This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!
Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:
How many submissions from agents do you personally get in a month, how
many of those do you love, and how many of those go on to be bought by Pan Macmillan?
Caroline says: This question is almost like a maths test! And I’m afraid I don’t have hard
numbers to work it out. The rate of submissions changes depending on the month we’re
in – whether there’s a big book fair around the corner, or holidays are just about
to start, or it’s the start of a new year and everyone wants to get cracking with
great new projects. Likewise, there’s no guarantee that I’ll like every 10th submission, even every 25th one. Sometimes you will come across two things
in the same week that you love and find you just can’t choose between them and want
to see if you can fit them both on your list. And during quieter months you might
not find anything that’s quite your cup of tea. It’s not a balanced equation, I’m
afraid! As an editor, you need to keep your eyes peeled for that special something
at all time…
Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@writingtipsoasis.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!