What happens when an editor loves your book?

The excitement, the behind-the-scenes considerations, and the next steps...

Hi everyone,

I thought it would be useful to walk you through the process of what really happens when an editor likes your novel. I’ve written about this a bit before, in this piece about acquisitions, but I wanted to go into a bit more detail. There are so many hurdles and disappointments in publishing that I wanted to focus on a more positive piece!

So, to go back to basics. If a literary agent sends me a book with a brilliant pitch I will send it straight to my Kindle, and to my wonderful assistant who logs all my submissions for me in a very helpful spreadsheet. I don’t really get time to read submissions during the week unless it is one of the rare meeting free weeks that some publishers put in quarterly, so all reading is done out of office hours. I cycle to work most of the time so I can’t read on my commute either, so most of the time I do it in a more dedicated way, e.g. rather than just picking up my Kindle when I can, I think ‘OK I’m going to read some submissions now’ and try to go through them in a semi-logical order. I hate keeping agents and authors waiting for responses (especially as I know what it is like to be on the other side of that!) but if a pitch is really promising, or if it’s from an agent whose taste I really admire, I will bump a book up the pile.

I can usually tell fairly early on if it’s a script I am going to enjoy - something about the voice will grab me, and the best times are when I realise I’ve read 10% without even noticing. I always have the % tracker function turned on on my Kindle so I can see how much I have read; this is quite helpful when thinking about pacing. If I’m reading a brilliant book and I can see I am getting towards 90% I start feeling sad in anticipation of it ending!

Most of the books I have acquired, I have read in one or two sittings and been really keen on from the start. Sometimes, novels do grow on me as I read, and I find myself more and more engrossed, but it’s rare to start reading and feel bored/not engaged with the plot or voice and for that to change, which sounds more brutal than I mean it to, but is sadly true. However that said, the whole point is that you only need one editor to love your work so what might not connect with me might end up being another editor’s perfect read! You really do just never know.

If it’s a novel I am enjoying, I will usually email the agent to let them know. Not all editors do this, and if you think it might be competitive there are different tactics you can employ as an editor - you might not want to tell an agent you are enjoying because the agent might then tell other editors and you risk having more competition if people bump it up their piles as a result and start reading faster than you! But I usually can’t help myself from expressing interest because I get excited, and I also think it’s nice for authors to know that someone is keen and is enjoying and to demonstrate that passion early on. But like I say, that can backfire and I’ve been in annoying situations before where I’ve moved quickly and passionately but that has prompted another editor to swoop in and win the book.

Anyway, once I’ve done that, I email my direct team which is the commercial fiction team, and we then will discuss the book in our next editorial meeting. It’s brilliant if other team members have made the time to dip into the book - I don’t expect them to have read it all as there is just such a high volume of reading - but in that meeting I will get their thoughts, we will talk about the idea of the book and editors might flag if they have any books that feel too similar on their lists, or if they have any useful knowledge or experience about the author (if it’s not a debut) and the agent. If the team are broadly positive, I will then put together an acquisitions form which details how I’d position the book in the market, and gives the hook, comparison titles, extra information about the author, etc. Then at my current publishing house we take that to a ‘pre-acqs’ meeting where I pitch it to the sales, marketing, rights and PR teams. If they like it, we will run the numbers and if the costing works, I will take it to an acquisitions meeting the week after to get sign off from the managing director, or the CFO or CEO depending on how much money is on the table.

Behind the scenes, I’ll be thinking about the book a lot! It’s so exciting finding a novel you are passionate about - in my current job which is more managerial I have less time for this currently and I do miss that. If I am not super keen on the book’s title I’ll usually begin thinking of alternatives in my head, and I’ll be thinking too about any editorial work needed that I might want to suggest to the author. Sometimes I will have a call with the author before taking things further, to see if we are aligned, and to get a bit of a sense of them as a person too. Very occasionally I might decide not to pursue if the author call doesn’t feel quite right, e.g. if expectations are different, but I would say this is rare. It has to feel like a fit on both sides though so as an author in that situation you should always feel free and able to ask questions and to go with your gut!

I’ll also be working to get other people engaged with the book as much as I can at this stage - encouraging teams to read, either online or in person, and trying to make sure my ambition and strategy around the acquisition is as clear as possible. The sales, marketing and PR teams have so many books that they are working on at one time, and lack of clarity from an editor can be a big problem. Sometimes I will sense check things with another colleague before suggesting them, and I’ll look across the market at other examples of successful publishing in the genre to get inspiration and ideas.

If the deal is done, I let everyone know! Acquisitions are a team effort so I like to send an email round to tell everyone that the book is acquired, which is always a really lovely moment, especially if it’s a book that the wider teams have really loved. (We also do this when we lose a book, which is sadder, but you usually get lots of nice responses!) Then I usually want to try to meet the author in person for lunch if possible, or have a phone call / Zoom if not. The next stage is that the book needs to be scheduled, so we have to get it onto our internal systems quickly so that the book is assigned as ISBN, and so that it feeds through internally to key things like scheduling and sales reports. I’ll then start the editorial process with the author, and the real work begins…

I hope this has helped shed a little more light into what happens when an editor likes your book, and if you’re waiting for that moment to happen for you, I hope it comes sooner rather than later!

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Phoebe x