Seven Reasons the Committee Says No: Part IV

Hey everyone, it's our final installment of Editor Nick Harrison's fantastic series on why publishing houses decline projects. I've learned some things, how about you? Many thanks to Nick for sharing his advice and wisdom with us! Read on!

Seven Reasons the Committee Says No: 
Part IV*

By Nick Harrison

Here are the final reasons the committee rejects manuscripts:

Sometimes an otherwise fine book is rejected because of the lack of spiritual value. In addition to our list of core values, we also have a mission statement: To glorify God by providing high-quality books and products that affirm biblical values, help people grow spiritually strong, and proclaim Jesus Christ as the answer to every human need. One good question to ask when you’re looking for a publisher is: what is their mission statement and does my proposal fit that mission? If it does, it wouldn’t hurt to point that out in your cover letter or as part of your proposal.

Number seven can only be described as “for unknown reasons.” Publishing committees, like editors and like readers, are subjective. Sometimes they pass on really great projects that go on to be very successfully published elsewhere. Sometimes we read success into a proposal that really isn’t there…and the book fails to live up to our hopes. Sometimes I never find out exactly why I got a no. Usually, though, the committee’s judgment is eventually confirmed. One time I presented a well-known author to the committee and I thought for sure it would be a slam-dunk yes. The proposal was on a topic that was popular in the marketplace, it was well-written, and the author seemed personable. For reasons I never knew or have now forgotten, the committee said no. When I emailed the author’s agent about the results, I received nothing in the way of a “thanks anyway” or “gosh, it would have been great to work with you,” or some sort of acknowledgement that I had championed this author. But I never again heard a peep from either that author or her agent. So in retrospect, I doubt she would have fit in at Harvest House anyway.

Let me add a final word that, just like there are unknown reasons why a book may be rejected, there are sometimes exceptions to a couple of the above reasons for rejection. We have published books when the author had very little or no platform because we felt it was an important book that needed to be published in spite of the possibility of low sales. We have taken books where the writing was less than stellar, but which we were able to edit into excellent books. We have also taken a novel from a “one-book author.” Those are rare exceptions, however.

To learn more about Nick Harrison, visit his blog.

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This post originally appeared on Nick Harrison's blog. Used by permission.

Seven Reasons the Committee Says No: Part III

It's Mixing-It-Up Monday here on Seriously Write. Annette here. Hope you all had a great weekend. Let's dive back into the writing groove with some advice from Harvest House editor Nick Harrison on getting our work through the publishing committee.

Seven Reasons the Committee Says No: Part III*

By Nick Harrison

We're continuing our list of seven reason the publishing committee turns us down. Here are numbers four and five. Unlike some of the reasons, these two are more controllable (i.e. you can work on writing craft, and you can study what the house wants).

Poor writing. Although ideally editors such as myself, only take proposals to committee we believe in, that should mean that poor writing is not a reason the committee would turn it down. After all, why would I take something to the committee that was poorly written? The truth is that I might indeed take a proposal from someone who has a platform and is writing on a strong topic, but whose writing is weak. (With the knowledge that as his or her editor, I can help “fix” the manuscript). But often the committee will just say no in such a case.

Sometimes the perception is that the author might not be a good fit for us. One of our core values at Harvest House is: Develop and maintain long-term relationships. If you look at our bestselling authors, you’ll notice that many of them have been with us for a long time. Few of our authors venture elsewhere. That’s because of our commitment to having a relationship that’s not purely business. We’re friends with most of our authors. We pray for them when they need prayer, we encourage them when necessary, and we try to produce the best book we can from their manuscript. But sometimes that’s not what an author really wants. Another reason an author might not fit is that we’re looking for authors who will build a writing career, not just publish one or two books and then call it quits. If you’re a one-book author, you will have a hard time finding a publishing home.

Next Monday, our final installment in this series. Learn more about Nick Harrison at his blog.
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This post originally appeared on Nick Harrison's blog. Used by permission.