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Comment from Editor on Rowling's Latest

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
As was posted in another thread, J.K. Rowling published a mystery under a pseudonym. It was rejected, of course, before it eventually found a home. I don't want to talk about the book itself, or Rowling, since there is a thread for that, but what this says about getting published by a traditional publisher as a new author. Here's an excerpt from something I read today:

Kate Mills, publishing director of Orion, said she thought the work was “perfectly decent, but quiet” and confessed she could not find a unique selling-point with which to market it.The editor added: “When the book came in, I thought it was perfectly good - it was certainly well written - but it didn't stand out.

“Strange as it might seem, that's not quite enough. Editors have to fall in love with debuts. It's very hard to launch new authors and crime is a very crowded market.”


That's a high bar.

 
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