How exciting! You have sent a book to an editor and the editor says she loved it. That’s great. And if she loved it, that means she wants to acquire it, right?
Not so fast. Selling a book is never in the hands of one person. Once it goes to the editorial board, things may change.
There may too much of whatever it is already out there. The publisher may have recently bought something that is too similar. The sales manager grumbles that they tried that subject a few years ago, and it didn’t do well. Your last book with another publisher didn’t do well and it will be hard to turn that around. It’s not exactly on-market or it’s not focused enough and they can’t think of a way to break it out.
Selling a book is far more than pleasing one person. You have to please several people who all happen to work for the same publisher. That’s a tall order, but of course it happens. And you want it to happen to you.
A near miss is painful. If you want to avoid it, write the best book you possibly can and then let it sit for a while. Go back and work on it more. Do your homework and know the market. Spend time in bookstores so you know what’s out there and what’s selling. Write something very on-market. They can still turn it down, but give yourself the best possible shot.
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