A view from the inside
Monica Chakraverty, editorial director of Cornerstones’s scouting programme and HarperCollins publisher for many years, provides an insight into the commissioning process
Like an old warhorse, I’m shocked to find I’ve now spent decades in the publishing industry that I enthusiastically joined in my early twenties. I’ve worked for smaller publishers as well as two of the ‘big five’ so have seen the acquisition process from all angles, and it doesn’t vary much.
When I began in publishing, the assistant’s role was often to sift through the ‘slush pile’ of unsolicited manuscripts that would be sent directly to the publisher. Everyone lived in the hope of finding a diamond in the rough, particularly after Bloomsbury’s success with JK Rowling, whose Harry Potter series had been found in this way (after twelve publishers had rejected it). Those days are largely behind us, with most submissions coming through agents, but the winning formula remains the same. You only have one chance with your preferred agents and publishers to make the right impression so a brilliant submission package is essential. A publisher will usually see the full manuscript, once it’s been accepted by an agent, and so should have enough information to decide whether to take the book to the next stage.
Although a book would usually stand or fall at this stage, I’d sometimes have a chat with an agent and author about how they’d feel if certain revisions were made. It depends hugely, of course, on the type of book but, sometimes, an editor feels passionately that an author has a future with them and needs guidance to nudge their submission to a more satisfying final draft. I’ve worked with several celebrity authors and, although their names were a foot in the door, their stories would still need to work in the same way, with enough to sustain a reader’s interest from start to finish.
More frequently, as a commissioning editor, I would need to champion each book I liked and pitch it to other departments, including sales, who would be thinking purely in terms of the market. Each week I’d bring a few books to the editorial meeting where I’d be given a few minutes to ‘sell’ each title to the other editors as well as to the sales and marketing teams. For this reason, an elevator pitch is crucial; I’d need a compelling story from start to finish, to catch their attention, and a writing style that would make the team want to keep reading on.
I’d also need to look at similar books in the market and see what sales figures they achieved. Sales would then comment on whether they could see the book fitting within a bookshop as they’d be the ones trying to find shelf space for it; a novel can, occasionally, fall before the finishing line if it doesn’t quite ‘slot in’ anywhere so a distinct genre is crucial: know your market.
The result of a successful ‘pitch’ from me would be that sales would commit to a certain print run and I’d need to work out, with the production department (who would price up the book cost), whether we’d make a profit after paying an advance, and what the sum would be. A novel’s length counts here; longer novels become more of a risk for publishers, with higher production costs that affect the bottom line. It’s not the glamorous end of publishing, but this is what it often boils down to!
Occasionally, I’d end up in a bidding war with other publishers, when an agent had sent a book out on simultaneous submission. This is a nail-biting time on all sides – of course, the agent is looking for the highest offer but the author also wants an editor who they feel ‘gets’ them and who they’ll have a sound working relationship with. It’s effectively like a horrendous speed-dating scenario where each publisher has a given amount of time and cash with which to woo their intended!
I hope that captures some of the processes that happen within a publisher’s walls. It possibly feels quite hands-off from an author’s point of view but ensures that the editor they eventually team up with feels truly passionate about their book. With a project they both fully believe in, a relationship of trust should build between the two, with the editor working as a guide and sounding board for any tweaks, changes or rewrites that occur. Authors often switch publishing houses if their editor moves, following them rather than building a new relationship with their successor – a good editor will be able to balance the interests and passion of the author with what’s required from the publisher. I’ve met some incredibly talented, fascinating authors through the years and, although not all their titles hit the bestseller list, I’ve enjoyed each one.