERS FOR YOUR CONFERENCES AND WRITING CHAPTERS.
This is a full workshop I teach. Just send me an email and I am happy to help all of you out!
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