The Bad, The Good, and The Editors

Notes from an Sleuthfest, 2016 from author, Maris Soule


This “Editors’ Roundtable” included Chris Knopf (Permanent Press), Erin George (Henery Press), Anne Speyer (Ballantine Books), and Neil Nyren (G.P. Putnam & Sons).

Turn Offs.
They all agreed that the following problems acted as turn offs when reviewing a manuscript.

1. Too many exclamation points
2. Too many semicolons
3. Too much backstory.
4. Not starting book soon enough.

Turn Ons
1.Good writing
2.A good plot
3.Good characters

Suggestions the editors made
1.Read dialogue aloud. If it doesn’t sound like what you hear, change it.
2.SHOW don’t TELL.
3.Interesting characters.
It can be the same plot you’ve seen before if the characters are interesting. Character drives the book.
4.Voice

Which is one of those illusive things where you know it if it’s there.

Someone in the audience asked how many queries/proposals/manuscripts they read in a year and how many they purchased. The editors could only guess what the total number of new material might be, but most mentioned around a thousand a year…and most said they only went to contract with 4 to 10 new writers a year. Not exactly what a packed room of writers wanted to hear.